DD–987 · SPRUANCE-CLASS DESTROYER
USS O'Bannon
United States Navy · 1979–2005
Explore the ship’s record ↓THE SHIP
A record of service.
USS O'Bannon · DD–987
Spruance-class destroyer
- Commissioned
- 15 Dec 1979
- Decommissioned
- 19 Aug 2005
- 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–987
Lieutenant Presley O’Bannon, USMC
DD-987 was the third U.S. Navy ship named for this early Marine Corps figure.
ORIGIN & DESIGN
Built at Pascagoula.
USS O'Bannon (DD-987) 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 1979–2005. 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 O'Bannon collection
THE RECORD · NHHC ARCHIVE
USS O'Bannon in the archival record
SPRUCAN is preserving high-resolution source material documenting USS O'Bannon 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-987 service record · Dates cross-checked September 22, 2026.
Further reading
NavSource: USS O'Bannon · Destroyer History Foundation: class overview · USS O'Bannon: 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.