USS Harry W. Hill

USS Harry W. Hill (DD-986), named for Admiral Harry W. Hill USN, was a Spruance-class destroyer built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries at Pascagoula, Mississippi.

USS Harry W. Hill leaving San Diego in December 1984
History
United States
Name	Harry W. Hill
Namesake	Harry W. Hill
Ordered	15 January 1975
Builder	Ingalls Shipbuilding
Laid down	1 April 1977
Launched	10 August 1978
Acquired	29 October 1979
Commissioned	17 November 1979
Decommissioned	29 May 1998
Stricken	29 May 1998
Identification	Callsign: NPFS Hull number: DD-986
Motto	Speed, Surprise, Success
Fate	Sunk as target, 15 July 2004
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Spruance-class destroyer
Displacement	8,040 long tons (8,170 t) full load
Length	529 ft (161 m) waterline 563 ft (172 m) overall
Beam	55 ft (17 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 (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Range	6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 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 Mark 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 × 5 in (127 mm) 54 caliber Mark 45 dual purpose guns 2 × 20 mm Phalanx CIWS Mark 15 guns 1 × 8 cell ASROC launcher (removed) 1 × 8 cell NATO Sea Sparrow Mark 29 missile launcher 2 × quadruple Harpoon missile canisters 2 × Mark 32 triple 12.75 in (324 mm) torpedo tubes (Mk 46 torpedoes)
Aircraft carried	2 × Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters
Aviation facilities	Flight deck and enclosed hangar for up to two medium-lift helicopters

History

USS Harry W. Hill on 15 October 1982

In late November 1982 Harry W. Hill was detached from the USS Enterprise battlegroup to shadow the Soviet aircraft carrier Minsk, which was transiting the Indian Ocean for her first deployment to the Far East, a matter of considerable interest to U.S. planners. As such, Enterprise assigned two intelligence specialists to Harry W. Hill to help in tracking the Russians. Harry W. Hill rejoined the battlegroup on 19–20 January 1983.

Harry W. Hill deployed as part of operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, part of the 1990-1991 Gulf War. On 14 January 1991, she collided with the Wichita class replenishment oiler USS Kansas City while conducting underway replenishment operations in the Gulf of Oman. There were no personnel casualties or injuries reported.

In 1994, Harry W. Hill was significantly damaged during a maneuver to re-float her and exit a dry dock. In the incident, she was caught by a gust of wind which caused the ship to smash into the dry dock. One of the steel wire control lines intended to control the ship parted, seriously injuring two crewmen in the process. The ship sustained damage to her rudders, screws, and controllable prop pitch systems.

Harry W. Hill was the only Spruance-class destroyer not to receive the armored box launchers nor the Mark 41 vertical launch system for firing Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Fate

She was based at San Diego for much of her career. Harry W. Hill was decommissioned and stricken from the Navy List on 29 May 1998. She was sunk as a target during RIMPAC 2004 on 15 July 2004.

Gallery

• 
  USS Harry W. Hill on 8 June 1991
• 
  Jay L. Johnson and crewmember aboard USS Harry W. Hill on 24 December 1997
• 
  A sailor from the USS Harry W. Hill' returning from a deployment on 8 June 1991

See also

• List of destroyers of the United States Navy

External links

• Naval Vessel Register entry for Harry W. Hill
• navsite.de: USS Harry W. Hill
• destroyers online Photo Page 1 webpage
• Navsource Photo Page 2 webpage