USS Gyatt

Gyatt In 1957, with her novel missile system aft
History
United States
Name	USS Gyatt
Namesake	Edward Earl Gyatt
Builder	Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Kearny, New Jersey
Laid down	7 September 1944
Launched	15 April 1945
Commissioned	2 July 1945
Decommissioned	22 October 1969
Reclassified	DDG-712, 1 December 1956 DDG-1, 23 May 1957 DD-712, 1 October 1962
Stricken	22 October 1969
Nickname(s)	Semper Primus ("Always First")
Fate	Sunk as a target, 11 June 1970
General characteristics
Class and type	Gearing-class destroyer
Displacement	2,425 long tons (2,464 t)
Length	390 ft 6 in (119.02 m)
Beam	41 ft 4 in (12.60 m)
Draft	14 ft 6 in (4.42 m)
Speed	35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Complement	336
Armament	As DD-712 : 3 × twin 5"/38 (127 mm) dual purpose guns 3 × quad, 2 × twin 40 mm Bofors AA guns 10 × twin 20 mm Oerlikon AA guns 1 × quintuple 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 6 × depth charge projectors 2 × depth charge tracks As DDG-1 : 2 × twin 5"/38 (127 mm) dual purpose guns 2 × twin 3"/50 (76 mm) AA guns 1 × twin arm Terrier AA missile launcher 2 × triple 12.75 in (324 mm) anti-submarine torpedo tubes

USS Gyatt (DD-712/DDG-1/DDG-712) was a Gearing-class destroyer in service with the United States Navy. The ship was named for Edward Earl Gyatt, a United States Marine Corps private and Marine Raider who was killed during the Battle of Guadalcanal. Laid down in 1944, the destroyer was commissioned in 1945 and missed combat during the Second World War. In 1955, she was converted into the world's first guided missile destroyer (DDG), and operated as a testbed for the Terrier guided surface-to-air missile. During the 1960s, she continued to test new radars and other systems before she was decommissioned and sunk as a target in 1970.

Edward Earl Gyatt was born on 4 September 1921 in Syracuse, New York. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on 28 January 1942. Private Gyatt was serving with the 1st Marine Raider Battalion during the Battle of Tulagi, part of the initial landings of the Guadalcanal campaign. He went ashore on Tulagi on 7 August 1942 and reported the approach of a Japanese counterattack that night. He remained at his post and inflicted heavy casualties on the Japanese force before he was killed by a hand grenade. For his actions, Gyatt was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.^[1] The first ship named after the private was USS Gyatt (DE-550), a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort that was canceled before construction began.^[2]: 113

During World War II, the Fletcher-class destroyers were the main destroyers used by the US Navy, and the design was continuously modified throughout the war, with one later iteration becoming the Allen M. Sumner-class. Towards the last stages of the Pacific War, the destroyers were faced with increasingly distant voyages and faster ships in need of escorting. To rectify this, the Sumner-class design was extended by 14 feet to add greater range and cruising speed. The resulting design became the Gearing-class, including Gyatt.^[3]: 129

She was laid down by Federal Shipbuilding on 7 September 1944, launched on 15 April 1945, and commissioned on 2 July of the same year by Hilda Morrell, the namesake's mother.^[4][2]: 85

After a shakedown cruise in the Caribbean, the destroyer reported to Norfolk, Virginia, for duties along the East Coast. In addition to local operations and training exercises, she trained with aircraft carriers in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean. Departing Norfolk on 24 January 1947, she sailed south to represent the United States at the inauguration of Uruguayan President Luis Batlle at Montevideo from 27 February to 6 March. Before returning to Norfolk on 21 March, she made goodwill visits to Rio de Janeiro and Port of Spain, Trinidad.^[4]

Assigned to the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean, she deployed to the region and the North Altantic routinely for the next several years.^[4]

