USS Samuel Gompers (AD 37) Class

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USS Samuel Gompers (AD 37) on 24 November 1968. Her single 5-inch gun mount was removed in 1977.
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Class: SAMUEL GOMPERS (AD 37)
Design: SCB Project Nos. 244, 700.65, 700.66, and 700.69
Displacement (tons): 13,458 light, 20,132 full (AD 37)
Dimensions (feet): 645' oa, 620' wl x 85' e/wl x 28' max nav.
Armament: 1-5"/38; (37: 1976, 38: by 1979) 4-20mmS; (37: by 1995) 4-20mm light mg
Accommodations: 136 officers, 1,671 enlisted (AD 37)
Speed (kts.): 20 (18 sustained)
Propulsion (HP): 20,000
Machinery: Steam turbines, 2 boilers (600psi), 1 screw

Construction:

AD	Name	Ord	Builder	Keel	Launch	Comm
37	SAMUEL GOMPERS	31 Oct 1963	NSY Puget Sound	9 Jul 1964	14 May 1966	1 Jul 1967
38	PUGET SOUND	29 Dec 1964	NSY Puget Sound	15 Feb 1965	16 Sep 1966	27 Apr 1968
39	unnamed	--	--	--	--	--
40	unnamed	--	--	--	--	--

Disposition:

AS	Name	T	Decomm	Strike	Disposal	Fate	MA Sale
37	SAMUEL GOMPERS		27 Oct 1995	7 Apr 1999	22 Jul 2003	Target	--
38	PUGET SOUND		27 Jan 1996	13 Dec 2007	11 Jan 2008	Navy sale	--
39	unnamed		--	--	11 Dec 1965	Canc	--
40	unnamed		--	--	27 Mar 1969	Canc	--

Class Notes:
The projected Shipbuilding and Conversion Program for FY 1964-70 as of mid-1962 called for the construction of one destroyer tender in each fiscal year 1964 thru 1968 for a total of five. Initial SCB staff proposed characteristics for the FY 1964 destroyer tender, developed in a series of working meetings, were distributed on 25 July 1962 for information and comment. The staff proposed using the hull and propulsion plant of the FY 1963 submarine tender (FBM), AS 33, SCB Project No. 238, in an effort to reduce the overall cost of the ship. (Approved characteristics for Project 238 had been promulgated on 5 January 1962.) The ship's internal arrangements were to encompass the repair and support facilities required for destroyers. Type commander accommodations and facilities were included. Alongside in-port service capabilities (electricity, water, and steam) were limited to those needed for six DDG-2 class ships, although these would also allow supporting alongside other mixes of destroyer types including fewer DLG's or more DE/DEG's. Cruisers, patrol, and miscellaneous craft could be assisted but no special shops or facilities were provided for them. Among many detailed provisions, the staff called for facilities for the storage of special weapons (probably SAM and ASROC warheads) and for their assembly and checkout, and specified that the ship's crane capability was to permit removing and reinstalling all antennas associated with DLG types with the largest boom having a lift capacity of 30 tons. There was also to be a 44 x 44-foot helicopter platform, preferably aft, a hangar for six fully assembled DSN-3 drone anti-submarine helicopters (DASH) or two HU 2K type helicopters, and stowage space for 36 disassembled DASH drones. The staff asked for two 5"/38 MK 30 gun mounts with one MK 56 fire control system. These staff proposals were to be reviewed in a working level meeting on 17 August 1964 and by the various Bureaus and then submitted to the members of the Ship Characteristics Board. Most of the staff proposals, with the conspicuous exception of the after gun mount, made it into the final design. Approved characteristics for a Destroyer Tender (AD), SCB Project No. 244 (FY 1964), were promulgated on 16 October 1962 and updated as SCB Project No. 700.65 on 24 October 1963, as SCB Project No. 700.66 on 1 April 1965, and as SCB Project No. 700.69 on 28 November 1968.

AD 37-38 and their later near-sisters, AD 41-44, were decommissioned in 1994-1996 after the Navy abandoned the use of forward deployable tenders to support operating forces.

Ship Notes:

AD	Name	MA	Notes
37	SAMUEL GOMPERS		FY 1964. Sank on 22 Jul 2003 just after midnight after hits by 16 Harpoon missiles and other ordnance and aircraft bombs.
38	PUGET SOUND		FY 1965. Dismantlement completed 3 Mar 2009, Brownsville, TX.
39	unnamed		FY 1966. Deferred.
40	unnamed		FY 1969. Repeat of the FY65 ship, cancelled to cover overruns in FY 1969 and 1970. Also authorized in FY 1973 to be built but never awarded and authorization cancelled 1 Apr 1974.