USS Power (DD-839)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Power.

USS Power underway in 1966
History
United States
Name	Power
Namesake	John V. Power
Builder	Bath Iron Works
Laid down	26 February 1945
Launched	30 June 1945
Sponsored by	Mrs. George F. Power
Commissioned	13 September 1945
Decommissioned	1 October 1977
Stricken	1 October 1977
Identification	Callsign: NBBO Hull number: DD-839
Fate	Sold to Republic of China, 1 October 1977
Badge
History
Taiwan
Name	Shen Yang
Namesake	Shen Yang
Acquired	1 October 1977
Commissioned	18 December 1978
Reclassified	DDG-923
Decommissioned	1 January 2006
Identification	Hull number: DD-923
Fate	Scrapped, November 2013
General characteristics
Class and type	Gearing-class destroyer
Displacement	3,460 long tons (3,516 t) full
Length	390 ft 6 in (119.02 m)
Beam	40 ft 10 in (12.45 m)
Draft	14 ft 4 in (4.37 m)
Propulsion	Geared turbines, 2 shafts, 60,000 shp (45 MW)
Speed	35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Range	4,500 nmi (8,300 km) at 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	336
Armament	6 × 5"/38 caliber guns 12 × 40 mm AA guns 11 × 20 mm AA guns 10 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 6 × depth charge projectors 2 × depth charge tracks

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.

Construction and career

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

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 12 January 1955, Power collided with USS Warrington during a night exercise near Puerto Rico.

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

Lebanon Crisis

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

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

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.

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

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

External links

• Photo gallery of USS Power at NavSource Naval History
• USS Power Association website