_underway.jpg) Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. underway in 1962 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Joseph P. Kennedy Jr |
| Namesake | Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. |
| Builder | Fore River Shipyard |
| Laid down | 2 April 1945 |
| Launched | 26 July 1945 |
| Sponsored by | MissJean Kennedy Smith |
| Commissioned | 15 December 1945 |
| Decommissioned | 2 July 1973 |
| Stricken | 1 July 1973 |
| Identification |
|
| Nickname(s) | Joey P |
| Status | Museum ship atBattleship Cove |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Gearing-classdestroyer |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 390 ft 6 in (119.02 m) |
| Beam | 40 ft 10 in (12.45 m) |
| Draft | 14 ft 4 in (4.37 m) |
| Installed power | 4 ×Babcock & Wilcox 615 psi (4.24 MPa) 850 °F (454 °C) superheated D-Type express boilers |
| Propulsion | 2 sets of high pressure, low pressure and cruising turbines (General Electric orWestinghouse) 60,000 shp (45,000 kW); 2 shafts and 12.5-foot (3.8 m) four-bladed propellers |
| Speed | 35.25 knots (65.28 km/h; 40.56 mph) |
| Range | 5,800 mi (5,000 nmi; 9,300 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement |
|
| Sensors & processing systems |
|
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | Drone Anti-Sub Helicopter (DASH) |
| Notes | Fuel capacity of 96,000 US gal (360,000 L; 80,000 imp gal) |
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| Coordinates | 41°42′21″N71°09′47″W / 41.7057°N 71.1631°W /41.7057; -71.1631 |
| Built | 1945 |
| NRHP reference No. | 76000231 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | 11 December 1989[1] |
| Designated NHL | 29 June 1989[2] |
USSJoseph P. Kennedy Jr. (DD-850) is a formerUnited States NavyGearing-classdestroyer.The ship was named after LieutenantJoseph P. Kennedy Jr., anaval aviator, son of the former U.S. Ambassador to Britain,Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., and older brother of future PresidentJohn F. Kennedy.Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. served, with interruptions for modernization, until 1973. Among the highlights of her service are the blockade ofCuba during theCuban Missile Crisis and the afloat recovery teams forGemini 6 andGemini 7.Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. is on display as amuseum ship inBattleship Cove,Fall River, Massachusetts. She was added to theNational Register of Historic Places in 1976, and designated aNational Historic Landmark in 1989 as one of a small number of survivingGearing-class destroyers.
USSJoseph P. Kennedy Jr. was built by theBethlehem Steel Corporation'sFore River Shipyard atQuincy, Massachusetts,launched on 26 July 1945, sponsored by MissJean Kennedy, sister of Lieutenant Kennedy.Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. wascommissioned atBoston on 15 December 1945.
The new destroyer sailed on 4 February 1946 forshakedown training in theCaribbean.Robert F. Kennedy, Joseph's brother, then 20 years old, sailed on this cruise as an apprentice seaman. Kennedy was discharged from the navy on 30 May 1946.
Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. returned to herhomeport,Newport, in April 1946, and was occupied for the next few months in Naval Reserve Training. ArrivingNorfolk on 8 October, the ship joinedAdmiralWilliam D. Leahy'sflagship,USS Wisconsin, and other units for a cruise toChile andVenezuela. She transited thePanama Canal twice on this voyage, and was reviewed by the President of Venezuela on 25 November 1946.Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. returned to her home port on 14 December 1946.
During 1947 the destroyer operated on the East Coast and in the Caribbean. She sailed for fleet maneuvers offPuerto Rico on 9 February and upon completion steamed eastward to join the6th Fleet in theMediterranean. During this period of great unrest in Europe, the fleet carried out the important role of peacekeeper and stabilizer.Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. visited various Mediterranean ports before arriving Newport on 26 June 1948. The remainder of the year was spent inantisubmarine warfare (ASW) exercises, and the first half of 1949 saw her make two training cruises to the Caribbean.
The ship sailed on 23 August 1949 for 6th Fleet duty as flagship of Destroyer Squadron 18 (DESRON 18), returning on 27 January 1950.
With the advent of war inKorea,Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. carried out reserve training during July 1950, followed by bombardment andconvoy exercises to prepare for action defendingSouth Korea from Communist aggression.Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. sailed for Japan on 3 January 1951 by way of the Panama Canal,Pearl Harbor, andMidway Atoll. AtSasebo she loaded ammunition and, exactly one month after departure from Newport, joinedTask Force 77 (TF 77) off Korea. From February to April she screened the attackcarriers as they pounded enemy positions and supply lines. She departed on 8 April for theFormosa Patrol, helping to prevent further hostilities across the volatileTaiwan Straits.Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., then returned to Korea arriving offWonsan on 20 May to take up bombardment station in support of the Allied siege and occupation of harbor islands. This duty continued until 13 June, a period of almost constant bombardment of great importance to the operation, after which the ship steamed to Sasebo.
Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. did not return to the West Coast immediately upon the termination of this combat duty, but instead steamed westward to complete a circumnavigation of the globe. With other units of Destroyer Squadron 8, she visited Singapore,Bahrain,Port Said,Naples, andGibraltar before returning to Newport on 9 August 1951. Until January 1953 she conducted battle practice and served as school ship for the Fleet Training School at Newport. She sailed on 7 January for another 6th Fleet cruise, returning to Newport on 18 May 1953. Antisubmarine training exercises and another Mediterranean cruise January – May 1954 comprised her duty through most of 1955, and she sailed on 5 November forArctic maneuvers off northern Europe. The ship visitedOslo, Norway, andBremerhaven,West Germany, carrying out tactical exercises with units of the 6th Fleet before returning to Newport on 5 March 1956.
