View source for USS Lawrence (DDG-4)

{{short description|Charles F. Adams-class destroyer}}
{{Other ships|USS Lawrence}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin
}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = USS Lawrence (DDG-4) underway near Cape Henry on 3 May 1973 (NH 98402).jpg
| Ship caption = USS ''Lawrence'' underway on 3 May 1973
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header = 
| Ship country = United States
| Ship flag = {{USN flag|1990}}
| Ship name = ''Lawrence''
| Ship namesake = [[James Lawrence]]
| Ship ordered = 28 March 1957
| Ship builder = [[New York Shipbuilding Corporation]]
| Ship laid down = 27 October 1958
| Ship launched = 27 February 1960
| Ship acquired = 20 December 1961
| Ship commissioned = 6 January 1962
| Ship decommissioned = 30 March 1990
| Ship in service = 
| Ship out of service = 
| Ship struck = 16 May 1990
| Ship identification = *[[Maritime call sign|Callsign]]: NTQP
*{{ICS|November}}{{ICS|Tango}}{{ICS|Quebec}}{{ICS|Papa}}
*[[Hull number]]: DD-954
| Ship reclassified = DDG-4, 23 April 1957
| Ship motto = ''Don't give up the ship''
| Ship fate = [[Ship breaking|Scrapped]], 28 October 2004
| Ship notes =
| Ship badge = [[File:USS Lawrence (DDG-4) plaque from 1962.png|150px]]
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header = 
| Header caption = 
| Ship class = {{sclass|Charles F. Adams|destroyer}}
| Ship displacement = 3,277 tons standard, 4,526 full load
| Ship length = {{convert|437|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam = {{convert|47|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship draught = 
| Ship draft = {{convert|15|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship propulsion = *2 × [[Westinghouse Electric Corporation|Westinghouse]] steam turbines providing {{convert|70000|shp|MW|abbr=on}}; 2 shafts
*4 × [[Foster Wheeler Corporation|Foster Wheeler]] {{convert|1275|psi|abbr=on}} boilers
| Ship speed = {{convert|33|kn|lk=in}}
| Ship range = {{convert|4500|nmi|km}} at {{convert|20|kn|km/h}}
| Ship complement = 354 (24 officers, 330 enlisted)
| Ship sensors = *AN/SPS-39 3D air search radar
*AN/SPS-10 surface search radar
*[[AN/SPG-51]] missile fire control radar
*AN/SPG-53 gunfire control radar
*AN/SQS-23 Sonar and the hull mounted SQQ-23 Pair Sonar for DDG-2 through 19
*AN/SPS-40 Air Search Radar
| Ship EW = 
| Ship armament = *1 [[Mk 11 missile launcher]] (DDG2-14) or [[Mk 13 missile launcher|Mk 13 single arm missile launcher]] (DDG-15-24) for [[RIM-24 Tartar]] [[Surface-to-air missile|SAM]] system, or later the [[RIM-66 Standard]] (SM-1) and [[Harpoon (missile)|Harpoon antiship missile]]
*2 × [[5"/54 caliber Mark 42 gun|5"/54 caliber Mark 42 (127 mm) gun]]
*1 × [[RUR-5 ASROC]] Launcher
*6 × 12.8 in (324 mm) ASW Torpedo Tubes (2 x [[Mark 32 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes]])
| Ship armour = 
| Ship armor = 
| Ship aircraft = 
| Ship notes = 
}}
|}

'''USS ''Lawrence'' (DD-954/DDG-4)''' was a [[Charles F. Adams class]] guided-missile [[destroyer]] in the [[United States Navy]]. It was the fifth ship named after Captain [[James Lawrence]] USN (1781–1813). The ''USS Lawrence'' served on blockade duty during the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] in October 1962 and, in 1972, was part of [[Operation Linebacker]] in the west Pacific.

== Construction and career ==
''USS Lawrence'' was laid down by the [[New York Shipbuilding Corporation]] in [[Camden, New Jersey|Camden]], [[New Jersey]] on 27 October 1958. The ship was launched on 27 February 1960, by Mrs. Fernie C. Hubbard, the great-great-granddaughter of Captain James Lawrence. The ship was commissioned on 6 January 1962. After a [[shakedown cruise]] on the [[Great Lakes]], ''USS Lawrence'' proceeded to [[Naval Station Norfolk]] for duty in the [[United States Fleet Forces Command|Atlantic Fleet]].

