FGS Rommel (D187)

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FGS Rommel (D187)

D187 Rommel was a guided missile destroyer of the Bundesmarine (West German Navy) and later the Deutsche Marine (Navy of reunited Germany). It was the third and last ship of the Lütjens class, a modification of the Charles F. Adams class.

Rommel was laid down August 22, 1967 by Bath Iron Works of Bath, Maine with the hull number DDG-30. On February 1, 1969 she was launched and baptised Rommel by Lucie Maria Rommel, widow of Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel. May 2, 1970 she was commissioned into the 1. Zerstörergeschwader (first destroyer squadron), based in Kiel.

September 30, 1998 she had to be decommissioned, because the operating licence for the boilers expired. She was then towed to Wilhelmshaven and cannibalised for spare parts for her two sisters, Lütjens and Mölders, which continued to serve for five more years. In 2004 she was finally scrapped in Turkey.

[edit] USS Shea

Originally the hull number DDG-30 was reserved for the USS Shea, named for Lieutenant Commander John Joseph Shea USN, who was killed in action aboard USS Wasp (CV-7) when that ship was sunk on 15 September 1942. However the order to built USS Shea was cancelled by the US Navy before her keel was laid down.