USS John Young (DD-973)

USS John Young in the Pacific, 1 May 1981 after firing its two 5-inch/54-caliber guns during a gunnery exercise.
History
United States
Name:	John Young
Namesake:	John Young
Ordered:	26 January 1972
Builder:	Ingalls Shipbuilding
Laid down:	17 February 1975
Launched:	6 January 1976
Acquired:	1 May 1978
Commissioned:	20 May 1978
Decommissioned:	30 September 2002
Struck:	6 November 2002
Motto:	Prends La Mer Avec Courage ("Set Sail With Courage")
Fate:	Sunk as a target on 13 April 2004
General characteristics
Class and type:	Spruance-class destroyer
Displacement:	8,040 (long) tons full load
Length:	529 ft (161 m) waterline; 563 ft (172 m) overall
Beam:	55 ft (16.8 m)
Draft:	29 ft (8.8 m)
Propulsion:	4 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, 2 shafts, 80,000 shp (60 MW)
Speed:	32.5 knots (60 km/h)
Range:	6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) 3,300 nautical miles (6,100 km; 3,800 mi) at 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement:	19 officers, 315 enlisted
Sensors and processing systems:	AN/SPS-40 air search radar AN/SPG-60 fire control radar AN/SPS-55 surface search radar AN/SPQ-9 gun fire control radar Mk 23 TAS automatic detection and tracking radar AN/SPS-65 Missile fire control radar AN/SQS-53 bow mounted Active sonar AN/SQR-19 TACTAS towed array Passive sonar Naval Tactical Data System
Electronic warfare & decoys:	AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare System AN/SLQ-25 Nixie Torpedo Countermeasures Mark 36 SRBOC Decoy Launching System AN/SLQ-49 Inflatable Decoys
Armament:	2 x 5 in (127 mm) 54 calibre Mark 45 dual purpose guns 2 x 20 mm Phalanx CIWS Mark 15 guns 1 x 8 cell ASROC launcher (removed) 1 x 8 cell NATO Sea Sparrow Mark 29 missile launcher 2 x quadruple Harpoon missile canisters 2 x Mark 32 triple 12.75 in (324 mm) torpedo tubes (Mk 46 torpedoes) 1 x 61 cell Mk 41 VLS launcher for Tomahawk missiles 1 × 21 round RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile
Aircraft carried:	2 x Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters.

USS John Young (DD-973), named for Captain John Young USN, was a Spruance-class destroyer of the United States Navy. The ship was built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries at Pascagoula, Mississippi.

In 1987, John Young deployed off the coast of Iran in support of Operation Earnest Will and participated in Operation Nimble Archer. John Young deployed with Battle Group Echo, which included the aircraft carrier Ranger, battleship Missouri, cruisers Long Beach, Bunker Hill, destroyers Leftwich and Hoel, frigates Curts, Harold E. Holt, Robert E. Peary, Schofield and auxiliaries Shasta, Wichita, Kansas City, Hassayampa.