USS Spence

	USS Spence
History
United States
Namesake	Daniel Spence
Builder	Bath Iron Works
Laid down	18 May 1942
Launched	27 October 1942
Commissioned	8 January 1943
Stricken	19 January 1945
Fate	Foundered in Typhoon Cobra, 18 December 1944
General characteristics
Class & type	Fletcher-class destroyer
Displacement	2,050 tons
Length	376 ft 6 in (114.7 m)
Beam	39 ft 8 in (12.1 m)
Draft	17 ft 9 in (5.4 m)
Propulsion	60,000 shp (45 MW); 2 propellers
Speed	35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Range	6500 nmi. (12,000 km) at 15 kt
Complement	336
Armament	5 × single Mk 12 5 in (127 mm)/38 guns; 5 × twin 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors AA guns; 7 × single 20 mm (0.8 in) Oerlikon AA guns; 2 × quintuple 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes; 6 × single depth charge throwers; 2 × depth charge racks;

USS Spence (DD-512), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was laid down on 18 May 1942 by the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine; launched on 27 October 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Eben Learned; and commissioned on 8 January 1943. The ship was named for Robert T. Spence, superintendent of the construction of USS Ontario (1813), and captain of USS Cyane (1815).

Spence conducted her shakedown cruise out of Guantanamo Bay from 8 to 28 February. She then served as an escort in the Atlantic and Caribbean and had convoy duty in the Casablanca area in April. She was routed to the west coast and, on 25 July, got underway from San Francisco for Pearl Harbor, to serve in the Pacific against the Japanese in World War II.