Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Contributed By
	38k	Jonathan Thorn was born on 8 January 1779 at Schenectady, N.Y. and was appointed a midshipman on 28 April 1800. Subsequently serving with the Navy during the Tripolitan War, Thorn volunteered to take part in the hazardous expedition to destroy the captured frigate Philadelphia, which lay beneath the guns of the shore batteries in heavily defended Tripoli harbor. On 16 February 1804, Lt. Stephen Decatur, Jr., led a party of these volunteers in the ketch Intrepid into Tripoli and burned the erstwhile American frigate. Attached to the schooner Enterprise, Thorn was then assigned to Gunboat No. 4, under Decatur's command. In this vessel, he participated in the attack on Tripoli, with Commodore Edward Preble's squadron on 3 August 1804. Specially commended by Decatur for his conduct in this battle, Thorn received command of one of the Tripolitan gunboats captured and commanded this vessel in the engagement with the Tripolitan pirates on 7 August. Commissioned a lieutenant on 16 February 1807, Thorn became the first commandant of the New York Navy Yard at age 27. In 1810, he was granted a two-year furlough to command John Jacob Astor's sailing bark Tonquin in a voyage slated to take the ship to the Pacific Northwest to establish a fur trading post. Anchoring off Nootka on 5 June 1811, after a voyage which had taken the ship around Cape Horn to the Hawaiian Islands and to the mouth of the Columbia River, Thorn soon began trading with the local Indians. Angered by what they considered a bad business deal, the Indians came on board Tonquin and, in a brief, bloody action, massacred Thorn and his crew.		Bill Gonyo
	58k	Undated postcard Copyright © Atlantic Fleet Sales, Norfolk, VA.		Mike Smolinski
	85k	Atlantic Ocean, date unknown, starboard beam view of the Spruance class destroyer USS Thorn (DD-988) underway.		Fred Weiss
	93k	Undated, location unknown.		Wendell Royce McLaughlin Jr
	212k	USS Thorn (DD-988) is christened by Mrs. Charles H. Ansley.		S. Dale Hargrave
	211k	At Livorno, Italy on July 25 1981.		Carlo Martinelli.
	99k	DN-ST-90-01494. A port view of the destroyer USS THORN (DD 988) entering a port during the multinational naval Exercise UNITAS XXV. Photo by PHC Terry Mitchell, January 1 1984.		Bill Gonyo
	96k	DN-ST-90-01478, USS Thorn (DD 988) during the multinational naval exercise UNITAS XXV. Naval Air Station Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. Photo by PH2 Paul Erickson June 14 1984.		Bill Gonyo
	117k	DN-ST-85-08182. Officers from the United States and South America countries pose together on the deck of the Spruance-class destroyer USS Thorn (DD 988) prior to a ceremony marking the beginning of Operation UNITAS XXV. Marine Corps Brigadier General Joseph P. Hoar and Rear Admiral Clinton Taylor are standing in the center. Photo by JOCS Kirby Harrison at Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico June 14 1984.		Bill Gonyo
	58k	Portsmouth, England June 18 1986.		Marc Piché
	32k	Portsmouth, England October 21 1986.		Marc Piché
	113k	Genoa, Italy on November 21 1987.		Carlo Martinelli
	172k	Genoa, Italy on November 25 1987.		Carlo Martinelli
	27k	Barcelona, Spain December 21 1987.		Marc Piché
	221k	DN-SC-95-01140. A starboard quarter view of the Spruance-class destroyers USS John Hancock (DD 981) and USS Thorn (DD 988) undergoing a routine overhaul at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation located on the James River in Virginia. Taken by Don S. Montgomery, USN (Ret) on 29 October 1994.		Robert M. Cieri
	37k	Hamburg, Germany September 13 1996.		Marc Piché
	165k	Roosevelt Roads, PR during March 1998.		PNC Jim Bowers USN (Ret.)
	119k	As above.		PNC Jim Bowers USN (Ret.)
	33k	Portsmouth, VA July 24 1998.		Marc Piché
	60k	Portsmouth, VA July 24 1998.		Marc Piché
	58k	Portsmouth, VA July 24 1998.		Marc Piché
	69k	USS Thorn DD 988 in Gibraltar on 10th May 2001.		© Daniel Ferro
	120k	Dockside in Valetta, Malta on July 4, 2001.		Marc Piché
	126k	At Barcelona, Spain, on Aug. 10, 2001. She is fitted with a Mk.23 target acquisition system, SQR-19 TACTAS, SLQ-32(v)3 ECM and SLQ-25 Nixie torpedo decoy, SSQ-108 ELINT system, 1 21-cell RAM launcher, etc.		Fabio Peña
	119k	As above		Fabio Peña
	34k	Western Mediterranean December 23 2001.		Marc Piché
	63k	At sea aboard USS Thorn (DD-988) July 21, 2003, the destroyer fires her aft MK 45 5-inch/54 caliber lightweight gun mount during Sink Exercise (SINKEX) 2003 off the coast of Virginia. U.S. Navy Photo.		Fred Weiss
	110k	030721-N-0000S-088. At sea aboard USS Thorn (DD 988) July. 21, 2003, the destroyer USS Thorn (DD 988) launches an AGM-84A “Harpoon” missile during Sink Exercise (SINKEX) 2003 off the coast of Virginia. U.S. Navy photo by Intelligence Specialist 1st Class Brian Smith.		Bill Gonyo
	66k	September 5 2003, left to right, USS Thorn (DD 988), USS Cole (DDG 67), and USS Gonzalez (DDG 66), members of the Enterprise Carrier Strike Group, perform divisional tactics while underway in the Atlantic Ocean. U.S. Navy photo.		Fred Weiss
	96k	030905-N-5471P-005 Atlantic Ocean, September 5 2003, Enterprise Carrier Strike Group ships, USS Thorn (DD 988), USS Cole (DDG 67), and the USS Gonzalez (DDG 66), perform divisional tactics while underway in the Atlantic Ocean. The guided missile destroyers are conducting work-ups before an upcoming six-month deployment. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Aaron Peterson.		Bill Gonyo
	88k	030922-N-7748K-004 Atlantic Ocean (Sept. 22, 2003), the Spruance-class destroyer USS Thorn (DD 988) escorts USS Enterprise (CVN 65) during the Comprehensive Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX). The Enterprise Strike Group is underway participating in COMPTUEX in preparation for a Mediterranean Deployment. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate Airman Joshua C. Kinter.		Fabio Peña
	84k	Ship's patch.		Mike Smolinski
	80k	Ship's Zippo.		Tommy Trampp
	80k	Ship's Sunset Cruise Zippo.		Tommy Trampp

