USS Castle (DD-720)

Career
Name:	USS Castle
Namesake:	Guy W. S. Castle (1879-1919), a United States Navy officer and Medal of Honor recipient
Builder:	Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Newark, New Jersey
Laid down:	11 July 1945
Completed:	Never
Commissioned:	Never
Struck:	2 November 1954
Fate:	Sold incomplete for scrapping 29 August 1955
Notes:	Construction suspended when 60.3% complete
General characteristics
Displacement:	3460 tons (Full)
Length:	390 ft 6 in (119 m) (overall)
Beam:	40 ft 10 in (12.5 m)
Draft:	14 ft 4 in (4.4 m)
Propulsion:	60,000 shp (45 MW); geared turbines; 2 propellers
Speed:	35 knots (65 km/h)
Range:	4,500 nmi. at 20 knots (8,300 km at 37 km/h)
Complement:	336 officers and enlisted
Armament:	6 × 5 in.(127 mm)/38 guns, 12 × 40 mm AA guns, 11 × 20 mm AA guns, 10 × 21 in. torpedo tubes,   6 × depth charge projectors,   2 × depth charge tracks

USS Castle (DD-720) was a planned United States Navy Gearing-class destroyer laid down during World War II but never completed.

Castle was laid down on 11 July 1945 by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company at Newark, New Jersey. The end of World War II in August 1945 resulted in the termination of the contract for her construction on 11 December 1945. Although the award of the contract was reinstated, work on Castle was suspended on 11 February 1946. A little over five months later, on 18 July 1946, the Commandant, 3rd Naval District, was authorized to accept Castle in an uncompleted state.

Delivered as 60.3% complete, Castle was slated for scrapping in a Congressional resolution approved on 23 August 1954. Her name was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 2 November 1954, and she was sold for scrapping on 29 August 1955.

References

• This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• NavSource Naval History Photographic History of the United States Navy Destroyer Archive USS Castle (DD-720)