In June 1956,Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. arrived atAnnapolis with battleshipsIowa andNew Jersey to embarkUnited States Naval Academymidshipmen for a training cruise. Upon returning from Northern Europe on 1 August, the ship took part in training operations until 6 May 1957, when she sailed once more for 6th Fleet duty. TheJordanian crisis[clarification needed] had just passed with the strong support of the fleet, andJoseph P. Kennedy Jr. took part in carrier operations until September, when she steamed to the coast of Norway forNATO joint maneuvers. She returned to Newport on 22 October 1957. Again in 1958 the ship sailed to the Mediterranean, and on this cruise spent April in thePersian Gulf with theMiddle East Force before arriving back to Newport on 1 July 1958.
After a needed period of overhaul at Boston,Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., arrived at Annapolis once more on 3 June 1959 for midshipman training. Along with other ships of thetask group, she entered theSt. Lawrence River and represented the Navy at the opening of theSt. Lawrence Seaway on 26 June 1959. Following the ceremonies, in which bothPresidentDwight D. Eisenhower andQueenElizabeth II took part, the destroyer entered the Seaway and steamed to Chicago on 2 July. The ship visited various ports before returning to the Atlantic on 6 August. In 1960 she returned to the Mediterranean withForrestal andFranklin D. Roosevelt, returning to Newport on 15 October.
In January 1961Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., steamed to Washington, D.C. for theinauguration ofJohn F. Kennedy, brother of her namesake. During February and April of that year she took part in space shots in theProject Mercury series. She then arrived New York City on 1 July 1961 for aFleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) overhaul in theNew York Naval Shipyard. During this period she received the latest in antisubmarine gear, a newhelicopter flight deck and hangar aft, and numerous other modifications designed to increase her useful life. After emerging in her new dress in late May 1962, she underwent exhaustive shakedown out ofGuantanamo Bay, Cuba, returning on 26 August 1962.
Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., with other ships of the fleet, reacted quickly to the threat ofSovietballistic missiles in Cuba, and President Kennedy's quarantine order. Sailing on 22 October, the ship took an active part in the blockade that forced an easing of theCuban Missile Crisis, and on 26 October under the command of Commander Nicholas S. Mikhalevsky sent a boarding party to theLebaneseLiberty shipMarucla After participating in this graphic demonstration of the power and mobility of the US Navy,Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. remained on patrol in the Caribbean until returning to Newport on 7 December 1962.
During 1963 the veteran destroyer carried out training operations off theVirginia Capes andNova Scotia. She departed Newport on 29 April 1964 for another Med cruise until 26 August, and in October was underway forOperation Steel Pike I, one of the largest amphibious operations sinceWorld War II. During the passage of thetask force to the Spanish coast, she acted as antisubmarine screening ship.Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. returned to Newport on 19 November 1964.
Late in January 1965,Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., put to sea forPort Canaveral, Florida, where she helped qualify two newly constructedPolarissubmarines for patrol overseas. There followed a regular 3-month overhaul in theBoston Naval Shipyard.Commander J. W. Hayes took over command ofJoseph P. Kennedy Jr. from Captain J. V. Peters on 14 July; the next day, a 2-month period of refresher training commenced as the ship set sail for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The US crewed space program was one ofJoseph P. Kennedy Jr.'s more recent commitments; leaving Newport on 27 November 1965, the ship took station 1,200 nautical miles (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) southeast ofBermuda as part of the afloat recovery team forGemini 6 andGemini 7 on a 14-day orbital and rendezvous mission in space. The shots a success and her duty done,Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. returned to Newport on 21 December to prepare for another deployment in the Mediterranean.
Assigned to DESRON 10,Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. departed Newport on 15 February 1966 for duty with the 6th Fleet. After arriving atGibraltar on 24 February, she participated during the next four months in AAW and ASW operations and ranged the Mediterranean from the North African coast toTurkey. She completed her peace-keeping patrols late in June and returned to Newport on 8 July.
During the remainder of the year she conducted destroyer exercises and carrier screening operations off the eastern seaboard. In mid-November she participated in recovery operations following the successful 4-day flight ofGemini 12. On 1 March 1967Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. again sailed for duty with the 6th Fleet. She cruised the Mediterranean until late April, and then transited theSuez Canal for theRed Sea and Indian Ocean. Late in June she departed theGulf of Aden for the United States. Steaming via theCape of Good Hope and South America, she arrived Newport the following month. There she resumed readiness training.
As part of the Navy drawdown resulting from the end of US involvement inVietnam, theKennedy was decommissioned in early 1973 and was stricken from the Navy Register on 1 July the same year. Due to her famous namesake and close association with the Kennedy family, plans were soon made for her preservation.
After decommissioning,Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. was stricken from theNaval Vessel Register on 1 July 1973 and removed toFall River, Massachusetts, as a unit of theBattleship Cove Museum. She is open to the public as the official memorial toMassachusetts citizens who gave their lives during theKorean andVietnam Wars. She is also home to the AdmiralArleigh Burke National Destroyermen's Museum.
In the spring of 2000,Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. was brought toRhode Island Sound for the movieThirteen Days, portraying both herself andJohn R. Pierce. The ship was crewed by active duty Navy and Naval Reservists in period uniforms, and some systems (radar antennae, gun mounts, andASWtorpedo tubes) were made semi-operational for action scenes, with the ship being towed by a tugboat that was keptout of frame during filming.
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Note – TheJoseph P. Kennedy Jr. displays the ribbon of theAsiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal at Battleship Cove in Fall River; however, the vessel was not in the area of eligibility for this medal during the appropriate time period.[3]
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere. This article incorporatespublic domain material fromJoseph P Kennedy Jr (DD-850) at theNaval Vessel Register.
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