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Guided Missile Destroyer
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DDG 5
- USS Claude V. Ricketts
(ex USS
Biddle) |
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Type,
Class:
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Guided Missile Destroyer; Charles F. Adams - class
planned as DD 955;
built as DDG 5 |
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Builder:
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New York
Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, New Jersey, USA |
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STATUS:
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Awarded: March 28, 1957 Laid
down: May 18, 1959 Launched: June 4, 1960 Commissioned: May 5, 1962 (as USS Biddle) Renamed: USS Claude V.
Ricketts on July 28, 1964 Decommissioned:
October 31,
1989 Fate:
Sold for scrap 15 Apr 1994. Contract was
terminated 8 Oct 1996 and the hull was repossessed with scrapping only 30% completed.
Resold to Metro Machine, Inc. in 2001. Scrapping completed November 8, 2002. |
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Homeport:
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-
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Namesake:
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named after and in
honor of Captain Nicholas Biddle (1750 - 1778) renamed to USS
Claude V. Ricketts in honor of Admiral Claude V. Ricketts (1906-1964) who died on duty
as Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), July 6, 1964. >
see history, below; |
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Ship’s
Motto:
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- |
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Technical Data:
(Measures, Propulsion, Armament, Aviation, etc.)
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see: INFO
> Charles F. Adams - class Guided Missile Destroyer |
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ship
images
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USS Claude V. Ricketts (front) and USS
Lawrence (middle) awaiting scrapping - August 1994
DDG-5 USS Biddle |
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Claude Vernon Ricketts / Nicholas Biddle |
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Admiral Claude Vernon Ricketts
Captain Nicholas Biddle |
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Namesake & History: |
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Captain
Nicholas Biddle (September 10, 1750 – March 7, 1778): |
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Captain Nicholas
Biddle was born 10 September 1750 in Philadelphia. At the age of 13 he went
to sea in the merchant service, and in 1772 entered the British Navy as a
midshipman. As tension mounted between the Colonies and the Crown, Biddle
resigned his commission and returned to America, volunteering his services to
his home state of Pennsylvania. On 01 August, 1775 he became Commanding
Officer of the armed galley FRANKLIN, which had been fitted out by the
Pennsylvania Committee of Safety to defend the Delaware. In December 1775,
Captain Biddle took command of the 14-gun brig ANDREW DORIA and joined the
fleet commanded by Esek Hopkins in the expedition against New Providence. In
this action ANDREW DORIA captured numerous armed merchantmen, including two
armed transports carrying 400 reinforcements for the British Army in North
America. Later, Captain
Biddle assumed command of RANDOLPH, which was manned in part by paroled
British prisoners of war. These prisoners mutinied shortly after the ship
sailed, but the superb leadership of the 27 year old captain ended the
trouble quickly. Violent storms
dismasted his ship off the Delaware Capes, but Captain Biddle's superb
seamanship brought RANDOLPH into Charleston for repairs. he sailed again for
the West Indies on 04 September, 1777 and enroute captured HMS TRUE BRITON,
along with her three ship convoy. Captain Biddle took his fourth prize back
to Charleston and blockaded there until late February 1778, when he
successfully eluded the British patrol and escaped to the open sea. On 07 March, 1778
RANDOLPH, 32 guns, engaged HMS YARMOUTH, 64 guns. Despite his firepower
disadvantage and a severe wound received early in action, Captain Biddle
brilliantly directed the cannon fire of his ship, and YARMOUTH's commanding
officer later reported that RANDOLPH fired three accurate broadsides to
YARMOUTH's one. Tragically, however, fire penetrated RANDOLPH's powder
magazines, and the ship exploded and sank instantly. Captain Biddle perished,
and his 315 man crew had only four survivors. Thus ended the brief
but illustrious career of Captain Nicholas Biddle, Continental Navy. His life
ended short of its twenty eighth year, but his spirit lives on in the ship
that bears his name. "I
fear nothing but what I ought to fear. I am much more afraid of doing a foolish
action than of loosing my life. I aim for a character of conduct, as well as
courage, and hope never to throw away a vessel and crew merely to convince
the world I have courage. No one has dared to impeach it yet. If any should,
I will not leave them a moment of doubt." Nicholas
Biddle to his brother, Charles, 16 June 1776 |
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Admiral Claude
Vernon Ricketts (1906 – July 6, 1964): |
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Admiral Claude
Vernon Ricketts served in the United States Navy as the Vice Chief of Naval
Operations. |
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USS
Biddle / Claude V. Ricketts (DDG 5): |
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USS
Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5), previously Biddle and DD-955, was a Charles F.
Adams-class guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy. Originally
to be designated as DD-955, the ship was laid down as DDG-5 by the New York
Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden, New Jersey on 18 May 1959, launched on 4
June 1960 and commissioned on 5 May 1962. Biddle
was renamed to Claude V. Ricketts on 28 July 1964 in honor of Admiral Claude
V. Ricketts, who had died on 6 July. The
Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5) served as the rescue unit and tied up alongside
USS Belknap after her collision with USS John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1975
- the twelfth anniversary of the assassination of the president so named. The
cruiser was ablaze with exploding ammunition and magazines, but the
guided-missile destroyer and her crewmen fought and limited damage. In the
end, CG-26 was knocked and melted to her 01 level, which is the next level
above the main deck. Seven crewmembers aboard Belknap and one aboard the
Kennedy were killed. Claude
V. Ricketts was decommissioned on 31 October 1989, stricken from the Naval
Vessel Register on 1 June 1990 and sold for scrap on 15 April 1994. The scrap
contract was terminated on 1 October 1996 and the ship was resold to Metro
Machine, Incorporated, of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania on 18 December 2001. -- more
DDG 5 history wanted -- |
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patches |
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