CDR Charles Alan Sellgren    Feb 16 1980 - Feb 19 1982

CDR Richard Ernest Pearsall    Feb 19 1982 - Feb 24 1984

CDR Eugene Anthony Razzetti    Feb 24 1984 - Apr 18 1986

CDR Jack Edward Martin    Apr 18 1986 - Jul 29 1988

CDR Herbert Charles Kaler    Jul 29 1988 - Jun 8 1990

CDR Edward William Kelly    Jun 8 1990 - Mar 27 1992

CDR James Byron Campbell    Mar 27 1992 - Dec 7 1993

CDR Robert Daniel Conrad    Dec 7 1993 - Jul 21 1995

CDR Benjamin Hiram Bankston    Jul 21 1995 - Feb 24 1997

CDR Martin Alan Drake    Feb 24 1997 - Sep 11 1998

CDR Joseph Sensi Jr.    Sep 11 1998 - Jun 2 2000

CDR Alfred Leon Pope    Jun 2 2000 - Jan 1 2002

CDR Dale Scott Chapman    Jan 1 2002 - Jan 16 2002 (Acting)

CDR John Dewitt Little    Jan 16 2002 - Jun 25 2004

LCDR Anthony John Lesperance    Jun 25 2004 - Aug 25 2004

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This page was created by Fred Willishaw (ex ARG-4, AS-11 & DD-692) and is maintained by David L. Wright

Last Updated 13 July 2018