# SPRUCAN — Ingalls research, first extraction Prepared 23 September 2026. This is a local research package, not a published website feature. ## What the transferred collection contains The TAR contains 43 single-page PDFs: the contents sheet, nine backgrounders/fact-sheet sections (38 pages), and a four-page launch announcement. Every page image has received a readable visual inspection. Original PDF filenames and unmodified bytes are preserved under `sources/`; checksums and the TAR member sequence are recorded in the inventory. No exact PDF or decoded-image duplicates were found within this transfer. Duplicates against earlier chat attachments have not been assessed. The misleading filenames `TOC_0001` through `TOC_0005` contain the five-page **Versatile Spruance-class destroyers** article. The actual contents sheet is `Table of contents.pdf`. The browser presents reconstructed article order; it does not assert the physical binder's original order. The source scans contain no embedded text. The separate OCR is searchable but still has errors. Selected facts and the supplier entries have been checked visually; the complete OCR has not been line-by-line proofread. Cite the scan when quoting. Readable derivatives retain whole-page proportions and edges; the supplied PDFs remain the higher-resolution reference. Folder covers and the associated Navy photograph described in the handoff are absent from this TAR. Their metadata is reported provenance, not an inspection finding. Photograph 1172191 must retain its Navy creator attribution; the reported June 1978 stamp is a received date, not necessarily the exposure date. The contents sheet lists captioned photographs, but that does not prove their presence in this surviving copy. ## What we can build from this **The industrial base is the strongest first feature.** The supplier section yields 155 listed entries and 38 regional headings: 35 states, D.C., Canada and Sweden. There are repeated organizations and locations, so 155 is an entry count, not a unique-company total. Ingalls separately says it had major contracts with more than 160 companies; its selected list should not be presented as exhaustive. The listed regional values sum to **$640,738,400**, a SPRUCAN calculation from approximate printed amounts. Present this as roughly **$640.74 million in stated regional contracts**, consistent with the source's “more than $640 million.” This is neither lifetime program expenditure nor inflation-adjusted value. The electronics figure of more than $110 million is a subset, not another amount to add. Company-level contract amounts are not provided in the table and are recorded as unknown. The names and components retain printed wording, including apparent errors. Wisconsin is normalized for browsing, with the printed heading `WISONSIN` retained separately. `AII Corp.` and `Aircraft APL & Equipment` need corporate-identity confirmation. Herschel and Henschel remain separate spellings. The table's `CRP Propeller` is retained even though the narrative says controllable pitch propellers. Do not turn those editorial uncertainties into map coordinates or silently “corrected” names. **Construction is more nuanced than a generic modular-shipbuilding story.** Ingalls calls the first two hulls semi-modular. DD-963's three hull sections were joined earlier to develop production methods and familiarize craftsmen with the process. The source describes pre-outfitting, separate deckhouse erection, electronics assembled and tested ashore, transfer to a launch pontoon and movement to outfitting docks. Source: total-responsibility article, pp.2–5. **The human-design story has a useful tension.** The four habitability pages discuss individual berth ventilation, curtains, reading lights, colors, storage, messing, cargo handling and automation. They also contain sweeping maintenance and comfort claims. These are evidence of what Ingalls promised in 1973. Later photographs, watch bills, maintenance records and sailor accounts can establish what crews experienced. ## Independent checks and new archival leads The most actionable find is NARA's **RG 344, entry UD-07W 48, HMS record entry 652243**. Its FY2022 Q4 release list identifies Spruance acquisition-project general subject files associated with SEA 91 and PMS 389, with **eight boxes / 8.616 cubic feet**. The list labels them unavailable online. A 2015 queue supplies a 1970–1976 date range. These are reference identifiers, not confirmed box/folder citations or an asserted Catalog NAID. Present access, location and a box list still need confirmation. [2022 release list, PDF p.14](https://www.archives.gov/files/release-list-q4-2022.pdf#page=14); [2015 queue, PDF p.54](https://declassification.blogs.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2015/08/indexing-queue-for-blog-part-two.pdf#page=54). The supplier list also opens a specific case study: **Parmatic's moisture separators**. A 1976 GAO decision describes the subcontract's termination and replacement by Hamilton Standard, and reproduces the contract's total-system-responsibility clause. GAO denied the protest. This makes the 1973 list a dated procurement snapshot rather than proof that every listed firm supplied every ship. [GAO B-175917](https://www.gao.gov/products/b-175917). A later GAO report provides a counterweight to the promotional narrative, discussing problems and settlement of the combined LHA/DD-963 contracts. Its abstract has been consulted; the full report remains to be mined. Never assign combined-program figures solely to Spruance. [GAO PSAD-80-39](https://www.gao.gov/products/psad-80-39). The press kit forecasts delivery in fall 1974. The Navy's history records delivery on **12 August 1975** and commissioning on **20 September 1975**. It also describes early testing of manning estimates. These are follow-up targets for original acceptance papers and 1975–76 command histories. [NHHC, Spruance I](https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/spruance.html). ## Proposed features and their evidence requirements ### 1. The Spruance Industrial Base — November 1973 Open with a restrained geographic overview, then let visitors browse region → company → supplied component, or search directly for sonar, ventilation, shafting or their hometown. A region's contract value appears once above its list. Each entry opens the corresponding scan and identifies the publication date. Canada and Sweden must be first-class parts of the presentation. The supplied local research browser already demonstrates region and component search. The published map should wait for resolved place identities and reviewed geographic data. Any grouping into propulsion, combat systems, habitability or auxiliaries is a SPRUCAN editorial layer, stored separately from source wording. Do not size individual company markers using whole-state values. No account, comment queue or user submissions are needed. ### 2. How a Spruance Was Built Use a sequential illustrated feature: material and subassemblies → three hull modules and pre-outfitting → integration → three deckhouse sections → electronics testing/integration → track transfer and pontoon → float-off → final outfitting. Explain that electronics work ran in parallel, and that the first two ships followed a modified sequence. The chronology is not a claim that every stage happened strictly one after another. The kit supplies the story, not enough construction imagery. The official photography index identifies USN 1162181 as a 1973–74 construction composite; inspect the image and frame captions before using it. [NHHC DD-963 photography](https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/nmusn/explore/photography/ships-us/ships-usn-s/uss-spruance-dd-963.html). ### 3. Designed for the Sailor Present one compartment or task at a time: a berth, a mess, moving stores, standing watch, maintaining the ship. Pair a short attributed design claim with a dated photograph, drawing or documented recollection. Avoid an invitation-led empty page: begin with the complete 1973 source account, then add comparisons as evidence becomes available. Record ship, year and source for each comparison. ### 4. DD-963 at Birth A dated specification view preserves the 1973 baseline. It must distinguish installed/basic equipment, available growth space and hypothetical future systems. The 8-inch gun and more-than-100-missile discussion are possibilities, not ship-fit records. UH-2/SH-3D designations remain as printed. A later configuration view needs separate evidence. ### 5. Six Hulls at Ingalls The handoff's USN 1162174 yard image is a promising interactive scene. The Navy's Elliot photo index lists that number. Inspect the full official caption and the user's copy before identifying positions. Then give each verified hull an accessible button opening name, hull number, photograph date and documented construction stage. Keel, launch, delivery and commissioning must remain distinct dates. [NHHC Elliot photo index](https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/us-navy-ships/alphabetical-listing/e/uss-elliot--dd-967-0.html). ## First archival trip: research targets before travel arrangements 1. Ask NARA for the current description and box/folder list for RG 344 / UD-07W 48 / HMS 652243. Confirm research location, release status, restrictions and whether copies can be supplied before travelling. 2. Prioritize program chronology, the fourteen technical milestones, the Southern California shore station, Pascagoula testing, manning trials and integrated logistics. These are questions to put to the finding aid, not claims about known folder contents. 3. Inventory publicly posted DD-963 command histories, starting with 1975–76, before requesting missing reports. Current NHHC guidance lists a research contact; older ship pages carry service limitations, so confirm present access before building a Navy Yard itinerary. [Current COR guidance](https://www.history.navy.mil/about-us/instructions-and-forms/submit-a-command-operations-report.html), [COR collection](https://www.history.navy.mil/research/archives/Collections/command-operations-reports.html). 4. Check exact deck-log holdings for selected dates; broad repository guidance is not a confirmation of a specific ship-year. [NARA deck-log guide](https://www.archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/naval-deck-logs), [online holdings](https://www.archives.gov/research/military/logbooks/navy-online). 5. Build a separate photographic request around 1162174, 1162181 and 1172191, preserving original captions and front/back associations. Adjacent numbers are leads, not proof of a common shoot. No messages, archival requests or FOIA requests have been sent. An exact-date itinerary should follow custody/access confirmation. The broader career ledger should retain source periods and avoid double-counting overlapping deployment totals; no lifetime figures have been extrapolated here. ## Remaining work Proofread the full OCR if a publication-quality transcription is desired; resolve flagged supplier identities; mine the full GAO reports; obtain the acquisition-file finding aid; inspect the associated photography; and test source claims against service records. The current package supplies a usable first extraction and specific paths forward, not a claim that the class's archival research is finished.