Since World War II, the primary role of destroyers and screening ships in a carrier fleet had been to provide air defense. Following this doctrine, the U.S. Navy began developing new escort ships in the early 1950s, equipping them with advanced surface-to-air missile systems that promised greater effectiveness than older methods. However, many of these new weapons, such as the RIM-2 Terrier, were still unproven for use on small destroyers. Gyatt was chosen to be fitted with a Terrier battery as a proof-of-concept for the weapon as they were slated for use on the upcoming Farragut-class destroyers.^{[3]: 297, [293-294]}

For her new role, she entered entered the Boston Naval Shipyard on 26 September 1955 and was decommissioned on 31 October for conversion into the world's first guided missile destroyer. To make room for the Terrier launcher and a 14 missile magazine, her aft-most 5" gun and 40 mm Bofors were removed along with her quintuple torpedo tubes. She was also equipped with the Navy's first stabilization system. The system consisted of two 45 square foot (4m²) retractable fins that extended out from midship below the waterline that helped balance out the ship after missile launches. Other changes included replacing her remaining two Bofors with twin three-inch 50 caliber guns, equipping two triple torpedo tubes, and the first-ever mounting of the AN/SPS-49 long-range search radar to detect incoming aircraft.^{[5][4][3]: 297}

On 1 December 1956, her hull classification became DDG-712, designating her a guided missile destroyer. She was recommissioned two days later.^[4]

She spent 3 years undergoing evaluation and development work along the Atlantic coast. On 23 May 1957, her hull number was again changed to DDG-1 in recognition of her novel position. She then sailed to join the 6th Fleet on 28 January 1960 and became the first guided missile destroyer to deploy overseas. By the time of her arrival back in Charleston, her new home port on 31 August, Gyatt had participated in fleet readiness and training operations throughout the Mediterranean.^[4]

Upon her return, the destroyer joined the United States' space program. For several days in 1960 and 1961, she was stationed to recover nose-cones that fell to Earth from Project Mercury launches. As the Berlin Crisis inflamed Cold War tensions, she joined the 6th fleet in the Mediterranean to serve as an American counterbalance. After her return to the US, she operated out of Charleston, South Carolina.^[4]

Her main contributions during the decade was her use as a missile testbed. The ship's various trainings demonstrated the Terrier's application onboard escorts, seeing the system adopted to the Navy's rapidly growing fleet of air-defense destroyer leaders.^{[3]: 297, 299, 301} However, the battery proved to be too large for Gyatt's small hull, as immense strain was placed on her electrical grid, little room was left for other systems or modifications, and the design itself was overtly complicated. Her trails demonstrated the need for a smaller surface-to-air missile system, informing the development of the more compact RIM-24 Tartar, which was fitted on the next generation of guided missile destroyers.^[6]

With her original goal fulfilled, she was retrofitted for service with the Operational Test and Evaluation Force in 1962. On 29 June, she entered the Charleston Naval Shipyard to have her Terriers removed and a mast fitted on top of the old missile magazine. The purpose of the new mast was to carry electronics and other experimental equipment so they could be tested at sea. Now designated as a radar test ship, her hull number was reverted to DD-712. On 1 January 1963, the destroyer reported to Norfolk and operated with the Naval Electronics Facility and tested new technology, primarily radars and sensors, along the US East Coast and Caribbean.^[4][7]

By the late 1960s, her hull began to crack from the stresses caused by the missile launches. As it was cheaper to prematurely dispose of her than fix the hull, she was transferred to the reserve fleet and homeported to Washington, D.C. in 1968. She was then stricken on 22 October 1969 and sunk as a target off Virginia on 11 June 1970.^[4][8]

• Ticonderoga-class cruiser, modern American air-defense ships
• Arleigh Burke-class destroyer Flight III, series of modern American guided missile destroyers built for air defense

Wikimedia Commons has media related to USS Gyatt (DD-712).

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

• Gyatt Association - Veterans Association of USS Gyatt
• NavSource - Photo gallery of the ship