USS Laffey (DD-724)

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USS Laffey in 1959
History
United States
Name	Laffey
Namesake	Bartlett Laffey
Builder	Bath Iron Works
Laid down	28 June 1943
Launched	21 November 1943
Sponsored by	Ms. Beatrice F. Laffey
Commissioned	8 February 1944
Decommissioned	30 June 1947
Recommissioned	26 January 1951
Decommissioned	9 March 1975
Stricken	9 March 1975[1]
Identification	Callsign: NTHI Hull number: DD-724
Honors and awards	See Awards
Status	Museum ship at Patriots Point, South Carolina
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer
Displacement	2,200 long tons (2,235 t)
Length	376 ft 6 in (114.76 m)
Beam	40 ft (12 m)
Draft	15 ft 8 in (4.78 m)
Installed power	60,000 shp (45,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 × steam turbines 2 × shafts
Speed	34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph)
Range	6,500 nmi (7,500 mi; 12,000 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	336
Sensors and processing systems	Radar
Armament	6 × 5in (127mm)/38 dual purpose guns 12 × 40 mm anti-aircraft guns 11 × 20 mm anti-aircraft cannons 10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 6 × depth charge projectors 2 × depth charge tracks
Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Laffey in 2007
Nearest city	Mount Pleasant
Coordinates	32°47′23″N 79°54′28″W / 32.78972°N 79.90778°W / 32.78972; -79.90778
Built	1943
Architect	Bath Iron Works
NRHP reference No.	83002189
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	12 April 1983[2]
Designated NHL	14 January 1986[3]

USS Laffey (DD-724) is an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer, which was constructed during World War II, laid down and launched in 1943, and commissioned in February 1944. The ship earned the nickname "The Ship That Would Not Die" for her exploits during the D-Day invasion and the Battle of Okinawa when she successfully withstood a determined assault by conventional bombers and the most unrelenting kamikaze air attack in history. Today, Laffey is a U.S. National Historic Landmark and is preserved as a museum ship at Patriots Point, outside Charleston, South Carolina.^[4]

Laffey was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Bartlett Laffey. Seaman Laffey was awarded the Medal of Honor for his stand against Confederate forces on 5 March 1864.^[5]