Photographic History of the United States Navy
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NavSource Naval History Photographic History of the United States Navy |
DESTROYER ARCHIVE |
To Spain November 30 1960, renamed Jorge Juan (hull# 45, then reclassified as D 25).| Click On Image For Full Size Image |
Size | Image Description | Contributed By |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| 57k | Rear Adm. Samuel McGowan, born at Laurens, S.C., 1 September 1870, was commissioned assistant paymaster 15 March 1894. On 1 July 1914 he was appointed paymaster general and Chief of the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts with the rank of rear admiral. Holding that office until his retirement in 1920, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for the preparation and execution of plans to maintain the fleets during World War I. He died 11 November 1934 at Laurens. Digital ID: npcc 19523, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. | Bill Gonyo | |
| 138k | Undated World War II image from the collection of John's dad, George M. Sopko, who was a plankowner. | John P. Sopko | |
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123k | News dispatch from Admiral Nimitz describing the first naval bombardment of the Japanese homeland on July 15, 1945. The six ships were the battleships USS Missouri, USS Wisconsin, USS Iowa and the destroyers USS McGowan, USS Norman Scott and the USS Remey. | Wayne VanDerVoort | |
| 148k | Navy Photo 270-46, amidships looking aft plan view of USS McGowan (DD 678) with USS Bell (DD 587) below at Mare Island on 23 Jan 1946. McGowan was in overhaul at the yard from 6 Nov 1945 to 25 Jan 1946. | Darryl Baker | |
| 116k | Navy Photo 272-46, forward plan view of USS McGowan (DD 678) with USS Bell (DD 587) below at Mare Island on 23 Jan 1946. | Darryl Baker | |
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141k | Photo #: 80-G-478507, USS Ajax (AR-6) tending destroyers and patrol vessels at Sasebo, Japan. Photo is dated 14 December 1952. Ships nested along her port side include (left to right): USS The Sullivans (DD-537); USS McGowan (DD-678); USS Lewis Hancock (DD-675) and Korean frigate Imchin (# 66, ex USS Sausalito, PF-4). Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. | Tony Cowart | |
| 116k | USS Ajax (AR 6) tending destroyers and patrol vessels at Sasebo, Japan. Photo is dated 14 December 1952. Ships nested along her port side include (left to right): USS The Sullivans (DD 537); USS McGowan (DD 678); USS Lewis Hancock (DD 675) and Korean Frigate Imchin (PG 66), (ex USS Sausalito (PF 4). | Joe Radigan | |
| 76k | Circa 1958. | Marc Piché | |
| 84k | Boston Naval Shipyard, May 1960 | © Richard Leonhardt | |
| 87k | Boston Naval Shipyard, May 1960 | © Richard Leonhardt | |
| 97k | Ships plaque from the collection of CDR Richard P. Multer. | Robert Hall | |
| On Spanish Service |
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| Spain received five Fletchers (three "early", or "round bridge", and two "late", or "open bridge"). They were affectionately known as "Los Cinco Latinos" ("Latin Five"), after a music group that enjoyed great popularity in those years. They were initially assigned hull numbers "41" through "45" (no letters!), but in 1961 the Spanish Navy adopted a new numbering system, more similar to that of the Western Navies, and they became "D 21" through "D 25" (it seems that Jorge Juan, ex-McGowan, never displayed number "45" on her sides; at least there is no known photograph of her with that number painted on her hull). The five US hull numbers were DD-509, DD-550, DD-551, DD-678 and DD-799. |
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| 122k | McGowan was transferred to Spain at Barcelona, on 1 December 1960. This photo was taken about an hour after the transfer ceremony took place. Curiously enough, she is already flying the Spanish flag, but stills displays her US name! Copyright © Camil Busquets. | Fabio Peña | |
| 75k | Jorge Juan leaves Barcelona in early December 1960, freshly transferred from the US Navy. She was one of the 39 Fletchers modernized under the FY 52 program (project SCB-74A). As clearly illustrated by this photograph, her #3 5"/38 gun mount, as well as the quad and twin 40mm/56 mounts previously fitted abeam the aft stack and between #3 and #4 guns, were replaced by three twin 3"/50 gun mounts and a Mk.56 gun fire control system; she was fitted with a tripod foremast to support the heavier antennas of her new SPS-6 and -10 radars, and received an updated ESM equipment (the radomes on the aft funnel housing radar direction-finders); her Mk.37 main gun director, atop the bridge, received a Mk.25 radar. On the other hand, she retained a quintuple bank of torpedo tubes, abaft the second stack. Other alterations, more closely visible in other photos on this page, included two fixed "Hedgehogs" in place of twin 40/56 guns before the bridge, and she was reduced to a single depth charge track, along with a torpedo decoy, on the fantail. Copyright © Camil Busquets. | Fabio Peña | |
| 85k | Jorge Juan (D 25) in mid-1966. Note "Hedgehog" on the 01-level, before the bridge, and the array of radar direction-finder antennas (some covered by radomes, some uncovered) on her aft funnel. Copyright © Camil Busquets. | Fabio Peña | |
| 86k | Circa 1966, location unknown. | Robert Hurst | |
| 102k | This view shows the partially enclosed bridge of the Spanish destroyer Jorge Juan (D 25), ex-USS McGowan (DD 678), with a Mk.37 gun director (fitted with the dish antenna of a Mk.25 radar) mounted on top. Note the fixed Mk.11 "Hedgehog", with ready-service ammunition boxes to each side, on the 01 level, just before the bridge. Barcelona, Spain, Jan. 21, 1979. | Fabio Peña | |
| 118k | After her FY 52 modernization USS McGowan (DD 678), seen here as the Spanish Jorge Juan, had a single Mk.9 depth charge track mounted on her fantail, to starboard. On the port side (left of the photograph) she was fitted with the winch of a T-Mk.6 "Fanfare" anti-torpedo decoy. Barcelona, Spain, Jan. 21, 1979. | Fabio Peña | |
| 75k | Three Spanish warships seen during a port call to Barcelona, Spain, on 23 January 1983. From left to right: the Fletcher-class destroyer Jorge Juan (D 25), ex-USS McGowan (DD 678); the Gearing-class destroyer Méndez Núñez (D 63), ex-USS O'Hare (DD 889); and the guided missile frigate Asturias (F 74). As an example of warship growth, Fletchers and Gearings were large "destroyers" by World War II standards, but a "frigate" designed in the 1960s, such as the Asturias, was noticeably larger. | Fabio Peña | |
The contact listed, Was the contact at the time for this ship when located. If another person now is the contact, E-mail me and I will update this entry. These contacts are compiled from various sources over a long period of time and may or may not be correct. Every effort has been made to list the newest contact if more than one contact was found.
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