Spruance-class destroyer

The Spruance-class destroyer was developed by the United States to replace the many Second World War Allen M. Sumner- and Gearing-class destroyers, and it was the primary destroyer built for the United States Navy during the 1970s and 1980s. It was named for Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, who led the Battle of Midway and the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Introduced in 1975, the class was designed with gas-turbine propulsion, a flight deck and hangar for up to two medium-lift helicopters, all-digital weapons and automated 127 mm guns, and it was meant to escort a carrier group, mainly in anti-submarine warfare. Two dozen ships were upgraded with Tomahawk cruise missiles for land attack. The Navy retired the class earlier than planned, decommissioning the last ship in 2005, and the hull form and propulsion plant became the foundation of the Kidd-class destroyers and the Ticonderoga-class cruisers.