Pacific ships

Photos and the story

David W. Taylor

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ClassFletcher class
TypeDestroyer (DD)
HullDD-551
Launched1942-07-04
Commissioned1943-09-18
FateAfloat. Survived the war. Leased to Spain, 15 May 1957
Armament (class)Five single 5-inch guns, two funnels, and two sets of torpedo tubes.
Command

Laid down, displacement, length, beam, draft, speed, and complement are not stored for each hull, so this table leaves them out.

The armament line is the class drawing, not a measurement of this hull.

David W. Taylor
USN. Amidships view of USS David W. Taylor (DD-551) at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, California (USA), on 23 April 1945.jpg. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

USS David W. Taylor (DD-551) was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy. She was named for Rear Admiral David W. Taylor, who lived from 1864 to 1940. Work on the hull began on 12 June 1941, and she was launched on 4 July 1942. Imogene Taylor Powell, the admiral's daughter, sponsored her at the launch.

The Navy commissioned David W. Taylor on 18 September 1943. W. H. Johnsen took command that day and is the captain recorded for her. She was a fleet destroyer of the Fletcher type, the standard wartime destroyer of her generation.

David W. Taylor survived the Second World War. On 17 August 1946 she was placed out of commission and laid up in reserve at San Diego.

Spain took the destroyer on lease on 15 May 1957. Under Spanish colors she was Almirante Ferrándiz, numbered D22. Spain completed the purchase on 1 October 1972. On 17 November 1987 she was stricken, and the hull was scrapped.

The pictures on this page are the originals.