Remembering Pearl Harbor 83 Years Later

Hull Number: DD-982

Launch Date: 11/29/1977

Commissioned Date: 05/12/1979

Decommissioned Date: 12/18/2002

Call Sign: NICK

Voice Call Sign: BARE KNUCKLES


Class: SPRUANCE

SPRUANCE Class


Length Overall: 563’ 3"

Beam: 55’

Draft: 29'

Full Load Displacement: 8,040 tons

Armament:

Two 5″/54 caliber guns
Two 20mm Close-In Weapons Systems
One ASROC Launcher
Two 12.75″ triple anti-submarine torpedo tubes

Complement:

19 Officers
315 Enlisted

Propulsion:

4 General Electric LM2500 Gas Turbines: 80,000 horsepower

Highest speed on trials: 32.5 knots

Namesake: JAMES NICHOLSON, HIS YOUNGER BROTHERS JOHN AND SAMUEL NICHOLSON, HIS NEPHEW WILLIAM NICHOLSON AND HIS GRAND NEPHEW JAMES W. NICHOLSON

JAMES NICHOLSON, HIS YOUNGER BROTHERS JOHN AND SAMUEL NICHOLSON, HIS NEPHEW WILLIAM NICHOLSON AND HIS GRAND NEPHEW JAMES W. NICHOLSON

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (Published 1980)

A family renowned in American naval history, five of whose members gave especially distinguished service in the Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Civil War.

The first three, all sons of Joseph and Hannah Scott Nicholson, were born in Chestertown, Md.: James in 1737, Samuel in 1743, and John in 1756. James Nicholson served in the colonial Navy with the British in the assault on Havana in 1762, and was commissioned Captain in the Continental Navy 10 October 1776. He commanded Defense, Trumbull, and Virginia, and when blockaded at Baltimore, took his men to join Washington at Trenton to aid in that key victory. He died 2 September 1804 at his home in New York City.

Samuel Nicholson was a Lieutenant in Bon Homme Richard under John Paul Jones; then, in command of Deane, captured three British sloops-of-war. Appointed Captain upon the reorganization of the Navy in 1794, he superintended the construction of frigate Constitution and commanded her during her first commission. He died at Charlestown, Mass., 29 December 1811.

John Nicholson entered the Continental Navy as Lieutenant in October 1776 and the next month was promoted to Captain to command sloop Hornet. After the war he was active in public affairs in Maryland, where he died in the summer of 1844.

In the next generation, John’s son William Carmichael Nicholson, born 1800 in Maryland, entered as a midshipman in 1812 and served in President under Stephen Decatur during the War of 1812. Commissioned Captain in 1855, he commanded steam frigate Roanoake from May 1861. Appointed Commodore on the Retired List in July 1862, he served a year on the Retiring Board. He died 25 July 1872 at the Naval Asylum, Philadelphia.

In the third generation, Samuel’s grandson James William Augustus Nicholson, born 10 March 1821 in Dedham, Mass., carried on the family tradition, entering the Navy as a midshipman in February 1838. As a Lieutenant, he served in Vandalia in Commodore Matthew G. Perry’s Japanese Expedition (1853–55). During the Civil War he served in Pocahontas and Pensacola, and commanded Isaac Smith, Shamrock, Manhattan, and Mohongo. Commodore from August 1873 and Rear Admiral from October 1881, he commanded the European Station 16 September 1881 to February 1883. When the British bombarded Alexandria, Egypt, in 1882, he rescued the records of the American Consulate and took American and other refugees aboard his flagship, Lancaster. Commendation from the Navy Department and awards of gratitude from European governmen


Disposition:

Stricken 4/6/2004. Sunk as target 7/30/2004.


USS NICHOLSON DD-982 Ship History

Wikipedia (as of 2024)

USS Nicholson (DD-982), a Spruance-class destroyer, was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for a family which was prominent in early American naval history, including James Nicholson, the senior Continental Navy Captain, and Samuel Nicholson, the first captain of USS Constitution.

Nicholson was laid down on 20 February 1976 by the Ingalls Shipbuilding, in Pascagoula, Miss.launched on 11 November 1977; and commissioned on 12 May 1979. She first deployed on 18 November 1980. Nicholson deployed to the Persian Gulf in 1983 and returned to Charleston SC via the Suez Canal with a refueling stop in Djibouti. The crew enjoyed a port visit to Barcelona, Spain on the way back to home port. The ship encountered heavy seas on the voyage west across the Atlantic and experienced a casualty to the sonar dome. The dome was subsequently repaired in conjunction with a scheduled maintenance period at the Brooklyn Navy Shipyard between May 1984 and Feb 1985. Following the maintenance period the ship returned to Charleston, SC and began work ups for the next deployment including, Combat Systems Ship Qualification Trials, an Anti-Submarine warfare exercise in the Caribbean and Refresher Training in Guantanamo Bay Cuba. Nicholson was deployed for six months, in February 1990, with USS Dahlgren, as part of the Mid-East Force in the Persian Gulf. The deployment was fairly routine except for two incidents. The first was a pair of armed Iranian F-4s that overflew the ship in the Straits of Hormuz, and the second was that Nicholson and Dahlgren left the Persian Gulf for home just a week before Iraq invaded Kuwait.

