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USS SOMERS (DD-947 / DDG-34)


Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign - NDWH

Tactical Voice Radio Call Sign (circa 1968) - TIME CLOCK

CLASS - FORREST SHERMAN As Built.
Displacement 4619 Tons (Full), Dimensions, 418' 6"(oa) x 44' 11" x 15' (Max)
Armament 3 x 5"/54 DP (3x1), 4 x 3"/50 (2x2), 2 Hedghog ASW Mortars,
4 x 21" tt.(4x1) 6 x 12.75" Mk 32 ASW TT (2x3).
Machinery, 70,000 SHP; Geared Turbines, 2 screws
Speed, 33 Knots, Range 4500 NM@ 20 Knots, Crew 324.
Operational and Building Data
Built by Bath Iron Works, Bath, ME (YN 332)
Laid down 04 March 1957
Launched 30 May 1958
Commissioned 09 April 1959
Decommissioned 11 April 1966 for conversion to DDG
Reclassified Guided Missile Destroyer DDG-34 15 March 1967
Recommissioned 10 February 1968
Decommissioned 19 November 1982
Stricken 26 April 1988
Fate Used as a target for AGM-142 Have Nap missiles by B-52s of USAF's 20th Bomb Squadron during RIMPAC 98 21 July 1998;
Scuttled by EOD team 30 miles north of Kauai (22° 21' N 160° 58' W) 22 July 1998

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Somers 110kRichard Somers was born in 1778 or 1779 at Great Egg Harbor, N.J. and was appointed midshipman on 25 April 1797 and served in the West Indies during the Quasi War with France in frigate United States commanded by Captain John Barry. Promoted to lieutenant on 21 May 1799, Somers was detached from United States on 13 June 1801 and ordered to Boston on 30 July 1801. He served in the latter frigate in the Mediterranean. After Boston return to Washington, Somers was furloughed on 11 November 1802 to await orders. On 5 May 1803, Somers was ordered to Baltimore to man; fit out; and command Nautilus; and when that schooner was ready for sea, to sail her to the Mediterranean. Nautilus got underway on 30 June; reached Gibraltar on 27 July; and sailed four days later to Spain. He then returned to Gibraltar to meet Commodore Edward Preble, in Constitution, who was bringing a new squadron for action against the Barbary pirates. Nautilus sailed with Preble on 6 October to Tangier where the display of American naval strength induced the Europeans of Morocco to renew the treaty of 1786. Thereafter, Tripoli became the focus of Preble's attention. Somers' service as commanding officer of Nautilus during operations against Tripoli won him promotion to master commandant on 18 May 1804. In the summer, he commanded a division of gunboats during five attacks on Tripoli. On 4 September 1804, Somers assumed command of bomb ketch Intrepid which had been fitted out as a "floating volcano" to be sailed into Tripoli harbor and blown up in the midst of the corsair fleet close under the walls of the city. That night, she got underway into the harbor, but she exploded prematurely, killing Somers and his entire crew of volunteers.Bill Gonyo
Somers 118kUndated, location unknown.-
Somers 137kUndated, location unknown.-
Somers 145kUndated, location unknown.-
Somers 86kUndated, location unknown.-
Somers 58kUndated, location unknown.James W. Oden, Jr.
Somers 45kUndated, location unknown.James W. Oden, Jr.
Somers 104kUndated image from the NAVSEA Journal.Bob Bush
Somers 76kUndated, location unknown.Robert M. Cieri
Somers 172kUndated, location unknown.Wolfgang Hechler
Somers 81kUndated, location unknown.Charlie Fatumn
Somers 56kUndated, location unknown.Charlie Fatumn
Somers 137kUndated, location unknown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Somers 91kUndated, location unknown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Somers 117kUndated, off Point Loma.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Somers 130kUndated, location unknown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Somers 101kUndated, USS Somers (DDG-34), USS Morton (DD-948) and USS Richard S. Edwards (DD-950) at Pearl Harbor.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Somers 143kUndated, location unklnown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Somers 132kUndated, location unklnown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Somers 117kUSS Du Pont (DD-941) outboard & USS Bigelow (DD-942) at the fitting out pier of Bath Iron Works in 1957. On the building ways are (from right to left) Hull (DD-945), Edson (DD-946) and Somers (DD-947).Robert Hurst
Somers 35k1959 at Gitmo Bay, Cuba, Somers collided with a camel at the pier and punctured a hole in her port side spilling 50,000 gal of oil into the Bay.Jerry Daugherty
Somers 36kCirca 1960s, location unknown.Cuneyt Demir
Somers 184kApril 4-13 1961, a SEATO grouping in Sembawang Basin, Singapore, seen from HMAS Melbourne [II], USS Somers (DD-947) and USS Gurke (DD-783).Kimberley Dunstan, RAN, 1958-67
Somers 60kCirca 1965, location unknown.Robert Hurst
Somers 39kCommissioning Day 2-10-1968. San Franciscio Bay Naval Shipyard at Hunters Point.James Oden SK3 10/67-8/69 Plank Owner
Somers 219kAs above.Darryl Baker
Somers 112kMay 2 1968, location unknown.Wolfgang Hechler
Somers 82kUSS Parsons (DDG-33), USS Somers (DDG-34) and USS Turner Joy (DD-951) at San Francisco June 1969.Marc Piché
Somers 144kCirca 1970, location unknown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Somers 113kUSS Somers (DDG-34) underway off Vancouver BC on May 8 1970. Source: City of Vancouver Archives, Photo No. AM1506-S3-3-: CVA 447-8223, by Walter E. Frost.Mike Green
Somers   Somers   Somers   Somers
Somers   Somers   Somers   Somers
Welcome Aboard pamphlet - circa 1979
Wolfgang Hechler
Somers 101kDN-ST-86-09571. June 24 1986, a view of several mothballed ships at anchor near Beckoning Point, in the East Loch of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. They are, left to right, the guided-missile destroyer Somers (DDG 34), and the destroyers Morton (DD 948) and Richard S. Edwards (DD 950). U.S. Navy Photo by Don S. Montgomery.Robert M. Cieri
Somers 76kIn reserve atPearl Harbor East Loch, July 1988.Robert M. Cieri
Somers 45kSix views of the sinking of the Somers.Gerd Matthes
Somers 45kAs above.Gerd Matthes
Somers 71kAs above.Gerd Matthes
Somers 53kAs above.Gerd Matthes
Somers 64kAs above.Gerd Matthes
Somers 44kAs above.Gerd Matthes
Somers 88kShip's patchMike Smolinski
Somers 44kShip's patchJohn Starace

