For other ships with the same name, see Churruca-class destroyer (1927).
_underway_in_Chesapeake_Bay,_in_1973.jpg) Méndez Núñez in 1973
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Churruca class |
| Builders | |
| Operators |  Spanish Navy |
| Preceded by | Oquendo class |
| Succeeded by | N/A |
| Built | 1944–1945 |
| In commission | 1972–1992 |
| Completed | 5 |
| Retired | 5 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Destroyer |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 390.5 ft (119.0 m) |
| Beam | 40.9 ft (12.5 m) |
| Draft | 14.3 ft (4.4 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 36.8 knots (68.2 km/h; 42.3 mph) |
| Range | 4,500 nmi (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Complement | 350 as designed |
| Armament |
|
| Aviation facilities | Hangar and helipad |
The Churruca class was a series of five Spanish Navy ships which originated from the US Navy Gearing-class destroyers. They were all acquired in the 1970s in FRAM I configuration.
Development
These were ships built during the Second World War and modernized from 1959 within the FRAM I program, which were in service with the United States Navy until their delivery to Spain. Ships similar to these were delivered by the United States Navy to most of its allies during the same time, and some of them were in service until the early 21st century. Although they were old ships, the fact is that they were mounted with quite modern sensors (seen from the point of view of the 60s), but they became obsolete throughout the 1970s and, especially, the 1980s. These ships were similar in their equipment to the modernized Oquendo class, were an important reinforcement for the Spanish Navy in the 1970s, actively participating in national and international maneuvers. In the Spanish Armada they came to be known jokingly as "the blind men of the eleven", in reference to the lack of acuity of their sensors at the end of their useful life and to their belonging to the 11th Escort Squadron (in Spain, the acronym ONCE correspond to the National Organization of the Spanish Blind).
Blas de Lezo, when it served as USS Noa in the United States Navy, was the ship in charge of recovery from the sea in 1962 of John Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth. The vessel also participated in the Spanish evacuation of the Spanish Sahara in 1975, after the green march during the Western Sahara War. Blas de Lezo was part of the fleet in control of the strait during the Desert Storm operation in 1991, at which time, due to the shortage of escorts in the Navy, some of these ships operated alongside the Alpha Group, carrying out maritime control tasks in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Entering the 1990s, the Oquendo-class destroyers were progressively decommissioned, until the disappearance of the 11th Escort Squadron in which was dissolved on 2 September 1991. With the disappearance of these ships, the history of destroyers in the Spanish Navy was closed, at least for the moment, being the country that began to use them, although it is true that the dividing line between frigates and destroyers, today were faint.
Ships in class
| Hull no. | Name | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Decommissioned |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D-61 | Churruca | Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, New Jersey | 17 August 1944 | 18 March 1945 | 21 August 1972 | 15 September 1989 |
| D-62 | Gravina | Consolidated Steel Corporation, Texas | 23 September 1944 | 9 March 1945 | 13 June 1972 | 30 September 1991 |
| D-63 | Méndez Núñez | 27 January 1945 | 22 June 1945 | 31 October 1973 | 3 April 1992 | |
| D-64 | Lángara | 11 August 1944 | 20 January 1945 | 17 May 1978 | ||
| D-65 | Blas de Lezo | Bath Iron Works, Maine | 26 March 1945 | 30 July 1945 | 31 October 1973 | 1991 |
Gallery
-
Méndez Núñez underway at sea, date unknown.
_underway_at_sea.jpg)
See also
- Lepanto-class destroyer - another class of destroyers transferred from the US Navy to Armada Española
References
- "Churruca D60 ex US Gearing class Destroyer DD - Spanish Navy Armada Espanola". www.seaforces.org. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
- "Spanish Destroyers". www.worldnavalships.com. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