Nicholson was deployed for six months, in January 1992, as part of NATO’s Standing Naval Force Atlantic. Nicholson joined the NATO task force in the Puerto Rican Op-areas and detached in Den Helder, Netherlands. Port Visits included Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico; St. Maarten, DVI; Boston, MA; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Tromso, Norway; Bergen, Norway; Den Helder, Neth; Antwerp, Belgium; Oporto, Portugal; Rosyth, Scotland; Frederikshavn, Denmark; Aarhus, Denmark; and St Johns, NewfoundlandNicholson served as flagship for the second half of the deployment under a US Admiral, RADM Dwyer, USN. During the first half the force was under the command of a Dutch Commodore. Other ships in the task force were Norway – Frigate – HNoMS Oslo (first half); Canada – Frigate – HMCS Skeena (entire cruise); Portugal – Frigate – NRP Vasco da Gama (first half); Britain – Frigate – HMS Brave (first half) and Destroyer HMS Exeter (second half); Netherlands – Frigate – HNLMS Jacob Van Heemskerck (first half) and HNLMS Bloys van Treslong (second half); Denmark – Frigate – HDMS Olfert Fischer (second half); Germany – Frigates – Niedersachsen (first half) and Rheinland-Pfalz (second half).

Nicholson was deployed, in early 1994, with USS Saratoga, as part of Task Force 60 in the Persian GulfMediterranean Sea and the Adriatic Sea in support of operations “Deny Flight,” “Provide Promise” and “Sharp Guard”.

As part of a reorganization announced in July 1995 of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet‘s surface combatant ships into six core battle groups, nine destroyer squadrons and a new Western Hemisphere Group, Nicholson was reassigned to Destroyer Squadron 18. The reorganization was to be phased in over the summer and take effect on 31 August, with homeport shifts occurring through 1998.

Nicholson departed the Charleston Naval Shipyard for sea trials, on 29 September 1995, following completion of an overhaul. Nicholson carried with it the distinction of being the last ship overhauled in the 94-year history of the shipyard as the Charleston Naval Shipyard was closing as a result of the base realignment and closure process of 1993. The ship did not return to the shipyard at the end of sea trials but proceeded to a new home port of Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia. The shipyard’s official closing took place on 1 April 1996. Nicholson arrived at her new home port of Norfolk on 6 October 1995.

On 10 December 1996, Nicholson departed Norfolk Naval Shipyard for a scheduled six-month deployment to the Middle East Force. She, along with the USS Halyburton, relieved Norfolk-based USS Stump and Pascagoula, Mississippi-based USS Stephen W. Groves, then deployed in the Persian Gulf.

Nicholson took part, with the USS Enterprise carrier battle group in a Sink Exercise (SINKEX) near Puerto Rico on 9 August 1998, resulting in the sinking of the former USS Richmond K. Turner. The SINKEX developed the battle group’s coordination of combined air and surface assaults, verified the performance of several weapons systems and enhanced the integration of joint units into naval battle scenarios. During the exercise, the USS Philippine SeaUSS ThornNicholson and Carrier Air Wing Three also sent a parade of high-altitude, anti-radiation missiles, Harpoon anti-ship missiles and an assortment of laser-guided munitions to the decommissioned cruiser. The United States Air Force participated with a trio of 2,000-pound (907 kg) bombs.

Nicholson deployed with the Enterprise carrier battle group, with Carrier Air Wing Three (CVW 3) embarked, for a scheduled six-month deployment on 6 November 1998, and to relieve the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier battle group in Operation Southern Watch. With the Enterprise CVBG, Nicholson took part in Operation Desert Fox, an operation designed to degrade Saddam Hussein‘s ability to deliver chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, and wage war against his neighbors, from 16 to 18 December 1998. During the 70-hour assault, Nicholson launched Tomahawk cruise missiles on Iraqi targets. Following this, and after departing the Persian Gulf on 2 January 1998, and transiting through the Suez CanalNicholson joined U.S. 6th Fleet and took part in Operation Allied Force, launching Tomahawks at numerous sites in Yugoslavia. She returned home on 6 May 1998.

Nicholson and the fast combat support ship USS Detroit were involved in a minor collision on 27 August 2000 about 100 nautical miles (185 km; 115 mi) east of Cape Henry (east of Norfolk). The collision occurred at approximately 8:45 pm local time while the ships were conducting a night underway replenishment. Initial reports indicated minor damage to both ships. Two Nicholson sailors also suffered minor injuries. Both ships were still seaworthy after the incident.

Nicholson deployed with the Enterprise carrier battle group and USS Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) for a scheduled six-month deployment. This was the 17th overseas deployment for Enterprise since her maiden voyage on 12 January 1962. The Enterprise CVBG and Kearsarge ARG relieved the USS Harry Truman CVBG and USS Nassau ARG, which deployed in November 2000. Though the Enterprise battle group departed on 25 April 2001, Nicholson and Thorn, scheduled as late-deployers, and USS McFaul joined the battle group after departing in June. Over the following six months, all these units conducted multi-national and joint operations with navies of various European countries, and visited ports in Mediterranean and Persian Gulf nations. Nicholson participated in strike missions against Afghanistan during ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’, firing Tomahawk missiles against targets, after 9/11. Nicholson earning “First to Strike” as she launched the first missile of the operation. She and the battle group returned to the U.S. November 2001.

Nicholson was decommissioned 20 December 2002; stricken 6 April 2004; and sunk as a target 30 July 2004.