USS SOMERS DD-947 / DDG-34 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 Edward Joseph Cummings Jr.    Apr 3 1959 - Oct 28 1960

CDR Wayne Douglas Surface    Oct 28 1960 - Oct 13 1962

CDR Vincent Douglass Maynard Jr.    Oct 13 1962 - Jul 18 1964

CDR Jackson Edward Vereen    Jul 18 1964 - Jun 16 1965

LCDR Tyrone Gabriel Martin    Jun 16 1965 - Jun 26 1965

CDR Herbert Emil Reichert    Jun 26 1965 - Apr 11 1966

(Decommissioned Apr 11 1966 - Feb 10 1968)

CDR Randall Wayne Young    Feb 10 1968 - Apr 11 1969

CDR Hugh Larimer Webster    Apr 11 1969 - Dec 19 1970 (Later RADM)

CDR Charles Henry Ulrich    Dec 19 1970 - Mar 4 1972

CDR William Elwell Vollmer Jr.    Mar 4 1972 - Sep 29 1973

CDR Howard Lloyd Pabst    Sep 29 1973 - Oct 7 1975

CDR Harry J. Hansen III    Oct 7 1975 - Oct 22 1977

CDR John William Shillingsburg    Oct 22 1977 - Oct 20 1979

CDR Willard Ernest Siepel    Oct 20 1979 - Sep 25 1981

CDR Thomas David Kenneally    Sep 25 1981- Nov 19 1982


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

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