ex-USS O'brien SINKEX via USS Lake Erie

[TheCorpsmanChannel]

my first ship!! 1991-92

[oldmanwintersjeep]

Still sportin' my green caps! Mighty OB, protecting the deep now. FC2 Beall '84-'88

[Swieske1]

I was the Mk 86 GFCS Work Center Supervisor for this Sink-EX, and sat at the COC for this. It was at first an exciting shoot, but after I instructed the bridge to come round so we could put some ordnance on the fan tail (after we had destroyed and melted the helo hangar) We realized that she was going to go down by the fantail. Came top-side and stood right next to Captain Horn, and saluted her as she slipped into the sea. Amazing moment for a proud warrior. A moment I will never forget.

[mattmatt115]

HMCS Vancouver hit USS O'Brien with Harpoon missile in this exercise.

Great job guys.

[GfrmdaBrnx]

The Spruance Destroyers, The last of the great  "GREYHOUNDS"........

[GfrmdaBrnx]

I served on the USS Chandler DDG 996. I am happy to see that she is still going strong and now serving the Taiwan Navy, along with the other Kidd class sister ships.

[GfrmdaBrnx]

I hate when our ships are sunk like this. I feel it it an insult to all who served on her and totally disrepectful. All the hard work and pride the crews put in to make it a great ship is ridiculous.

[rpshipley]

@GfrmdaBrnx Better they go this way than to the breakers yards in Brownsville, TX where they are hauled out of the water a few feet at a time and cut up for scrap. At least during a SINKEX they get a warriors death and they serve one last time as a test of our current weapons systems which help make us the Best Navy in the World!

[NachoDog3]

My first home in the Navy. I was on watch on her Forcastle with my M14 in Bahrain when the attack on 9-11 happened. When I got a chow relief and went to the mess decks the first thing i saw as i sat down was the 1st tower falling. Long live the mighty O.B. Shed a tear when i watched her sink.

[mdceg1]

I was a PO-3 Comm Tech on the OB for three years, worked in the radio shack, climbed the mast a few times. I crossed the Atlantic aboard her twice, went through the Shell back ceremony the first time. I basically became a man on this ship. First time I've seen this footage...wow. Getting kinda emotional.

[maxquad21]

I was on the Lake Erie commisioning crew in 93.

[Warpath2198]

Kind sad. I was on that ship a bunch of times visiting my dad.

[seanboud]

Hard to watch a Spru-can go down...but she was stubborn. It's better this way, I suppose. I hate to think of them being scrapped. I was on the Spruance for 5 years and I admit it made me sick to my stomach to see her listing and full of holes before she went down.

[Bill1275w]

OMG! Assistant CE division officer TAD 12/00-05/01 My pre SWOS ship!

[cabbievonbump]

Sorry to see your ol' Grey Lady sinking. My two ships, USS Leahy CG-16 (Best Ship In the Fleet) and USS Texas CGN-39, both slated for scraping. Leahy scrapped a couple of years ago, Texas half way by now. No matter what ship, it's alway sad seeing the Lady's last moments. At least your ship was given the dignity of a death at sea. Mine are razor blades. :-(

[knuckleheadjp]

kills me to watch this.  86-89 with Prout and then the idiot Abbott. just a shame to see her go down.

[uncleNym]

Crew member 1987-89 transfered while in shipyards

[GlenMalted]

Not only the spru-cans have waste heat boilers - the Ticonderoga class has them too..unless they have removed them in recent upgrades.

I wonder if they secured all watertight doors/hatches before sinking or if everything was wide open.

[iGizz0]

@GlenMalted One of the guys I work with was on one of the shooting ships, and he said that they set Zebra throughout the O'Brien before sinking it.

[Qwuxx]

Old video, but... it wasn't just 5" rounds. The damage to the helo hangar was from a harpoon. The Canadians also made a pass at the ship strafing it with their 50cals for whatever reason. She really didn't want to go down and they were going to break her in half with torpedoes if she didn't sink by sunset but as you can see she eventually succumbed.

[mattmatt115]

@Qwuxx The Harpoon was launched from HMCS Vancouver

[levisnteeshirt]

man i still can't believe they sank the sprus ,, i wonder if it was the cost of the waste heat boilers that was the deciding factor to get rid of 'em

[amdvar]

Was my first ship, I met up with her as a GSM in 86 I believe in the Philippines.

[sodamansak]

I was on the nucleus crew for her in 1977 and was on her when she was commissioned. I had many important hallmarks of my career on board. I watch the video often to remind me of some of the best years and achievements of my life. I am sad to know she is lost now forever, but I also know she was a proud ship and she is intact even if at the bottom.

[daprophet1988]

For motherhen1999 you are incorrect. It was not 93. I was stationed on board her from 90 to 94 in CM divison as a Tomahawk FC. She had her VLS before I got there. *Overhaul 89 * I think.

[etchief]

A great ship and crew. A sad video to watch.

