The Lepanto class was a class of five destroyers of the Spanish Navy, which originated as United States Navy s. They entered service in 1957, with the last one being decommissioned in 1988.
History These are ships used by the United States Navy during World War II and slightly modernized in electronics and weaponry at the beginning of the 1950s. Throughout the 1960s they constituted the backbone of the Spanish Navy. Eventually, they were replaced in escort duties by the s in the early 1980s. However, they remained in service until well into the 1980s, by which point they were obsolete.
They received five destroyers of the for the Spanish Navy from the United States from 1957 to 1988 as part of the Military Assistance Program.
They were all put out of service between 1985 till 1988.
Characteristics
Before the takeover, the ships were modernized to a considerable extent. All but three 20 mm Oerlikon cannons were removed and the three 40 mm Bofors guns remained. The electronics were modernized and the mast was replaced by a tripod mast.
All five ships were retrofitted with two triple Mark 44 torpedo tubes on each side of the ship.
Ships in the class PennantNameBuildersLaid downLaunchedCommissionedDecommissionedD21LepantoGulf Shipbuilding Corporation12 June 194131 May 194215 May 195731 December 1985D22Almirante Ferrándiz4 July 194217 November 1987D23Almirante ValdésBath Iron Works23 February 194230 August 19421 July 195917 November 1986D24Alcalá GalianoSeattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation7 June 194314 February 19443 November 196015 December 1988D25Jorge JuanFederal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company30 June 194314 November 19431 December 196015 November 1988
See also Churruca-class destroyer (1972) (Gearing-class destroyer): Another group of destroyers transferred to Spain
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