View source for USS Thorn (DD-988)

{{short description|Spruance-class destroyer}}
{{Other ships|USS Thorn}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=File:330-CFD-DN-ST-90-01494 (22193563615).jpg
|Ship caption=USS ''Thorn'' in July 1984, Cartagena, Colombia
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|2004}}
|Ship name=''Thorn''
|Ship namesake=[[Jonathan Thorn]]
|Ship ordered=15 January 1975
|Ship builder=[[Ingalls Shipbuilding]]
|Ship laid down=29 August 1977
|Ship launched=3 February 1979
|Ship acquired=21 January 1980
|Ship commissioned=16 February 1980
|Ship decommissioned=25 August 2004
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=25 August 2004
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship identification=*[[Maritime call sign|Callsign]]: NOPQ
*{{ICS|November}}{{ICS|Oscar}}{{ICS|Papa}}{{ICS|Quebec}}
*[[Hull number]]: DD-988
|Ship motto=''Sharply Perseverant''
|Ship fate= [[Target ship|Sunk as target]], 22 July 2006
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=[[File:DD-988 crest.png|150px]]
}}
{{Spruance class destroyer infobox ship characteristics
|armament extra=
*1 × 21 cell [[RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile]]
}}
|}

'''USS ''Thorn'' (DD-988)''', a [[Spruance class destroyer|''Spruance''-class]] [[destroyer]], was the second ship of the [[United States Navy]] to be named for [[Jonathan Thorn|Lieutenant Jonathan Thorn]] (1779&ndash;1811), who took part in [[Stephen Decatur|Decatur's]] expedition to destroy the captured [[frigate]] [[USS Philadelphia (1799)|''Philadelphia'']] in 1804.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?183362 |title=USS Thorn (DD-988) (+2006) |website=Wrecksite.eu}}</ref>

== Construction and career ==
''Thorn'' was laid down on 29 August 1977 by [[Ingalls Shipbuilding]], [[Pascagoula, Mississippi|Pascagoula, Miss.]]; [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 22 November 1978 <!--; sponsored by SPONSOR--> (Thorn was christened on 3 February 1979 by Mrs. Patricia Ansley); and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 16 February 1980<!-- at [[COMMLOC]], RANK CAPTAIN in command-->.<ref>{{cite web |url={{Naval Vessel Register URL|id=DD988}} |title=Thorn (DD 988) |date=August 7, 2006 |website=[[Naval Vessel Register]]}}</ref>

''Thorn'' was decommissioned and stricken from the [[Navy list]] on 25 August 2004.

''Thorn'' was sunk as a test/target at 08:50 on 22 July 2006 off the [[United States East Coast]].

== Gallery ==
<gallery mode="packed">
File:USS Thorn (DD-988) underway, circa the 1980s (NH 106906).jpg|USS ''Thorn'' in the 1980s
File:USS Thorn (DD-988) and USS William V. Pratt (DDG-44) underway in the Atlantic Ocean, in 1981.jpg|USS ''Thorn'' and [[USS William V. Pratt]] in the [[Atlantic Ocean]] in 1981
File:A port bow view of the destroyer USS THORN (DD 988) navigating an inland waterway during Exercise UNITAS XXV - DPLA - 0b484df8753f6fcf4d008c04c6d21a44.jpeg|USS ''Thorn'' on 1 October 1984
File:US Navy 030905-N-5471P-002 USS Thorn (DD 988) sails in the Atlantic Ocean as it conducts work ups before an upcoming scheduled six-month deployment.jpg|USS ''Thorn'' in the Atlantic Ocean on 5 September 2003
File:US Navy 030905-N-5471P-008 Enterprise Carrier Strike Group (CSG) ships perform divisional tactics while underway in the Atlantic Ocean.jpg| USS Thorn, [[USS Cole (DDG-67)|USS Cole]], [[ARA Sarandí (D-13)|ARA Sarandí]] and [[USS Gonzalez]] in the Atlantic Ocean on 5 September 2003
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{stack|{{commons category}}}}
*{{navsource|05/988|USS Thorn}}
*{{cite web |url=http://www.navysite.de/dd/dd988.htm |title=USS Thorn (DD 988) |website=navysite.de}}

{{Spruance class destroyer}}
{{2006 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorn (DD-988)}}
[[Category:Spruance-class destroyers]]
[[Category:Cold War destroyers of the United States]]
[[Category:1979 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Pascagoula, Mississippi]]
[[Category:Ships sunk as targets]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks]]


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