USS John Rodgers - The Last of the Fletchers (In Service)
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- Опубліковано 5 жов 2024
- As a whole, the Fletcher-class destroyers lasted a shockingly long time in active service. The USN ran them until the 1970s. Allied fleets would push that further, into the 1980s or early 1990s.
None of these ships, however, would last as long (in active service) as USS John Rodgers. Under the name ARM Cuitláhuac she would serve the Mexican Navy until 2001.
It's a shame she wasn't saved as a museum, in the end.
Further Reading:
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It really is a darn shame she wasn’t saved. Would have been the last of the round bridge Fletchers. One of the destroyers I think should have been saved the most that actually had a chance at it, second only to Yukikaze which served with the ROC navy into the late 1960s. She might have been saved if she wasn’t damaged in that typhoon
I was on vacation at Galvestin in the mid-eighties, and I saw a Fletcher the Mexican flag. Google was not around yet, and I did not know what ship she was.
Now I do, thank you.
I visited that ship during her San Francisco Fleetweek visit. It had taken me a moment to realize I was on a Fletcher. So cool.
My ship DD-862 was a FRAM Gearing sold to Mexico in 1981 and lasted till 2002 there.
USS Vogelgesang.
Love the Fletcher's. Thanks for this, fantastic!!
My dad served on the USS Thatcher DD-514.
Magnificent class of destroyer the Fletchers; they have to be amongst the best ever.
Going by how my country's navy pushed our ex-American ships to the limit, I'm sure John Rodgers did a good job in Mexico. It makes me want to learn Spanish to find out if there's a sea story or three behind Cuitlahuac's service.
I was on watch in the USCG spotted her in '96, we had a short standoff over a ship load of imgrants off the coast of Baja. She was deffinatly a ship right out of WW2. She could still kick her heals, get up and move.
Weres the proof?
I went aboard during Fleet Week in San Francisco in the 1990s. The 40mm Bofors guns were mady by Chrysler, according to the brass data plates on them.
"Kweet-lah-wahk" would be close to correct. The Fletchers were a robust design, great for Pacific service and with capacity for upgrade. The 5"/38 and 40 mm Bofors were good designs. The Fletchers' longevity reflected their good design.
So Wise , Thank You . a sad loss
A similar story from my father's ship U.S.S. Boyd DD - 544. Commissioned in early 1943, Boyd would survive most major battles in the Pacific in W.W. 2 and go on to serve in Korea, the cold war, and Vietnam, being sold to Turkey in 1969 and scrapped some time in the 1970's.
Great ships they served the country well
Thank you for this great video about the amazing Fletcher Class destroyers, including the USS Rodgers. I served aboard the USS Porterfield DD682 on her last deployment to Vietnam in 1968-1969. She was decommissioned in San Diego upon return to her home port. Unfortunately, she was sunk as a target. The Fletcher’s were great destroyers and served our nation well.
We are praising the Fletcher class like it was the only class of Destroyer to have served in WWII.
After the Fletcher was the Sumner class, and later the Gearing class.
They all served well in WWII, Korea and Viet Nam.
The Fletcher had only one Rudder, Sumner they added 2 for better maneuverability, then the gearing was 14ft longer. With the greater space between the Stacks, Asrock was added.
The Sumner was upgraded from the single Barrell Gun Mount to the double Barrell 5"38 Gun mount. Not sure if Fletcher was same caliber/size.
The Tin Cans are the work horses of the Fleet, often call the Grey Hound`s.
I know the video is about the U.S.S. John Rogers and the Fletcher Class.
All 3 class`s did their jobs and served well. I praise all the Sailors that served on them.
I served on DD-729 63 - 66. She was decommissioned in 71 and sent to, I think Tiawan
to be canibaliazed for parts to keep other like type ships in repair.
Love the Fletchers ! Excellent photoz, thanks !
11:39 Cool! A shot of her in San Francisco. (You can see Coit Tower in the upper left of photo). I’m not far from there. Thanks for another great video!
I love the channel man! Keep it up look forward to seeing videos by you!
The ship’s bridge is the only recognisable
While some of the fletchers have extended small balcony at the front of the bridge
It looks like she made a trip up to San Francisco while in Mexican Service because I think I see Coit Tower in the photo's background.
11:00 You got a tough one there alright... as all ancient Nahuatl words and surnames are: ie Maíz, Jitomate... to Cuauhtémoc and Texas (ha! I bet nobody got a clue about that one)
Cuitláhuac was an Emperor of Tenochtitlán (I didn’t knew this)... this was around 1520.
Wikipedia has a pronunciation audio clip for his name... but alas is like asking you to pronounce ancient Egyptian names, or Greek ones for that matter: not in the vanilla way we all wrongfully do.
Nahuatl is a very important ancient language, not only literature was written using it but a lot of words we use today come from it. Just for reference.
Great video, thanks
11:21 ahh, “the war between English and Español Google searches” 😂
It is real, I know...
However you can find them if someone helps you, or by configuring your browser to look for the correct list of searches... and then use Spanish/English translator for the text. I speak perfect English and Spanish, but what i understand most is systems... and actually n00bs programming algorithms: I speak “nonsense” he he
As for the Cuitlahuac, which after a couple of times saying it starts to sound correctly, I am sure the Armada Mexicana (Mexican Navy) only used it to show at festivities, also as training patrols, and perhaps to show face against neighboring nations to the south... nothing more could be asked other than to chase Narco convoys, which I am sure the ship’s presence would be buried in a ton of reports about every engagement, as it should.
