Conolly (DD 979) - Naval Cruise Book

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CONOLLY is a versatile, multi-mission ship, capable of operating with equal effectiveness either independently or as a unit of a carrier task force. She can strike targets deep within enemy territory with cruise missiles, bombard enemy shore positions, support amphibious assaults, escort military and merchant ship convoys, establish blockades, and seek- out and destroy enemy submarines. Displacing 8,200 tons, CONOLLY is more than twice as large as the destroyers of World War Il, and among the first surface combatants to be configured for strike warfare operations. U55 CONOLI. Y CDD9 79j was built by lngals Shipbuilding corporation in Pascogoula, Mississippi, and commissioned in October l98Q

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SHlP'S STATISTICS Class: Mission: Displacement: Speed: Engines: Major Armament and Sensors: SPRUANCE Anti-Submarine Warfare Anti-Surface Warfare 8300 tons excess 30 kts 4 LM2500 Gas Turbines 20,000 shp each 2 shafts CRP propellers 2 triple MK46 torpedo tubes S rocket thrown torpedoes 8 NATO Sea Sparrow missiles 8 Harpoon antiship missiles 8 Tomahawk cruise missiles 2 5 !54 gun mounts Q2 20mm CIWS mounts Assorted small arms ANXSLQ-32 Suite 2 ESM ANXSQS-53 Sonar ANXSQR-I5 Towed Array Sonar System ANXSPS-40B 2D Air Search Radar MK23 Target Aquisition System ANXSPS-55 Surface Search Radar

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I' I 14 fx 5 . ,.,n- 71' DMIR L RICHARD LANSING CONOLLY . ADMIRAL CONOLLY WAS BORN IN WAUKEGAN, ILLINOIS, ON APRIL 26, 1892. HE WAS A GRADUATE OF THE U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY, AND RECEIVED A MASTER OF SCIENCE DEGREE FROM COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. HIS SHIPBOARD ASSIGNMENTS CONSISTED PRIMARII Y OF DUTIES ABOARD BATTLESHIPS AND DESTROYERS. IT WAS ONBOARD THE DESTROYER USS SMITH DURING WORLD WAR I THAT HE RECEIVED THE NAVY CROSS FOR I-IIS PART IN SALVAGING THE TORPEDOED TRANSPORT WESTBRIDGE. ADM CONOLLY WAS RECOGNIZED AS ONE OF THE MOST ABLE AND SUCCESSFUL AMPHIBIOUS FORCE COMMANDERS OF WORLD WAR II. HIS DETAILED PLANNING, BRILLIANT EXECUTION AND MERITORIOUS LEADERSHIP DURING THE INVASION OF SICILY WERE CHIEF ELEMENTS IN THAT VERY SUCCESSFUL ASSAULT. HE ALSO CON- DUCTED THE SUCCESSFUL ASSAULT ON SALERNO, ITALY, BEFORE MOVING ON TO THE PACIFIC. THERE HE LED AMPHIBIOUS OPERATIONS ON KWAJALEIN ATOLL, GUAM, AND THE PHILIPPINES. AT WAR'S END HE WAS IN COMMAND OF OCCUPA- TIONAL FORCES IN NORTHERN JAPAN. HIS MAJOR ASSIGNMENTS ASHORE WERE AS DEPUTY CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS FOR OPERATIONS, COMMANDER IN CHIEF, U.S. NAVAL FORCES, EASTERN ATLANTIC AND MEDITERRANEANQ AND PRESIDENT, U.S. NAVAL WAR COLLEGE. ADMIRAL CONOLLY WAS AWARDED NUMEROUS DECO- RATIONS AND CITATIONS DURING HIS NAVAL CAREER INCLUDING THE NAVY CROSS, THREE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDALS, TWO LEGIONS OF MERIT, AND MEDALS FROM GREAT BRITAIN, BELGIUM, SAUDI ARABIA, MOROCCO, GREECE, FRANCE, NORWAY, DENMARK, AND PORTUGAL. AFTER RETIREMENT FROM THE NAVY IN 1953, ADM CONOLLY WAS APPOINTED PRESIDENT OF LONG ISLAND UNI- VERSITY. CONCURRENTLY HE ALSO SERVED ON BOARDS OF DIRECTORS OF BOTH THE BROOKLYN AND NASSAU COUNTY CHAPTERS OF THE AMERICAN RED CROSS. ADM CONOLLY AND HIS WIFE WERE KILLED IN THE CRASH OF AN AMERI CAN AIRLINES JETLINER WHILE TAKING OFF FROM JOHN F. KENNEDY AIRPORT ON I MARCH 1962.