USS Leftwich Home Author Articles Maps Photos Leftwich Skibbe/McVey Gitmo, Cuba Recruiter Stories Cam Sa Raid MichaelDanKellum.com Lieutenant Colonel Leftwich
USS Leftwich (DD 984)
USS LEFTWICH was the 22nd SPRUANCE - class destroyer and the second ship in that class decommissioned. Stricken from the Navy list on March 27, 1998, the LEFTWICH was then berthed at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF), Pearl Harbor, HI, until she was sunk as a target on August 1, 2003, at 022° 48' 47.0" North, 160° 34' 00.0" West. The USS LEFTWICH was homeported in Pearl Harbor, HI., and was the first ship in the Navy named after Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel William G. Leftwich, Jr.                        General Characteristics             Keel Laid: November 12, 1976 Launched: April 8, 1978 Commissioned: August 24, 1979 Decommissioned: March 27, 1998 Builder: Ingalls Shipbuilding, West Bank, Pascagoula, Miss. Propulsion system: four General Electric LM 2500 gas turbine engines Propellers: two Blades on each Propeller: five Length: 564,3 feet (172 meters) Beam: 55,1 feet (16.8 meters) Draft: 28,9 feet (8.8 meters) Displacement: approx. 9,200 tons full load Speed: 30+ knots Aircraft: two SH-60B Seahawk (LAMPS 3) Armament: two Mk 45 5-inch/54 caliber lightweight guns, two armored box launchers for Tomahawk               cruise missiles, Mk 46 torpedoes (two triple tube mounts), Harpoon missile launchers, one MK 29 Sea Sparrow               launcher, two 20mm Phalanx CIWS, one Mk 112 ASROC missile launcher Crew: approx. 340
© Copyright Michael Dan Kellum 2010
USS Leftwich--With the passing of Bill Leftwich Jr., the honors and accolades came from all quarters of the country. The USS Leftwich, a 563 - foot Spruance class multi-mission destroyer was christened in his honor  at  the  Pascagoula,  Mississippi Naval Yard on May 27, 1978.  Jane did the honors by breaking a champagne  bottle  on  the  ship’s  bow as Mattie and Bill’s sons, Bill and Scott, looked on. Ross Perot, a fellow  U.S. Naval  Academy  graduate,  indicated that Secretary of the Navy John Warner had a hand in getting the ship named for Bill Leftwich.
Sad  to  report  that  after 18  years  on  active  duty the USS Leftwich was decommissioned on March 27, 1998 at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The ship was berthed  at  the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility until she was taken out to sea and sunk as a target on August 1, 2003 at longitude 0220 48’ 47.0” North, latitude 1600 34’ 00.0” West.7