USS Blandy (DD-943) in 1970
|
|
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Namesake: | William H. P. Blandy |
Ordered: | 23 October 1954 |
Builder: | Bethlehem Steel, Fore River Shipyard |
Laid down: | 29 December 1955 |
Launched: | 19 December 1956 |
Acquired: | 20 November 1957 |
Commissioned: | 26 November 1957 |
Decommissioned: | 5 November 1982 |
Struck: | 27 July 1990 |
Motto: | Pax per potestatem |
Fate: |
|
General characteristics | |
Class and type: | Forrest Sherman class destroyer |
Displacement: |
|
Length: |
|
Beam: | 45 ft (14 m) |
Draft: | 22 ft (6.7 m) |
Propulsion: |
|
Speed: | 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h) |
Range: |
|
Complement: | 15 officers, 218 enlisted. |
Armament: |
|
USS Blandy (DD-943) was a Forrest Sherman-class destroyer, named for Admiral William H. P. Blandy USN (1890–1954),
Blandy was built by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation's Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts and was launched 19 December 1956, sponsored by Mrs. John M. (Hope "Toni" Blandy) Lee, daughter of Admiral Blandy; and commissioned 26 November 1957, Commander William F. Cafferata in command.
In 1958, Blandy bore the American Unknown Soldier of World War II's European Theater from Naples to a rendezvous off the Virginia Capes with Boston (CAG-1), which bore the Unknowns of the Pacific Theater and the Korean War, and Canberra (CAG-2). After the selection of the Unknown of World War II was made on board Canberra, the selected casket and the Korean Unknown were transferred to Blandy for transportation to Washington, D.C. Arriving at the U.S. Naval Gun Factory on 28 May, both caskets lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda until 30 May, after which they were interred in the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery.