THE SHIP
A record of service.
USS Caron · DD–970
Spruance-class destroyer
- Commissioned
- 1 Oct 1977
- Decommissioned
- 10 Oct 2001
- Length · class baseline
- 563 ft 4 in
- Beam · class baseline
- 55 ft
- Propulsion
- 4 × LM2500 turbines
- Power / shafts
- 80,000 shp / 2
THE NAMESAKE · DD–970
Hospital Corpsman Third Class Wayne M. Caron
Killed while aiding wounded Marines in Vietnam; awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.
ORIGIN & DESIGN
Built at Pascagoula.
USS Caron (DD-970) was built by Ingalls Shipbuilding in Mississippi as part of the Spruance class. Designed around antisubmarine warfare, the ships combined gas-turbine propulsion with a flight deck and hangar for embarked helicopters.
Commissioned U.S. Navy service spanned 1977–2001. The record below describes the launcher configuration; the photographs preserve individual moments at sea and in port.
THE SHIP AT A GLANCE
The VLS generation
Later service included a 61-cell Mk 41 vertical launching system (VLS), replacing the original trainable ASROC launcher forward.
Equipment changed during each ship’s service. This is a later-service summary; photographs may show earlier configurations.
Shared design, individual service
Two 5-inch/54 Mk 45 guns; Harpoon; NATO Sea Sparrow; torpedo tubes; Phalanx close-in defense in later service.
Built by Ingalls Shipbuilding at Pascagoula, Mississippi. The class combined gas-turbine propulsion, helicopter facilities, and an emphasis on antisubmarine warfare.
Explore the class designPHOTOGRAPHS & ARTIFACTS
From the Caron collection
THE RECORD · NHHC ARCHIVE
USS Caron in the archival record
SPRUCAN is preserving high-resolution source material documenting USS Caron and the people, machinery and operations surrounding her. The images below are publication derivatives from preservation files acquired from the Naval History and Heritage Command.
Archival record identifiers are shown while individual dates, locations and descriptions are being verified against source metadata. Preservation masters remain separate from these web copies.
Naval History and Heritage Command archival image.
Wikipedia: DD-970 service record · Dates cross-checked September 22, 2026.
A note on the decommissioning date
The Navy’s official history gives October 10, 2001 as decommissioning. Wikipedia currently gives October 15. This page follows the Navy history. Supporting record
Further reading
NavSource: USS Caron · Destroyer History Foundation: class overview · USS Caron: ship reference
Service dates follow the linked NavSource ship record. Class dimensions are a design baseline, not a claim that displacement, draft, crew size, or equipment stayed constant. Images combine the SPRUCAN collection with credited archival photographs. Source records appear beneath newly verified images.