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P 830 - USS Cushing DD 985 |
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| Length | Height | Weight | Packaging | ||||
| 5.7 in (14.4 cm) | 1.4 in (3.56 cm) | 45 gm (1.6 oz) | Blister Card | ||||
This is the Tri-ang Minic Ships model of USS Cushing DD 985 a US Navy Spruance Class Destroyer named after Commander William Barker Cushing a US Navy officer during the Amercian Civil War.
The Spruance class destroyers were designed primarily as all weather anti-submarine warfare (ASW) ships but were also capable of engaging aircraft and surface targets as well as attacking land targets and providing Naval Gunfire Support (NGFS / NGS) in conjunction with amphibious operations. Ultimately fitted with the SQS-53 hull-mounted active sonar, SQR-19 tactical towed passive acoustic array, anti-submarine rocket (ASROC) launchers and with twin hangars for LAMPS Mk III helicopters, these ships were in the forefront of the surface Navy’s defense against submarine attacks.
Fitted with four General Electric LM-2500 engines, marine versions of the TF39 turbofan used on DC-10 aircraft, these were the first class of ships in the US Navy to be powered by gas turbines. With a total of 80,000 shaft horsepower coupled to twin shafts, each with controllable reversible pitch propellers, the ships are capable of speeds in excess of 30 knots and have a degree of maneuverability unique among warships of their size.
As the first gas turbine powered ship in the operational fleet USS Spruance had an underway replenishment breakaway flag (flown while pulling away from a logistics ship at sea after receiving supplies and fuel) that was a replication of the large yellow warning seen on the side of aircraft carrier superstructures, with red block letters saying "BEWARE JET BLAST" on a large yellow background. Upon "breaking" (unfurling) the flag on the halyards, they would play the "Star Wars" theme music as they increased speed and sailed ahead of the logistics vessel.
Designed with future growth in mind the modular construction of the Spruance class allowed easy replacement of entire sub-systems or installation of new systems within the ship and twenty four of the thirty one ships in the class were subsequently upgraded with the installation of a 61 cell Mk 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) capable of firing Harpoon and Tomahawk missiles.
While historically US Navy destroyers had a service life of 30 years the first of the Spruance-class destroyers were decommissioned after only two decades to accommodate the introduction of the improved AEGIS-capable Arleigh Burke destroyers. All ships in the class have now been decommissioned and the majority have been sunk as targets in fleet exercises.
The model is marked on the underside with the Tri-ang Minic logo, "US Navy Series", model number P 830, and the description "Spruance Class Destroyer".
Specifications
| Name: | USS Cushing DD-985 | |
| Last Assignment: |
US Seventh Fleet Destroyer Squadron 15 (DESRON 15) |
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| Home Port: | Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan | |
| Builders: | Litton-Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation, Pascagoula, Mississippi | |
| Laid Down: | 2nd February 1977 | |
| Launched: | 17th June 1978 | |
| Commissioned: | 21st September 1979 | |
| Decommissioned: | 21st September 2005 | |
| Displacement: | 9,036 tons Full Load | |
| Length (OA): | 563 ft (172 m) | |
| Beam: | 55 ft (17 m) | |
| Draft: | 29 ft (8.8 m) | |
| Armament: |
2 x Mark 45 5 inch 54 calibre Dual Purpose Guns 2 x 20 mm 6 barrel GE Vulcan Phalanx CIWS 1 x Mark 29 8 cell NATO Sea Sparrow missile launcher 1 x 61 Cell Mk 41 Vertical Launch Systems with combination of - RIM-67 SM-2 Standard surface-to-air missiles;2 x RGM-84 quadruple Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers 2 x 12.75 inch triple torpedo tubes - Mark 46 Torpedoes |
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| Countermeasures: |
AN/SLQ32A(V)3 Electronic Warfare Suite AN/SLQ-25 Nixie Torpedo Countermeasures System MK 36 Mod 12 SRBOC Chaff / Infra Red Decoy Launcher AN/SLQ-49 Chaff Inflatable Buoy Decoy System SQQ-108 Outboard ELINT |
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| Propulsion: |
4 x General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines; 80,000 shp (60 MW); 2
shafts with controllable reversible pitch propellers |
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| Maximum Speed: | 32.5 knots (60 km/h) | |
| Complement: | 334 Ships Company - Officers & Crew | |
| Aircraft: | 2 x SH-60B Seahawk LAMPS III Helicopters | |
| Disposal: | Sunk as a target for aircraft launched Harpoon missiles - 8th December 2006 | |
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Ships in Class: NB - None of these ships is in active service. The majority have been sunk as targets in various fleet exercises |
USS Spruance - DD 963 USS Paul F. Foster - DD 964 USS Kinkaid - DD 965 USS Hewitt - DD 966 USS Elliot - DD 967 USS Arthur W. Radford - DD 968 USS Peterson - DD 969 USS Caron - DD 970 USS David R. Ray - DD 971 USS Oldendorf - DD 972 USS John Young - DD 973 USS Comte de Grasse - DD 974 USS O'Brien - DD 975 USS Merrill - DD 976 USS Briscoe - DD 977 USS Stump - DD 978 |
USS Conolly - DD 979 USS Moosbrugger - DD 980 USS John Hancock - DD 981 USS Nicholson - DD 982 USS John Rodgers - DD 983 USS Leftwich - DD 984 USS Cushing - DD 985 USS Harry W. Hill - DD 986 USS O'Bannon - DD 987 USS Thorn - DD 988 USS Deyo - DD 989 USS Ingersoll - DD 990 USS Fife - DD 991 USS Fletcher - DD 992 USS Hayler - DD 997 |
(Statistical information from Jane's Fighting Ships 2003 Edition)
Photograph of USS Cushing - Courtesy US Navy |
| Further details can be obtained from the following links - | |
| Wikipedia - USS Cushing | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cushing_(DD-985) |
| Wikipedia - Spruance Class Destroyers | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spruance_class |
| US Navy Web Site | http://www.navy.mil/navydata/ships/destroyers/destroyers.asp |
| FAS "The Military Analysis Network" - Spruance Class | http://fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/dd-963.htm |
| The Haze Gray & Underway Web Site | http://www.hazegray.org/worldnav/usa/surface.htm |