USS Sperry (AS-12)
USS Sperry at San Diego in 1985
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| History | |
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| Name: | USS Sperry |
| Namesake: | Elmer Ambrose Sperry |
| Builder: | Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California |
| Laid down: | 1 February 1941 |
| Launched: | 17 December 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 1 May 1942 |
| Decommissioned: | 30 September 1982 |
| Struck: | 30 September 1982 |
| Fate: | Sold for Scrapping 28 July 2011 to ESCO Marine, Brownsville, Tx |
| Status: | undergoing scrapping |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Fulton-class submarine tender |
| Displacement: | 9,250 long tons (9,400 t) |
| Length: | 530 ft 7 in (161.72 m) |
| Beam: | 73 ft 4 in (22.35 m) |
| Draft: | 22 ft 5 in (6.83 m) |
| Speed: | 15.4 kn (17.7 mph; 28.5 km/h) |
| Complement: | 1,307 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: | 4 × 5 in (130 mm) guns |
USS Sperry (AS-12) was a Fulton-class submarine tender in the United States Navy. She was named for Elmer Sperry.
Sperry was laid down on 1 February 1941 at the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California; launched on 17 December 1941, just 10 days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor; sponsored by Mrs. Helen Sperry Lea, daughter of Elmer Ambrose Sperry; and commissioned on 1 May 1942, Captain Robert H. Smith in command.
Sperry completed trials and shakedown training, and on 2 August 1942, she reported for duty to the Commander, Submarines, Pacific, at Pearl Harbor. She remained at Oahu for almost three months, refitting seven submarines and making voyage repairs to four others.
On 26 October, she weighed anchor and headed for Australia. After cautiously skirting the Solomon Islands and making a three-day stopover at Noumea, New Caledonia, the submarine tender reached Brisbane on 13 November. During her two-month stay "down under," Sperry refitted seven submarines and made a voyage repair on one.
On 17 January 1943, she sailed for Pearl Harbor, where she arrived on the 31st. After 10 refits, 10 voyage repairs, and over four months at Pearl Harbor, Sperry got underway on 8 June.
Steaming in company with tanker Kern and Coast Guard cutter Taney, she reached Midway Island on 12 June. Her stay there was probably the busiest period in her career. During five months, she serviced 70 submarines, refitting 17 and making voyage repairs to 53.
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