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Builder
New York Shipbuilding, Camden, New Jersey
Hull Laid Down
May 18, 1959
Launched
June 4, 1960
Commissioned as USS Biddle DDG-5
May 5, 1962
Re-commissioned as USS Claude V. Ricketts DDG-5
July 28, 1964
Decommissioned
October 31, 1989 at Naval Station, Norfolk, Virginia
Fate
April 15, 1994 Sold as scrap
New York Shipbuilding, Camden, New Jersey
Hull Laid Down
May 18, 1959
Launched
June 4, 1960
Commissioned as USS Biddle DDG-5
May 5, 1962
Re-commissioned as USS Claude V. Ricketts DDG-5
July 28, 1964
Decommissioned
October 31, 1989 at Naval Station, Norfolk, Virginia
Fate
April 15, 1994 Sold as scrap
Do you have anything you would like to see added to the ship's history? Michael Margeotes is our Ship's Historian and he has been working hard to put together a history of the USS Biddle/USS Claude V. Ricketts. If you have anything, anything at all that you would like to add, you can contact Mike by clicking here. Mike also has a few copies of the History of the USS Biddle, DDG-5 and the USS Claude V. Ricketts, DDG-5 that he's put together over the past year and sold at the 2010 Reunion in Norfolk. If you'd like to get a copy, contact Mike here.
The USS Biddle/USS Claude V. Ricketts DDG-5 was a Charles F. Adams-class guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy. Originally to be designated as DD-955, the ship was laid down as DDG-5 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden, New Jersey on 18 May 1959, launched on 4 June 1960 and commissioned as the USS Biddle on 5 May 1962. The USS Biddle was re-christened the USS Claude V. Ricketts on 28 July 1964 in honor of Admiral Claude V. Ricketts, who had died on 6 July 1964, and who was intrumental in implementing the Mixed Manning Demonstration.
From June 1964 to end of 1965 Claude V. Ricketts was part of a mixed-manning experiment for a proposed Multilateral Force (MLF). Its crew consisted of 10 officers and 164 crew from the US Navy with the remainder of the crew filled by sailors from West Germany, Italy, Greece, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and, for a brief period, Turkey. Though the MLF never was created, Secretary of the Navy Paul Nitze stated that the project on Claude V. Ricketts was successful. The ship's crest includes the NATO insignia.
The Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5) served as the primary rescue unit and tied up alongside USS Belknap after her collision with USS John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1975 - coincidently the twelfth anniversary of the assassination of the President Kennedy. The Belknap was ablaze with exploding ammunition and magazines, but the Ricketts and her crewmen fought and limited damage. In the end, CG-26 was melted to her 01 level, which is the next level above the main deck. Seven crewmembers aboard Belknap and one aboard the Kennedy were killed.
The USS Claude V. Ricketts was decommissioned on 31 October 1989, stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 June 1990 and sold for scrap on 15 April 1994. The scrap contract was terminated on 1 October 1996 and the ship was resold to Metro Machine, Incorporated, of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania on 18 December 2001.
The USS Biddle/USS Claude V. Ricketts DDG-5 was a Charles F. Adams-class guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy. Originally to be designated as DD-955, the ship was laid down as DDG-5 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden, New Jersey on 18 May 1959, launched on 4 June 1960 and commissioned as the USS Biddle on 5 May 1962. The USS Biddle was re-christened the USS Claude V. Ricketts on 28 July 1964 in honor of Admiral Claude V. Ricketts, who had died on 6 July 1964, and who was intrumental in implementing the Mixed Manning Demonstration.
From June 1964 to end of 1965 Claude V. Ricketts was part of a mixed-manning experiment for a proposed Multilateral Force (MLF). Its crew consisted of 10 officers and 164 crew from the US Navy with the remainder of the crew filled by sailors from West Germany, Italy, Greece, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, and, for a brief period, Turkey. Though the MLF never was created, Secretary of the Navy Paul Nitze stated that the project on Claude V. Ricketts was successful. The ship's crest includes the NATO insignia.
The Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5) served as the primary rescue unit and tied up alongside USS Belknap after her collision with USS John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1975 - coincidently the twelfth anniversary of the assassination of the President Kennedy. The Belknap was ablaze with exploding ammunition and magazines, but the Ricketts and her crewmen fought and limited damage. In the end, CG-26 was melted to her 01 level, which is the next level above the main deck. Seven crewmembers aboard Belknap and one aboard the Kennedy were killed.
The USS Claude V. Ricketts was decommissioned on 31 October 1989, stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 June 1990 and sold for scrap on 15 April 1994. The scrap contract was terminated on 1 October 1996 and the ship was resold to Metro Machine, Incorporated, of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania on 18 December 2001.
Ship's Radio
Call Sign
Bulova
Call Sign
Bulova
Ship's Ribbons
