
Say goodbye to the
Keystone Squadron.
The Navy is
shuttering Destroyer Squadron 24 on Sept. 30 after 55 years of service, as part
of a larger reorganization to cut the overhead costs of operational staffs.
DESRON 24 has had a memorable history, dating back to the days of the Cuban
missile crisis in 1962. The squadron, which was stood up in 1956 and homeported in
The squadron has
also served in many overseas operations in the Atlantic and
All four ships in
DESRON 24 — destroyers Carney, Farragut, Roosevelt and The Sullivans
— have transferred to DESRON 14, another Mayport,
Fla.-based squadron that now has 16 ships assigned, according to Naval Surface
Force Atlantic spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Bill Urban.
The squadron was
nicknamed the Keystone Squadron because, at one point, the commodore and all
the ship commanding officers hailed from
After the closing
of DESRON 24, the Navy will have 15 destroyer squadrons remaining, including three forward-deployed units that don’t have ships
permanently assigned.