Moored at the Battleship Cove museum in Fall River, Massachusetts is the Gearing-class destroyer USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Built by Bethlehem Steel Corporation's Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts, the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. was laid down on 2 April 1945, launched on 26 July of that year, and commissioned a little less than five months later, on 15 December. The ship's namesake, Lieutenant Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., was the eldest son of former US Ambassador to Britain Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and older brother of future President John. F. Kennedy. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., a naval aviator, was killed in action on 12 August 1944 in the UK at age 29. Over a nearly 28-year career, the USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. took part in numerous training cruises and NATO naval exercises; served with the US Navy's 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean; screened aircraft carriers and undertook shore bombardment missions during the Korean War; represented the US Navy at the opening of the St Lawrence Seaway in June 1959; participated in the blockade of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962; and was a member of the fleet of ships assigned to recover the crews of the Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 space capsules upon their return to Earth in 1965. Decommissioned on 1 July 1973 following post-Vietnam downsizing in the US Navy, USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. was transferred to Battleship Cove in 1974 following a campaign to preserve the ship in light of its connections with the Kennedy family. The ship was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989. Today the retired destroyer serves as the official memorial to Massachusetts citizens killed in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, and also houses the Admiral Arleigh Burke National Destroyermen's Museum.
Photos taken 14 August 2014
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| The Gearing-class destroyer USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. (DD-580). |
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| A view of the stern, showing the aft 5-inch/38 calibre twin gun mounting and, above it, the drone helicopter flight deck and hangar added during a Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) refit carried out at the New York Naval Shipyard in 1961-62. The FRAM refit entailed the installation of the latest in anti-submarine warfare equipment and a number of other modifications that extended the useful life of the 1945-vintage Gearing-class destroyers. |
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| The RUR-5 ASROC (Anti-Submarine ROCket) launcher located on the upper deck, aft of the forward funnel. This all-weather, subsonic standoff anti-submarine ballistic missile system was developed by the US Navy in the 1950s and installed on many US and allied warships beginning in the 1960s. The rocket could carry either a Mark 46 torpedo with 96.8 pounds (44 kg) of high explosive or a 10 kiloton W44 nuclear warhead out to a range of 12 miles (19 km). |
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| An acoustic homing torpedo paired with an ASROC missile and mounted on the deck loader which would be used to insert the weapon into the launcher box. |
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| USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.'s bridge. |
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| The steering position and engine room telegraphs on the bridge of USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. |
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| The destroyer's 'brain', the Combat Information Centre (CIC), located aft of the bridge. |
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| The Mark 1A fire control computer at the centre of the CIC. |
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| The navigator's office, where charts were stored and the ship's course would be plotted out. |
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| Electronic gear lines the walls of the Radio Room. |
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| The Ship's Office. |
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| The officer's wardroom aboard the USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. It was in this space that the destroyer's 14-20 officers ate and relaxed while off duty. |
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| The berths in one of the mess decks, were the enlisted crew members slept on racks suspended from the deck head above. |
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| The Main Galley, where meals were prepared three times a day for the crew of over 200 men. Whether cleaning up after one meal or preparing the next, the galley was constantly in action. Appliances in the Main Galley included vegetable preparation machines, a meat slicer, Fry-o-later, a large mixer, three large steam kettles, ovens, and griddles. Fresh bread was stored in the bread locker. Large hot pans of food were carried down to a steam line/servery, even in rough seas, to serve to the lined-up crew. |
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| The cafeteria style dining arrangements meant that sailors picked up their meal from a steam line adjacent to the galley and carried it to a table to eat. |
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| The engine room control panel. |
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| USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. was one of 98 Gearing-class destroyers built for the US Navy during and shortly after the Second World War. As they were not ready for service until mid-1945, the class saw little action during the war but had long service lives into the 1970s following various refits and modernisations. A number of Gearing-class destroyers were transferred to partner navies in Taiwan, Greece, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, Pakistan, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Ecuador. The last Gearing-class destroyer in the US Navy, the USS William C. Lawe, was decommissioned on 1 October 1983 and sunk as a target on 14 July 1999. |
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| Since 1974, the USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. has been permanently berthed at Battleship Cove, in the shadow of the Charles M. Braga Memorial Bridge over the Taunton River. |
USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. (DD-850) - Specifications
Displacement: 2,425 tons (standard) / 3,479 tons (full load)
Length (overall): 119.02 metres (390 feet 6 inches)
Beam: 12.45 metres (40 feet 10 inches)
Draught: 4.37 metres (14 feet 4 inches)
Propulsion: Two sets of high-pressure, low-pressure, and cruising turbines producing 60,000 shaft horsepower
Speed: 35.25 knots (65.28 km/h; 40.56 mph)
Range: 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Armament (current): 4 x 5-inch/38 calibre (127 mm) guns in two twin mounts; 2 x triple tubes for 12.75-inch (324 mm) Mark 32 torpedoes; 1 x anti-submarine rocket launcher (ASROC) with eight missiles; nuclear depth charge capability
Aircraft (after FRAM refit): 1 x Gyrodyne QH-50 DASH (Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter)
Complement: 274 (14 officers, 260 ratings) in peacetime or 345 (20 officer, 325 ratings) in wartime