[luvdclc]

I was stationed on her from '89 to '92, didn't know she was sank until a little while ago. It's sad even

though I was there so long ago and such a short time. That was the only ship I was on and got out of the navy when I left her. I was in CM Div. and worked on VLS. It was a great Div. You will be missed!

[conanharris]

I was on there between 90 and 92 FC3 Harris Nato Sea Sparrow I may know you.

[wakita157]

far out... I was there in those years... CA div.

[motherhen1999]

your facts are badly mistaken as she didnt recieve her vls till the end of 93

[luvdclc]

i got out in 92, it was overhauled in 88-89 that's when vls was installed

[lonewolf12052]

03-04 Great ship was on her till crew swap. Navy was never the same.

[itoywalker]

I was onboard from 99-03 best crew and best ship i have ever been on in my entire naval career.

[valk1014]

I was on there from 98-00, Toy the friends that we had on there are still my friends now. We were a family on there that some people can not understand. Obroken or not. Best ship I have ever been on.

[usnusa2003]

you know anyone in Deck????

[biggugly0402]

umm yea i know some people in deck i was in deck/od from 96-99 had one hell of a good/bad time i miss yoko everynow and then chuhi stand and country georges

[lexus10272003]

Onboard from 95-99. Mighty OB! Guard the deeps girl.

[thome2000]

sad to see her go. I was stationed on the OB from 1988-92 & attended her decomissioning in 2004. I was able to get one last walk around her decks prior to the decom. The Spru-Can's were the best class in the fleet. I was on two other DDG's, but there was more room on the DD's.

Good Bye O'Brien!!!

[PRR5406]

They generally sink these vessels in extremely deep water rather than divable depths.  The sinking is not just so pyromaniacs can get their jollies blowing up ships. The results show the effectiveness of weapon systems, the response of the design to fire and water pressure, and how much time the survivors would have to abandon the vessel. The compression of the atmosphere presents a "piston" effect, blowing out bulk heads and hatches.

[animie67]

I was on her from 00-02. Great memories, great division, great skipper.

[airforcemax]

This is how tax money is wasted.

[fleetr06]

Air Force is a waste. Why have one when Every other branch already has their own Air wings.

Play nice.

It was sad watching her sink. And really chilling when we cruised by her to pay our respects while she was burning out.

And the Lake Erie shot a harpoon missile, not just 5 in.

[bpwatl]

Dunce cap.... What do you think was going to be done with ship anyway?  I'd rather they practice on a relic than not practice at all...

[bhunt81]

Damn it sucks to see your best command go down. Had a lotta fun on there. Had even more fun in fan rooms :) RIP OB a lot of people loved you and will remember you for the rest of there lives.

FC1 Battlehunt

[drezulu2000]

Sad ending for a great ship. My man Hylton was on that piece in 95-97'

[jdhoggb4]

The "O'B" was my first ship..spent five great years from 83-88. Its sad to see her go down like this....but remembering the good times that we all had with her....its better that she take them down to Davey and celebrate. And they fixed the dent "camper". John Gigl....aka...."giggle"

[deserthuskyracer]

I was on her from 85 to 89. I cant remember her breaking once while on board. I did break a pier in Sri Lanka in 88 with the port quarter....was the dent still there?? And was the name on the rear still painted green?? BM2(sw)Christopher Camp (master helmsman) 1st div

[NachoDog3]

@deserthuskyracer Still green in '01. Not sure about the dent.

[promontorium]

I was on board from Oct'03 - May '04 when it came to it's decommisioning I cross decked to the Fitz, half the O'Brien crew did as well. The Fitz changed it's hat (put clovers on left and right) to commemorate this. Oh CraP I got POOW quald by that fire!! I remember we smuggled off all the PCMS to the Fitz.

[navysailor2007]

I was on the LKE when we sunk the O'Brien and man did I love it.... I have a bunch of still photos taken from the bridgewing for those of you ex obrien folks....

[promontorium]

Bastard, I decommed that ship!

[fastlt1camaro]

I was on her from 94-97 as a GSM. Man have i got alot of memories on her. She was awesome and the crew was even better. seeing her go down sends chills down my spine

[schube69]

I was on her when we shifted home ports from San diego. Anyone out there remember the green ball caps we had? Its kinda sad watching her go down like that. A lot of good times I had on there.

EN1 (SW) Steve Schultz A-Gang

[promontorium]

I just found my green cap, perfect condition.

[wakita157]

Ha.. I still have my ball cap... I made the homeport change from SD to Yokosuka too... 91-93 if I remember my arrival date right..

[usnusa2003]

funny because I did the the opposite 2004

[daprophet1988]

I still have two of those Green Ball caps. I was on board for the home port change to Japan as well. I remember when everyone gave her so much grief about those green caps, they made us wear blue ones. I have one of those also.

[yellowtail3]

Damn... I still think of Spruances and Perrys as new ships... the years on piling on....

[prsarmyguy20]

I served on the OB from 80 to 83 and am proud to see her at rest. Westpac, Korea, Japan, Philippines, Thailand, she steamed with pride and had many a good crew on her.

