USS Zellars (DD-777)
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
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| Name: | Zellars |
| Namesake: | Thomas Edward Zellars |
| Builder: | Todd Pacific Shipyards, Seattle |
| Laid down: | 24 December 1943 |
| Launched: | 19 July 1944 |
| Commissioned: | 25 October 1944 |
| Decommissioned: | 19 March 1971 |
| Struck: | 19 March 1971 |
| Identification: | DD-777 |
| Fate: | To Iran 12 October 1973 |
 Iran
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| Name: | Babr |
| Acquired: | 19 March 1971 |
| Commissioned: | 12 October 1973 |
| Identification: | DDG-7 then D61 |
| Fate: | non-operational since 1994; to be scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer |
| Displacement: | 2,200 tons |
| Length: | 376 ft 6 in (114.76 m) |
| Beam: | 40 ft (12.19 m) |
| Draft: | 15 ft 8 in (4.78 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph) |
| Range: |
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| Complement: | 336 |
| Armament: |
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USS Zellars (DD-777), an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer, was named for Thomas Edward Zellars, a lieutenant (junior grade) in the United States Navy who served on the battleship USS Mississippi. On 12 June 1924, Thomas Zellars and 47 other crew members died in a firing accident. However, before they were killed, Zellars apparently opened a flood valve that extinguished the fire, preventing further damage to the ship and likely saving the lives of his shipmates. The destroyer that was named for him was laid down on 24 December 1943 at Seattle, Washington, by the Todd-Pacific Shipyards, Inc.; launched on 19 July 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Thomas M. Zellars; and commissioned on 25 October 1944, Commander Blinn Van Mater in command. Zellars was eventually transferred to the Iranian Navy and renamed Babr. The current status of the ship is unknown.
After six weeks of shakedown training out of San Diego, California, Zellars returned north to Bremerton, Washington, for post-shakedown availability. She spent Christmas 1944 in Bremerton but, soon thereafter, got underway for Pearl Harbor and the second phase of training preparatory to her entry into combat. That training lasted until mid-March 1945 at which time she put to sea with a portion of the Okinawa invasion force. She was assigned to Task Group (TG) 54.3, a part of Rear Admiral Morton L. Deyo's Gunfire and Covering Force built around the old battleships. Staged through Ulithi in the Western Carolines, Zellars and her consorts arrived in the Ryukyus on 25 March. For the next week, she joined the battleships and cruisers of TF 54, first in supporting the occupation of the roadstead at Kerama Retto and then in subjecting Okinawa itself to a systematic, long-duration, preinvasion bombardment. Because most of the targets on Okinawa were located well inland in accordance with Japan's relatively new strategy of defense in depth, Zellars' 5-inch guns usually deferred to the larger caliber batteries on board the battleships and cruisers while she provided them with antisubmarine and antiaircraft protection.
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