D186 ''Mölders'' was one of three guided-missile destroyers, a modified version of the American , built for the '' Bundesmarine'' ( West German Navy) during the 1960s.

Design and description

The Charles F. Adams class was based on a stretched Forrest Sherman-class destroyer hull modified to accommodate an RUR-5 ASROC Launcher and all their associated equipment. The ships had an overall length of , a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a deep draft of . They displaced at full load. Their crew consisted of 333 officers and enlisted men. The ships were equipped with two geared General Electric

steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...

s, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by four D-V2M water-tube boilers. The turbines were intended to produce to reach the designed speed of . The ''Lütjens'' class had a range of at a speed of . Unlike their

half-sisters A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the subject. A male sibling is a brother and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised separat ...

, the ships had two macks.Gardiner, Chumley & Budzbon, p. 143 They were armed with two

5"/54 caliber Mark 42 gun The Mark 42 5"/54 caliber gun (127mm) is a naval gun (naval artillery) mount used by the United States Navy and other countries. It consisted of the Mark 18 gun and Mark 42 gun mount. United States naval gun terminology indicates the gun fires a p ...

forward, one each forward and aft of the

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

. The ships were fitted with an eight-round ASROC launcher between the funnels. Close-range anti-submarine defense was provided by two triple sets of Mk 32 torpedo tubes. The primary armament of the ships was the

Tartar Tartar may refer to: Places * Tartar (river), a river in Azerbaijan * Tartar, Switzerland, a village in the Grisons * Tərtər, capital of Tartar District, Azerbaijan * Tartar District, Azerbaijan * Tartar Island, South Shetland Islands, Ant ...

surface-to-air missile system designed to defend a carrier battle group. They were fired via the single-arm

Mk 13 missile launcher The Mark 13 guided missile launching system (GMLS) is a single-arm missile launcher designed for use on frigates and other military vessels. Because of its distinctive single-armed design, the Mark 13 is often referred to as the "one-armed bandit" ...

and the ships stowed a total of 40 missiles for the launcher.

Construction and career

On 3 March 1965 Bath Iron Works got the order to build ''Mölders'' and her keel was laid down on 12 April 1966 with the hull number DDG-29. On 13 April 1967 ''Mölders'' was launched and christened for Luftwaffe Oberst ( Colonel) Werner Mölders by his mother Anne-Marie Mölders. ''Mölders'' was commissioned on 23 February 1969 into the ''1. Zerstörergeschwader'' (first destroyer squadron) based in Kiel. During her 33 years in commission 14,000 sailors served on her under 16 commanders, and she traveled . ''Mölders'' was decommissioned 28 May 2003 in Wilhelmshaven. Unlike her sisters and , ''Mölders'' was preserved and is now on display as

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

at the ''Deutsches Marinemuseum'' at Wilhelmshaven, although she was never stationed in Wilhelmshaven during her active career.

Notes

References

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External links

Zerstörer Mölders

Zerstörer Mölders

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Molders (D186) Lütjens-class destroyers Ships built in Bath, Maine 1967 ships Museum ships in Germany Wilhelmshaven Steam turbine-powered ships