USS Farragut
Five destroyers of the United States Navy have been named USS Farragut in honor of David Farragut, an admiral of the United States Navy during the American Civil War.
The first Farragut (TB-11), a torpedo boat destroyer, patrolled the Panama Canal during World War I.
The second Farragut (DD-300) was a Clemson-class destroyer laid down by the Union Iron Works Plant of the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation at San Francisco in California on 4 July 1918, launched on 21 November 1918 by Mrs. T. M. Potts and commissioned on 4 June 1920. Farragut went aground on to rocks near Point Pedernales on the coast of California in inclement weather on 8 September 1923 but managed to get clear with only minor damage. USS Farragut was decommissioned at San Diego on 1 April 1930, stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 22 July 1930 and sold for scrap in October 1930 in accordance with the London Naval Treaty.
The third Farragut (DD-348), the lead ship of her class of destroyers, was laid down by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation at Quincy in Massachusetts on 20 September 1932, launched on 15 March 1934 by Mrs. James Roosevelt, daughter-in-law of the President and commissioned on 18 June 1934. Farragut was berthed in a nest of destroyers in East Loch when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, took part in the Battle of the Coral Sea, screened USS Saratoga (CV-3) during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, engaged in patrol and escort duties from the Fiji Islands to the Aleutians, served as radar picket through the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and supported the ships of the Fast Carrier Task Force during the Marine landings at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. USS Farragut was decommissioned on 23 October 1945, stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 28 January 1947 and sold for scrap on 14 August 1947.
The fourth Farragut (DDG-37) was a Coontz-class destroyer leader, laid down by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation at Quincy in Massachusetts on 3 June 1957, launched on 15 July 1958 by Mrs. H. D. Felt, wife of the Vice Chief of Naval Operations and commissioned on 10 December 1960. USS Farragut was decommissioned on 31 October 1989, stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 20 November 1992 and sold for scrap on 16 December 1994.
The fifth USS Farragut (DDG-99) is an flight IIa Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer ordered in 2001, under construction by the Bath Iron Works in Maine, and scheduled to be commissioned in 2006.