[gnxwill]

Kinda sad seeing your old underway home go down like that. But something old must go for something new to come around. 90-92 S-1 Div SK2(SW) Williams

[hibs220]

I sserved aboard 82-84, in the Combat Missiles Div. She was a good ship. Wish I had more details on what put her down. The web has conflicting info on that. One official site states that HMCS Vancouver put her down. Other Sites States the Lake Erie did the deed.

[Donuts73]

hibs220, here's what I dug from google. "In early 2006, the ex-USS O'Brien was sunk by missiles from HMCS Vancouver, 5" shells from USS Lake Erie and two P3C Orion patrol aircraft in a combined fleet training exercise off the Pacific Missile Range Facility near Kauai, Hawaii."

[hibs220]

Thanks much for the info.  As an ex gunners mate I was curious.

[Donuts73]

You're welcome, it is always an interesting thing to see the kind of response we get when we post and the subsequent follow-up posts.

[chardtomp]

I was on Deyo DD-989. I understand it was also sunk as a target. I'm not sure where or how. I wonder if there's footage of that out there someplace.

[invader440]

More fitting of an end than being broken up for scrap like the did to the Lockwood.

[trufriend12]

The last time I saw this ship before now was in 1994 when I left it in Japan and the Navy for good. Kinda sad seeing it sink, but my knees will never forget that shellback day. The OB was broke alot, but did steam to the Gulf a few times. EW2 will never forget the OB!

[promontorium]

I am an EW2 too! I made second on the OB in '04. And NOW I'm FREE!

[floridalady904]

I was onbord that ship from '99 to '02. She was a good ship despite what people thought. They use to call her the o broken. I remember Survivor by Destinys Child playing on the ship as we pulled into port in Japan. We had proven ourselves once again. I'll miss her. :-(

[Lorand2288]

hehe, u wish

[yasafusa]

I was there from Dec 2000 to July 2001, right before we left Australia. I had a really big family emergency, I didn't reside on the good ole vessel long, but I'll miss her. ET3 Callaway

[biggugly0402]

was on board her from 96-99, loved it as much as i hated it...lots of memories...the only ship and crew i care to remember Singapore ,Thialnd, Bali, Australia and of course 3 deployments to the persian gulf... sad to see her go

[lordoflivernois]

How sad.. as a former DC2 on DDG993 Im glad to see that my ship had a better fate..

[HLTVpro]

i'm currently serving onboard lake erie. i was there to watch it last year, even had a picture on my cellphone of it. there were also a canadian ship (a DDG as i remembered) and a sub in the practice. we shot some 5'' and a torpedo was launched from the sub, this HELO shot the video while she's sinking.

it's hard to forget the scene.

[navyfc1l]

i shot some tomahawks into afghanastan from her. she was a good ship. i will miss her.

[Scott11078]

Also wierd but also from what I remeber she did turn into a maintance hog and had some issues from what friends I had onboard were saying.

[yasafusa]

Hehe, my first week aboard, we broke a propshaft... :P

[Scott11078]

My first ship was the USS Kitty Hawk, I knew the O'Brien well, heck even had a girlfirend on it lol! I came a cross pictures of this on a website and felt sad for awhile, I had good memories of this ship. If I remeber correctly as my last ship and assignment was the USS O'Kane DDG-77 that the Gunner on the Erie was staioned the on the O'Brien previosly. Now that would be wierd sinking your last command.

[Donuts73]

Not really, there was another instance if I remember it correctly but it happened in 1944 when the USS Ward (DD-139 was crippled by kamikaze attacks) was sunk by gunfire from (irony, irony) USS O'Brien (DD-725), whose Commanding Officer, William W. Outerbridge, had been in command of Ward during her action off Pearl Harbor three years before.

[Karpindur]

I worked on her during construction at Ingalls Shipbuilding, and went to sea on her during Builders Trials. Sad to see her demise, and to be dated by it.

The Spruance and others of her class are still hanging in there...So far.

[yellowtail3]

I served onboard USS Sampson(DDG-10) in the early 80s. I recall visiting Spruances and Perrys, and think how unbelievably roomy and nice those ships were. Spruances were a bit underarmed when they came out, but with a good sonar and room to grow. Wow, the years have gone by...

[waaterdog]

Mixed feelings about this vid. Served on USS Nicholson DD-982, and USS Chandler DDG-996 as an EW. I LOVED these beautiful ships of the Spruance Design. The absolute PINNACLE of Blue-Ocean Destroyer Design, the likes of which may never be seen again. I think I'd rather see them go like this than broken up into razor blades.

[mastersteamtug]

Well does launched in 1976 mean something ? 30 Years Old !

[EnigmaNZ]

What a waste of a Spuance class, why are older ships in mothballs while most of the Spuances have been sunk like this, sad day. Just seems like yesturday they were being deployed.

[rushton99]

crappy video

[Donuts73]

go crap yourself, pal... and stfu while you're at it