USS ''Thorn'' (DD-988), a ''Spruance''-class

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

, was the second ship of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

to be named for Lieutenant Jonathan Thorn (1779–1811), who took part in Decatur's expedition to destroy the captured

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

''Philadelphia'' in 1804.

Construction and career

''Thorn'' was laid down on 29 August 1977 by

Ingalls Shipbuilding Ingalls Shipbuilding is a shipyard located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, United States, originally established in 1938, and now part of Huntington Ingalls Industries, HII. It is a leading producer of ships for the United States Navy, and at 12,500 ...

Pascagoula, Miss. Pascagoula ( ) is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula Combined Statistical Area. The population was 22 ...

; launched on 22 November 1978 (Thorn was christened on 3 February 1979 by Mrs. Patricia Ansley); and commissioned on 16 February 1980. ''Thorn'' was decommissioned and stricken from the

Navy list A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

on 25 August 2004. ''Thorn'' was sunk as a test/target at 08:50 on 22 July 2006 off the US east coast. The ''Thorn'' currently rests at a depth of at .

Gallery

File:USS Thorn (DD-988) underway, circa the 1980s (NH 106906).jpg, USS ''Thorn'' in the 1980s File:USS Thorn (DD-988) and USS William V. Pratt (DDG-44) underway in the Atlantic Ocean, in 1981.jpg, USS ''Thorn'' and USS William V. Pratt in the Atlantic Ocean in 1981 File:US Navy 030905-N-5471P-002 USS Thorn (DD 988) sails in the Atlantic Ocean as it conducts work ups before an upcoming scheduled six-month deployment.jpg, USS ''Thorn'' in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

on 5 September 2003 File:A port bow view of the destroyer USS THORN (DD 988) navigating an inland waterway during Exercise UNITAS XXV - DPLA - 0b484df8753f6fcf4d008c04c6d21a44.jpeg, USS ''Thorn'' on 1 October 1984

References

External links

* * Spruance-class destroyers Cold War destroyers of the United States 1979 ships Ships sunk as targets Shipwrecks {{US-mil-ship-stub