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USS CAPERTON (DD-650)


Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign - NBUJ

CLASS - FLETCHER As Built.
Displacement 2924 Tons (Full), Dimensions, 376' 5"(oa) x 39' 7" x 13' 9" (Max)
Armament 5 x 5"/38AA, 10 x 40mm, 7 x 20mm AA, 10 x 21" tt.(2x5).
Machinery, 60,000 SHP; General Electric Geared Turbines, 2 screws
Speed, 38 Knots, Range 6500 NM@ 15 Knots, Crew 273.
Operational and Building Data
Laid down by Bath Iron Woks, Bath ME January 11 1943.
Launched May 22 1943 and commissioned July 30 1943.
Decommissioned July 6 1946 and recommissioned April 27 1951.
Decommissioned April 27 1960.
Stricken December 1 1974.
Fate Sunk as a target in the mid-80's.

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Size Image Description Contributed
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Caperton

Caperton
90k




171k
Born in 1850 in Spring Hill, Tenn., William B. Caperton graduated from the Naval Academy in 1875. He held major posts ashore and afloat, chief of which were commanding the naval forces intervening in Haiti (1915-16) and Santo Domingo (1916), and Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet, from 28 July 1916 to 30 April 1919. He served actively until 12 November 1921, and died in Newport, R.I., 12 December 1941. First photo digital ID: hec 17342, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Second photo courtesy of the Arlington National Cemetery.Bill Gonyo
Caperton 132kUndated, location unknown.Brent W. Lundgren
Caperton 51kUndated, in the Panama Canal.Gust Meraklis
Caperton 83kUndated, location unknown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Caperton 66kPhoto #: NH 55050. USS Caperton (DD-650) on 15 August 1943 at Boston Navy Yard. This image has been retouched by wartime censors to remove radar antennas atop her Mark 37 gun director and foremast. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.Tracy White
Caperton 105kUSS Caperton (DD-650) on 15 August 1943 at Boston Navy Yard upon completion a couple of weeks after her delivery by Bath Iron Works and commissioning o 30 July. She was completed with three Mk 49 directors controlling the aft three twin 40-mm mounts and two Mk 51 directors in the bridge wings controlling the two forward twin 40-mm mounts. Official USN Photo from the BuShips photo files at NARA (19-N-).Rick E. Davis
Caperton 110kLaunching May 22 1943 at Bath Iron Works.Ron Reeves
Caperton 65kFebruary 5, 1944, USS Indiana BB-58 anchored at Majuro Atoll after the collision with USS Washington (BB-56). With the Destroyer USS Caperton (DD-650). Taken from the Escort Carrier USS Natoma Bay (CVE-62).Fred Weiss
Caperton   Caperton   Caperton
Views of hi-line activity between Caperton and Lexington during the Hollandia operation, May 1944. LIFE Magazine archives, original photographer J.R. Eyerman. Used for educational and non-commercial purposes.
John Chiquoine
Caperton 121kPulling alongside the USS Yorktown in September 1953.Gust Meraklis
Caperton 160kUSS Ernest G. Small (DD 838) taken from the USS Yorktown (CVA 10) on 3 October 1953. The USS Caperton (DD 650) is in the background.Darryl Baker
Caperton 102kLaying a smoke screen during Atlantic Fleet maneuvers in 1956.Gust Meraklis
Caperton 30kCirca 1956, location unknown.Robert Hurst
Caperton 147kPhiladelphia Reserve basin, early 1970's.Ed Zajkowski
Caperton 96kPhiladelphia Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility 30 July 1974, (L-R) USS Allen M. Sumner (DD-692), USS Caperton (DD-650), Gatling (DD-671), USS Miller (DD-535), USS Hazelwood (DD-531) and USS Cassin Young (DD-793).Robert Hurst
Caperton 144kPhiladelphia Navy Yard, July 13 1978.Ed Zajkowski
Caperton 53kShip's patch.Don McGrogan, BMCS, USN (Ret.)
Caperton 60kShip's patch.Don McGrogan, BMCS, USN (Ret.)
Caperton 22kShip's patch.Don McGrogan, BMCS, USN (Ret.)
Caperton 94kShip's patch.Mike Smolinski

USS CAPERTON DD-650 History
View This Vessels DANFS History Entry
(Located On The hazegray Web Site, This Is The Main Archive For The DANFS Online Project.)

Commanding Officers
Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves


CDR Wallace Joseph Miller    Jul 30 1943 - Aug 27 1944 (Later RADM)

CDR George Kennedy Carmichael    Aug 27 1944 - Jul 12 1945 (Later RADM)

LCDR Will Park Starnes    Jul 12 1945 – 1946

CDR Willard Arthur Saunders    1946 - Jul 7 1946

(Decommissioned Jul 7 1946 - Apr 6 1951)

CDR George Mason Hawes    Apr 6 1951 - 1953

CDR Edward Anthony Sandor    1953 - 1954

CDR Arthur Parris    1954 - 1956

CDR James Bradford McCormick    1956 - 1958

CDR William Jefferson McVey    ? 1958 - Apr 27 1960


Crew Contact And Reunion Information

Contact Name: Robert Smithson
Address: 3812 E. Kachina Dr, Phoenix, AZ 85004
Phone: 480 496 -0705
E-mail: buisbob@aol.com


Note About Contacts.

The contact listed, Was the contact at the time for this ship when located. If another person now is the contact, E-mail me and I will update this entry. These contacts are compiled from various sources over a long period of time and may or may not be correct. Every effort has been made to list the newest contact if more than one contact was found.


Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Tin Can Sailors Website
Destroyer History Foundation
Destroyers Online Website
Official U.S.Navy Destroyer Website

Back To The Main Photo Index To The Destroyer Index Page


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This page was created by Fred Willishaw (ex ARG-4, AS-11 & DD-692) and is maintained by David L. Wright
All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
Last Updated 21 December 2017