USS Charles S. Sperry (DD-697)

USS Charles S. Sperry, New York Harbor with Statue of Liberty, 16 May 1944
History
United States
Name:	USS Charles S. Sperry
Namesake:	Charles Stillman Sperry
Builder:	Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Laid down:	19 October 1943
Launched:	13 March 1944
Sponsored by:	Miss M. Sperry
Commissioned:	17 May 1944
Decommissioned:	15 December 1973
Struck:	15 December 1973
Fate:	Sold to Chile, 8 January 1974
Chile
Name:	Ministro Zenteno
Acquired:	8 January 1974
Struck:	1990
Fate:	Scrapped 1990
General characteristics
Class and type:	Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer
Displacement:	2,200 tons (standard), 3,320 (full load)
Length:	376 ft 6 in (114.76 m)
Beam:	40 ft (12 m)
Draft:	15 ft 8 in (4.78 m)
Propulsion:	60,000 shp (45 MW) 2 propellers
Speed:	34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph)
Range:	6,500 nautical miles (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement:	336 as designed, 276 after refit
Armament:	6 × 5 in /38 cal guns (12 cm), 12 × 40 mm AA guns, 11 × 20 mm AA guns, 10 × 21 in torpedo tubes, 6 × depth charge projectors, 2 × depth charge tracks
Aircraft carried:	1 × helicopter (after refit)

USS Charles S. Sperry (DD-697), an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer, was named for Charles Stillman Sperry, the commanding officer of Yorktown. Sperry would later attain the rank of Rear Admiral.

Charles S. Sperry was launched 13 March 1944 by Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Kearny, New Jersey; sponsored by Miss M. Sperry; commissioned 17 May 1944, Commander H. H. McIlhenny in command; and reported to the Pacific Fleet.

After training in the Hawaiian Islands, Charles S. Sperry arrived at Ulithi 28 December 1944 to join the fast carrier force, TP 38. For the remainder of the war, she sailed in the screen of the third group of this mighty force, variously designated TF 38 and TF 58. She sortied with her group for the first time on 30 December, bound for the areas from which the carriers launched strikes against Japanese bases on Formosa and Luzon in preparation for the assault on Lingayen Gulf beaches. Continuing to neutralize Japanese airfields the force moved on to strike at targets in Indochina, on the South China coast, and on Okinawa before returning to Ulithi 26 January 1945.

Sperry sailed with TF 58 once more on 10 February 1945, as the force began its familiar work in preparation for the invasion of Iwo Jima. An audacious raid against Tokyo itself was first on the schedule, the first carrier strikes on the heart of Japan since the Doolittle Raid. On 16 and 17 February, planes from the carriers guarded by Sperry roared over Tokyo, in attacks which inflicted substantial material damage, and great moral damage, to the Japanese war effort. Sperry forces offered direct support during the assault landings at Iwo Jima. Twice, on 19 February and on 20–21 February, the carrier force came under air attack from the enemy, but antiaircraft fire from Sperry and the other screening ships, combined with evasive maneuvering and a protective smoke screen, prevented damage to the great concentration of ships. A final round of air strikes was hurled at Tokyo and Okinawa before TF 58 returned to Ulithi 5 March.