Spacecraft Recovery
13 September 1961: Mercury-Atlas 4
General Characteristics:
Keel laid: 13 September 1954
Launched: 15 December 1955
Commissioned: 07 December 1956 and again 29 April 1967 as DDG-31
Decommissioned: 16 June 1965 and again 30 June 1983
Builder: Built by Bethlehem Steel, Quincy, MA
Propulsion system: 70,000 SHP; Geared Turbines
Propellers: two
Length: 418.5 feet (127.6 meters)
Beam: 44.92 feet (13.7 meters)
Draft: 15 feet (4.57 meters)
Displacement: 4,619 tons full
Speed: 33 knots
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)
Crew: 324
More information on USS Decatur from the United States Navy.
USS Decatur was reclassifed as Guided Missile Destroyer DDG-31 15 September 1966. It was stricken 16 March 1988. Towed to Port Hueneme, CA, and placed in use as EDDG 31 by NSWC, October 1994. Removed from SDTS service 15 December 2003, and towed to Pearl Harbor. Sunk as a target in 2,560 fathoms by aircraft and submarines north of Hawaii (22° 57' 00" N 159° 55' 06" W) in RIMPAC 04, 14 July 2004
