Despite their title, destroyer tenders service a variety of ships besides destroyers. The Yellowstone, Gompers and Dixie class destroyer tenders can provide battle damage repair, maintenance and logistics support to ships at anchor or moored to a pier, in a wartime environment. The Gompers class can accommodate ships up to and including the highly complex nuclear-powered missile cruisers. The crews are formed mainly of technicians and repair crews. These Destroyer Tenders have a helicopter platform and hangar, and are equipped with two 30 ton and two 6 ton cranes. They can provide simultaneous services to as many as five ships moored along side.
These ships, so vital to fleet operations, range in age from the Dixie class ship Prairie (AD 15), commissioned in 1940, to the new Shenandoah (AD 44), commissioned in late 1983. Because of the advent of nuclear power and the phenomenal advancement in electronics and weaponry, AD capabilities have had to be vastly increased. The Gompers and Yellowstone classes are the first of post-World War II design; however, more than 15 years elapsed between the launching of the second of the Gompers class, Puget Sound (AD 38), and Yellowstone (AD 41).
Specifications | |
| Builder | National Steel and Shipbuilding |
| Power Plant |
Two boilers, steam turbines, one shaft, 20,000 shaft horsepower |
| Length |
Overall Length: 642 ft Waterline Length: 620 ft |
| Beam |
Extreme Beam: 85 ft Waterline Beam: 67 ft |
| Draft |
Maximum Navigational Draft: 27 ft Draft Limit: 25 ft |
| Displacement |
Light Displacement: 13315 tons Full Displacement: 20263 tons Dead Weight: 6948 tons |
| Speed | 20 knots ( mph) |
| Crew | 1,400 |
| Aircraft | None |
Ships | ||||||
| Name | Number | Builder | Homeport | Ordered | Commissioned | Decommissioned |
| Yellowstone | AD 41 | NASSCO | Norfolk | 15 Dec 1975 | 28 Jun 1980 | 31 Jan 1996 |
| Acadia | AD 42 | NASSCO | San Diego | 11 Mar 1976 | 06 Jun 1981 | 16 Dec 1994 |
| Cape Cod | AD 43 | NASSCO | San Diego | 30 Sep 1977 | 14 Apr 1982 | 29 Sep 1995 |
| Shenandoah | AD 44 | NASSCO | Norfolk | 12 Jun 1979 | 15 Jun 1983 | 13 Sep 1996 |
