USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. (DD-850)

USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. (DD-850)

Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. after her FRAM I modernization
History
Name:	Joseph P. Kennedy Jr
Namesake:	Joseph P. Kennedy Jr.
Builder:	Fore River Shipyard
Laid down:	2 April 1945
Launched:	26 July 1945
Sponsored by:	Miss Jean Kennedy Smith
Commissioned:	15 December 1945
Decommissioned:	2 July 1973
Struck:	1 July 1973
Nickname(s):	"Joey P"
Status:	Museum ship at Battleship Cove
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	Gearing-class destroyer
Displacement:	2,425 tons 3,479 tons (fully loaded)
Length:	390 ft 6 in (119.02 m)
Beam:	40 ft 10 in (12.45 m)
Draft:	14 ft 4 in (4.37 m)
Installed power:	4 × Babcock & Wilcox 615 psi (4.24 MPa) 850 °F (454 °C) superheated D-Type express boilers
Propulsion:	2 sets of high pressure, low pressure and cruising turbines (General Electric or Westinghouse) 60,000 shp (45,000 kW); 2 shafts and 12.5-foot (3.8 m) four-bladed propellers
Speed:	35.25 knots (65.28 km/h; 40.56 mph)
Range:	5,800 mi (5,000 nmi; 9,300 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement:	274 (14 officers, 260 enlisted) standard, 345 (20 officers, 325 enlisted) wartime
Sensors and processing systems:	SPS 10 surface search radar SPS40 air search radar SQS23 long range sonar
Armament:	5 in (127 mm)/38 caliber twin gun mounts Mark 37 Gun Fire Control System Mk25 fire control radar Mark 1A Fire Control Computer Mk6 8,500 rpm gyro 2 × triple tubes for 12.75 in (324 mm) Mk 32 torpedoes Antisubmarine rocket launcher (ASROC) 4 × double celled boxes housing 8 missiles nuclear depth charge capability
Aircraft carried:	Drone Anti-Sub Helicopter (DASH)
Notes:	Fuel capacity of 96,000 US gal (360,000 l; 80,000 imp gal)
USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. (DD-850)
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Coordinates	41°42′21″N 71°09′47″W / 41.7057°N 71.1631°W / 41.7057; -71.1631Coordinates: 41°42′21″N 71°09′47″W / 41.7057°N 71.1631°W / 41.7057; -71.1631
Built	1945
NRHP Reference #	76000231
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	11 December 1989
Designated NHL	29 June 1989

USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. (DD-850) is a United States Navy Gearing-class destroyer. The ship was named after Lieutenant Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., a naval aviator, son of the former Ambassador to Britain, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., and older brother of future President John F. Kennedy. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. served, with interruptions for modernization, until 1973. Among the highlights of her service are the blockade of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the afloat recovery teams for Gemini 6 and Gemini 7. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. is on display as a museum ship in Battleship Cove, Fall River, Massachusetts. She was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989 as one of a small number of surviving Gearing-class destroyers.

Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. was built by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation's Fore River Shipyard at Quincy, Massachusetts, launched on 26 July 1945, sponsored by Miss Jean Kennedy, sister of Lieutenant Kennedy. Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. was commissioned at Boston on 15 December 1945, Commander H. G. Moore in command.