USS Power (DD-839) was a Gearing-class destroyer of the United States Navy, the first Navy ship named for First Lieutenant John V. Power, USMC (1918–1944), who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in the Battle of Kwajalein. This ship was involved in the Project SHAD tests off Newfoundland.

USS Power underway in 1966
History
United States
NamePower
NamesakeJohn V. Power
BuilderBath Iron Works
Laid down26 February 1945
Launched30 June 1945
Sponsored byMrs. George F. Power
Commissioned13 September 1945
Decommissioned1 October 1977
Stricken1 October 1977
Identification
FateSold to Republic of China, 1 October 1977
Badge
History
Taiwan
NameShen Yang
NamesakeShen Yang
Acquired1 October 1977
Commissioned18 December 1978
ReclassifiedDDG-923
Decommissioned1 January 2006
IdentificationHull number: DD-923
FateScrapped, November 2013[1]
General characteristics
Class and typeGearing-class destroyer
Displacement3,460 long tons (3,516 t) full
Length390 ft 6 in (119.02 m)
Beam40 ft 10 in (12.45 m)
Draft14 ft 4 in (4.37 m)
PropulsionGeared turbines, 2 shafts, 60,000 shp (45 MW)
Speed35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Range4,500 nmi (8,300 km) at 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement336
Armament

Construction and career edit

Power was laid down on 26 February 1945 by the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine; launched on 30 June 1945; sponsored by Mrs. George F. Power, mother of Lt. Power; and commissioned on 13 September 1945 at Boston.

Service in the United States Navy edit

After shakedown out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Power sailed on 9 January 1946 on the first of many Mediterranean deployments. Returning to the east coast six months later, she remained in the western Atlantic and Caribbean until late in 1948 when she again sailed for Mediterranean waters, to patrol the coast of Palestine under the direction of the United Nations Mediation Board.

During early 1950, Power operated with units of the British Royal Navy and visited ports in Northern Europe, whence she steamed to the Mediterranean for another tour with the 6th Fleet. In the summer of 1952 Power completed a South American cruise, then returned to the east coast to resume her schedule of reservist and Midshipman training cruises, fleet and type exercises, and Mediterranean deployments.

On January 12, 1955, Power collied with USS Warrington during a night exercise near Puerto Rico.[2]

In early 1956 during ASW exercises Power was involved in a collision with the destroyer USS_Eaton (DD-510).

Lebanon Crisis edit

In 1958 Power faced the Lebanon crisis with the 6th Fleet; and participated in the first Project Mercury launches after her return to the east coast.

From November 1960 to January 1962 Power received a Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM I) overhaul, giving her the ASROC system and DASH capability. By September 1962 she was back in the Mediterranean.

During her 1963 overseas deployment Power served with the Middle East Force and at the end of the year, into 1964, operated off eastern Florida in connection with the Polaris program. Following another Mediterranean cruise and further east coast exercises in late 1965, she steamed in mid-Atlantic as a member of the recovery teams for Gemini 6 and 7.

Vietnam War edit

During 1966 and 1967, she again served with the 6th Fleet and the Middle East Force, but in August 1968 she transited the Panama Canal for a tour in the western Pacific. With the 7th Fleet from 26 September 1968, she served in the "Yankee Station" Surveillance Area and provided gunfire support and search and rescue (SAR) off South Vietnam. Power made a port call at Da Nang, South Vietnam on 13 November 1968. She arrived Mayport, Florida on 9 July 1969. Following a Med Deployment in 1973, Power was transferred to the Naval Reserve Fleet and homeport was moved to New York City at the NY State Maritime Academy pier (Fort Schuyler)

Power was decommissioned in September 1977, and sold to Taiwan in October.

Service in the Republic of China Navy edit

 
Shen Yang before her Wu-Chin III modernization program

The ship served in the Republic of China Navy as ROCS Shen Yang (DD-923).

Her number was changed to DDG-923 after she underwent Wu-Chin III modernization program.

Sheng Yang's decommissioning ceremony was held on 26 November 2005 in Keelung Harbor, in a ceremony hosted by Admiral Bon-Chi Chen, the commander-in-chief of the ROCN. Her official decommissioning was on 1 January 2006.[3]

The ship, then Taiwan's last ex-Gearing-class destroyer, will possibly become a museum ship but unfortunately plans fell through and she was scrapped in November 2013.

References edit

  1. ^ "● 台灣英雄艦當廢鐵賣,老兵不捨". ★ 台灣 旅遊網 ★ Taiwan Tour Guide Website. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  2. ^ Arkin, William M.; Handler, Joshua (1989). Naval accidents, 1945-1988 (PDF). Washington, DC: Greenpeace/Institute for Policy Studies. p. 14. LCCN 91182987.
  3. ^ "歡迎光臨 - 明德新村". mingder-village.appspot.com. Retrieved 2021-09-10.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entries can be found here and here.

External links edit