=== Cuban Missile Crisis ===
[[File:USS Lawrence (DDG-4) in Buffalo (NY) harbour 1962.jpg|left|thumb|''Lawrence'' in [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo Harbor]], 1962]]
Following the rapid development of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, the warship deployed with Task Group 136.1, a surface quarantine group of cruisers composed of [[USS Canberra (CA-70)|USS Canberra (CAG-2)]], [[USS Newport News (CA-148)]], three guided-missile destroyers including ''USS'' ''Lawrence,'' and twelve escorts. The group took up a blocking position north of Cuba on 24 October 1962, two days into the crisis. On Friday, 26 October 1962, ''USS Lawrence'' and [[USS Macdonough (DDG-39)|''MacDonough'' (DLG-8)]] began shadowing ''MT Grozny'', a tanker proceeding towards Cuba. The next day, the Soviet Union agreed to defuse the crisis and military forces on both sides began standing down.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/l/lawrence-v.html|title=Lawrence V (DDG-4)|date=20 July 2005|website=Naval History and Heritage Command|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-04}}</ref>

==== Mediterranean ====
After returning to Norfolk on 6 December 1962, ''USS Lawrence'' began the first of many [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] cruises on 6 February 1963, steaming across the Atlantic to join the Sixth Fleet for operations in European waters, where she remained until 1 July 1963. Following a second Mediterranean deployment between April and August 1964, the warship received an extensive overhaul in Norfolk over the ensuing winter. Before the end of the decade, she conducted four more cruises; a [[United States Sixth Fleet|Sixth Fleet]] deployment (24 August 1965 to 17 December 1965), a [[NATO]] exercise in the North [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] (3 August 1966 to 5 September 1966), another Mediterranean tour (27 September 1966 to 1 February 1967) and a third Sixth Fleet cruise (10 January 1968 to 4 May 1968). During her fourth Mediterranean deployment, ''USS Lawrence'' helped rescue crewmen from the sinking merchant vessel ''New Meadow'', in distress off the coast of [[Crete]].

=== Vietnam War ===
[[File:USS Lawrence (DDG-4) underway in Hamtpon Roads, Virginia (USA), circa in mid-1972.jpg|left|thumb|''Lawrence'' underway in [[Hampton Roads|Hamtpon Roads]] in mid-1972]]
Following two additional Mediterranean deployments, one in 1969 and another in 1971, the much-traveled destroyer made one [[Vietnam War]] tour in the Western Pacific from 1972 to 1973, providing naval gunfire support, rescuing downed aviators and serving as plane guard during aircraft carrier operations. Among her guests on Yankee Station were the Chief of Naval Operations and Secretary of the Navy.

As the U.S.S. Lawrence came through the locks in the Panama canal, her sister ship was sabotaged by a crewman that dropped a large wrench into the main reduction gear shaft, causing her to be towed to San Diego for repairs while the ''USS Lawrence'' sailed on to Vietnam and engaged in Operation Linebacker. At the time, she was affectionately known as the "Leapin Larry" by her crew. For her service, she was awarded a [[Meritorious Unit Commendation]].

==== Sixth Fleet ====
Two more Sixth Fleet cruises followed in 1977-78 and 1979, and during the latter she briefly visited the [[Black Sea]]. ''USS Lawrence'' circumnavigated Africa en route to the [[Indian Ocean]] and [[Persian Gulf]], deployment that took place in 1974. ''USS Lawrence'' passed through the Mediterranean en route to the [[Indian Ocean]] and [[Persian Gulf]], deployments that took place in 1980 and 1983 to 1984.
[[File:USS Lawrence (DDG-4) and USS McCloy (FF-1038) at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia (USA), on 10 October 1988 (6442916).jpg|left|thumb|''Lawrence'' and [[USS McCloy|McCloy]] in Norfolk on 10 October 1988]]

==== Caribbean ====
''USS Lawrence'' also saw frequent service closer to home, in the western Atlantic and Caribbean, and occasionally visited other waters. In 1986, she circumnavigated around [[South America]] as part of Operation Unitas XVII, exercising with Latin American navies and visiting ports in [[Puerto Rico]], [[Panama]], [[Venezuela]], [[Colombia]], [[Ecuador]], [[Peru]], [[Chile]], [[Uruguay]] and [[Brazil]]. During that deployment, she served as the flagship for [[Destroyer Squadron 26]].

=== Decommissioning ===
The ''USS Lawrence'' was decommissioned on 30 March 1990 and stricken from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 16 May 1990.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nvr.navy.mil/SHIPDETAILS/SHIPSDETAIL_DDG_4.HTML|title=Naval Vessel Register – LAWRENCE (DDG 4)|website=nvr.navy.mil|access-date=2019-09-04}}</ref> The ship was sold for scrap on 15 April 1994. The Navy repossessed the ship in October 1996 after the [[ship breaking]] company failed, and it was finally resold for scrap on 10 February 1999.<ref name=":0" />

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/l/lawrence-v.html}}
* {{Naval Vessel Register|{{Naval Vessel Register URL|id = DDG4 }}}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons and category|USS Lawrence (DDG-4)}}
*[http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/destroyers/pages/uss_lawrence_ddg_4_page_1.htm MaritimeQuest USS Lawrence DDG-4 pages]
*[http://www.usslawrence.com/ USS Lawrence DDG-4 Association]
 
{{Charles F. Adams class destroyer}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence (DDG-4)}}
[[Category:Cold War destroyers of the United States]]
[[Category:1960 ships]]
[[Category:Charles F. Adams-class destroyers]]
[[Category:Ships built by New York Shipbuilding Corporation]]