The Armada Mexicana is the least corrupt armed force in Mexico, over the Mexican Army and the Policia Federal... and then there is nothing more of interest other than the great police force of San Pedro Garza García (municipality near the city of Monterrey)...
Teníamos un fletcher? el echo de que me este enterando aquí y no por medio de fuentes mexicanas me dice lo mucho que no nos importa nuestra propia historia militar, hasta hace poco supe que el 501 peleo en filipinas 😒
Nice Report. Thanks.
Coast Guard Cutter Jarvis tied up behind in the opening picture. WHEC725, decommissioned in October 2012 and sold to Bangladesh.
It should of been saved especially been the best looking of the fletchers with the round bridge.
I'll have to watch later. I'm distracted by that beautiful white hull. Looks like the Jarvis
WHEC 725, Jarvis.
Nice vídeo Man
People should not be told that "mere escort duty" was not important. The Fletcher's , and the little DE's kept the carriers, troop ships, supply ships , etc safe from both air and submarine attacks. That was the primary mission of these "tin-cans". Shore bombardment may have worn out her FIVE, 5 inch rifles but in doing so she gave the "mud-Marines" , and Army pukes an incredible artillery support asset at the end of a radio call. I bet the marines and soldiers that called for gunfire support did not think that her services were not "important". She did what she was designed to do and she did it well. We should Honor her service. As a sailor from a much later generation I grew up in awe of what "The Fletcher's" had done for us in WWII. She, and all in her class , contributed to the defeat of Japan. No small feat.
Another great role was radar picket ships
In the philippines they still use it even its a rusty derelict.
Is she named after a sailor killed on the Arizona?
No, the Rodgers was named after the Rodgers family, members of which served in different conflicts for over a century. There were a number of naval officers from the family, and seem to have served between 1798 and 1926.
another sad ending to another WW2 ship . Last of her kind , which means that she should have been saved .
It's hard to understand why money wasn't available for her to be saved when aircraft carriers go for $1?? I understand that aircraft carriers have a lot of substances and materials that are hard to dispose of but still?😢
Mind, the $1 thing is a quirk of federal laws requiring some form of payment in money for certain activities. If the USA is "selling" a warship for $1, that is just a legal formality because the US Navy cannot just give away ships for free without a lot of legal work that not every Congress wants to deal with. The US Navy usually tries to get a good price for its old ships, and the $1 ship is very much the exception, not the rule.
Mexico was not interested in losing the scrap value, especially because American Navy steel from WW2 is some of the best you can find, so it was always going to be hard for a museum ship fund to match what scrappers would be willing to pay for her.
@@genericpersonx333 yeah, especially if it was steel from before the nuclear tests.
Indeed! @@DavidJones-me7yr
What a sad end should of been saved
I would think that some American ship museum did not buy her from Mexico!
Hmm, maybe qweetulhooac?
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Its so sad that we can't get a decent car to last ten years but a ship can see 50+ years in three nations.
My Ford Fiesta had 160,000 miles in 8 years and ran flawlessly when it was totaled, saving my life with its crumple zones just a couple years ago. I was at a complete stop and read ended by a car doing freeway speed.
The van I'm sitting in has 330,000 miles and was built in 1995.
Maintain your shit, and it lasts.
Compro 2.000.000 navios dessa classe para a marinha do Brasil Rio de Janeiro niteroi Brasil
Should have saved the USS John Rodgers !!!!!
What's a tin can think it's supposed to do ? Anti-aircraft, anti-submarine & a little shore bombardment. Carriers are where the action is ! 😊👍🫡 🇺🇸
But destroyers get to go to smaller liberty ports. Plus the town isn't saturated with squids like you'd see if you're on a carrier or in the same port as a carrier!!
@albertoswald8461 very true. I can't argue with you there. I always loved seeing our escorts. We had the USS Spruance with us. The lead ship in her class with gas turbine engines. She could haul ass !
@@billotto602, I remember the Sprucans!! I was in from 1989 to 1993 so I remember them, the Kidds, the Charlie Adams class and the nuke cruisers too. If memory serves the first Arleigh Burke class destroyer was commissioned right around when I was getting out. I was always surprised that the Spruances were scrapped so fast after being decommissioned. I would think that the foreign countries we sell equipment to would have loved them,especially in you put a VLS where they had the ASROC launcher or the Sea Sparrow launcher or both!!
@albertoswald8461 they scrapped them ? They were so young ! I was in 76-80. I was on the USS Forrestal. VA 85, an A6E Intruder squadron. They're all scrapped now as is the Forrestal. 😫😫😫
@@billotto602 , yeah. They scrapped them roughly from the late 1990's through the 2000's. They kept one around for a while testing new equipment but I'm pretty sure that one is being shaved with by now.
No kidding? I worked at Naval Weapons Station Earle as a boiler operator for a few months back in 1996. The lead operator was a Forestal veteran. He was on her for the big fire in 1967-68! Pretty grisly. He talked about putting people into body bags as well as trying to fight the fire. That's one I'm glad I wasn't born to see!!!