Decatur IV
(DD-936: dp. 3,807 (f.); 1. 418'6"; b. 46'1, dr.
14'6"; s. 33 k.; cpl. 311, a. 3 5", 4 3", 4 21" tt., 1 dct.;
cl. Forrest Sherman)
The fourth Decatur (DD-936) was launched 16 December 1954 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass.; sponsored by Mrs. W. A. Pierce and Mrs. D. J. Armsden, descendants of Commodore Decatur, and eom missioned 7 December 1956, Commander J. J. Skahill in command.
Decatur sailed from Newport 3 September 1957 to take part in NATO Operation "Strikeback," calling at Largs and Rosyth, Scotland, before returning to Newport 22 October. She served on local operations until 1 February l 958 when she sailed to the Mediterranean for a tour of duty with the 6th Fleet. She returned to her home port 28 August for east coast operations.
She returned to the Mediterranean for duty between 7 August 1959 and 26 February 1960, then joined in antisubmarine exercises and a midshipman cruise in the Atlantic between March and September. On 6 September Decatur sailed on a cruise which took her north of the Arctic Circle, through the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal, into the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, and back to the Mediterranean where she operated with the 6th Fleet. The destroyer returned to Newport in mid-December.
In June 1965 the Decauter entered the Boston Naval Shipyard and began two years of extensive renovation. She was recommissioned as the a guided missile destroyer DDG-31 in April 1967. She transferred to the Pacific and spent two tours operating of Vietnam. the Decauter continued to operate in the Pacific during the 1970's. In her last deployment she traveled to the Indian Ocean . In June 1983 she was decommissioned . She was stricken from the Naval Register in March 1988.
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