USS Merrill (DD-976)
Encyclopedia

USS Merrill (DD-976), named for Rear Admiral Aaron Stanton Merrill USN (1890–1961), was a laid down 16 June 1975 by the Ingalls Shipbuilding
Ingalls Shipbuilding
Ingalls Shipbuilding is a shipyard located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, USA, originally established in 1938, and is now part of Huntington Ingalls Industries...

 Division of Litton Industries
Litton Industries
Named after inventor Charles Litton, Sr., Litton Industries was a large defense contractor in the United States, bought by the Northrop Grumman Corporation in 2001.-History:...

 at Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, as a part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula, Mississippi Combined Statistical Area. The population was 26,200 at the 2000 census...

.She was launched 1 September 1976 and commissioned 11 March 1978.

History

USS Merrill had the distinction of being the test ship for the installation of the Tomahawk cruise missile system aboard the SPRUANCE Class units.

On 21 August 1980, while on a Western Pacific Ocean deployment, Merrill rescued 62 Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

ese refugees, over 200 miles southeast of Saigon. During the next years, Merrill served as the Navy's test platform for the Tomahawk
BGM-109 Tomahawk
The Tomahawk is a long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile. Introduced by General Dynamics in the 1970s, it was designed as a medium- to long-range, low-altitude missile that could be launched from a surface platform. It has been improved several times and, by way of corporate divestitures...

 Cruise Missile Program, earning the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation. In this function, the ship did not participate in the Pacific Fleet's deployment rotation.

In 1989, Merrill stood out on a deployment to the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

. Serving as a unit of Joint Task Force Middle East, the ship conducted operations in support of Operation Earnest Will
Operation Earnest Will
Operation Earnest Will was the U.S. military protection of Kuwaiti owned tankers from Iranian attacks in 1987 and 1988, three years into the Tanker War phase of the Iran–Iraq War. It was the largest naval convoy operation since World War II.The U.S. Navy warships that escorted the tankers, part of...

 and was back in San Diego in 1990.

Assigned to the carrier battle group
Carrier battle group
A carrier battle group consists of an aircraft carrier and its escorts, together composing the group. The first naval task forces built around carriers appeared just prior to and during World War II. The Imperial Japanese Navy was the first to assemble a large number of carriers into a single...

, Merrill again deployed to the Middle East in 1991. Arriving in the region after the ceasefire of the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...

, Merrill became the flagship for the coalition minesweeping forces in the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...

 and was the second warship to visit the liberated port of Kuwait City
Kuwait City
-Suburbs:Although the districts below are not usually recognized as suburbs, the following is a list of a few areas surrounding Kuwait city:Al-Salam ""السلام"" -Economy:...

 after the Iraqi invasion
Invasion of Kuwait
The Invasion of Kuwait, also known as the Iraq-Kuwait War, was a major conflict between the Republic of Iraq and the State of Kuwait, which resulted in the seven-month long Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, which subsequently led to direct military intervention by United States-led forces in the Gulf...

. 1992 found Merrill underway on a counter-narcotics deployment in the Central America area of operations.

Merrill deployed in 1995 as part of the Abraham Lincoln battle group. During the first half of the deployment, the battle group conducted a variety of multinational operations and exercises designed to support U.S. interests and relationships in the Pacific and Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

s, and the Persian Gulf. The battle group maintained a continuous watch on all merchant shipping going to and from Iraq. Numerous ships were queried and boarded to verify their cargo manifests.

In July 1995, as part of a reorganization of the Pacific Fleet's surface ships into six core battle groups and eight destroyer squadrons, Merrill was reassigned to Destroyer Squadron 7. The reorganization was scheduled to be completed by 1 October, with homeport changes to be completed within the following year.

From 10 February through 21 February 1997, Merrill took part in Pacific Joint Task Force Exercise (PACJTFEX) 97-1, off the Southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 coast. The U.S. 3rd Fleet exercise involved 20 ships, fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters from the carrier battle group and Amphibious Ready Group
Amphibious Ready Group
An Amphibious Readiness Group of the United States Navy consists of a Navy element—a group of warships known as an amphibious task force —and a landing force of United States Marines , in total about 5,000 people. Together, these elements and supporting units are trained, organized, and equipped...

 with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit
15th Marine Expeditionary Unit
The 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit is one of seven Marine Expeditionary Units currently in existence in the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Expeditionary Unit is a Marine Air Ground Task Force with a strength of about 2,200 personnel...

 embarked. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

, Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

, National Guard
United States National Guard
The National Guard of the United States is a reserve military force composed of state National Guard militia members or units under federally recognized active or inactive armed force service for the United States. Militia members are citizen soldiers, meaning they work part time for the National...

 and Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...

 units also participated. The exercise included various air strike and support missions, maritime interdiction operations, humanitarian operations, operational testing of weapons systems, logistics support, search and rescue, and command and control. Amphibious operations supporting the exercise culminated with an amphibious landing at Camp Pendleton
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and serves as its prime amphibious training base...

, California, involving surface and helicopter assault forces. PAC JTFEX 97-1 was part of a series of exercises previously named "FLEETEX". The change in name reflected the increasing focus on preparing naval forces for joint operations
Joint warfare
Joint warfare is a military doctrine which places priority on the integration of the various service branches of a state's armed forces into one unified command...

 with other U.S. military services. During the previous several years this exercise placed increasing emphasis on incorporating joint procedures, planning, and command and control structures into task group training.

Merrill then deployed with the Constellation battle group, as part of a routine six-month deployment in the waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The Constellation battle group departed 5th Fleet's Area of Responsibility (AOR) on 17 August 1997. The battle group had entered the Arabian Sea
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...

 on 16 May, and conducted high tempo operations there that included more than 4,400 sorties during more than 10 weeks in the Persian Gulf. Operations included exercises with friendly forces in the region. After departing the Persian Gulf, the Constellation battle group concluded its tour in the 5th Fleet with a joint-combined exercise with the Pakistani Armed Forces. Dubbed Inspired Siren 97-2 and Inspired Alert 97-2, the exercises incorporated both surface combatants and air components, respectively. The purpose of this four-day training mission was to exercise the joint-combined naval and air capabilities of both countries, improve their respective levels of readiness and interoperability, and enhance military relations between the two nations.

Fate

Merrill was decommissioned and stricken 26 March 1998 awaiting disposal at Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

 Naval Intermediate Ship Maintenance Facility. On 1 August 2003 she was sunk as a target northwest of Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

. The exact location was 022° 43' 53.0" North, 160° 29' 23.0" West.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK