Woven cloth patch : USS John Young (DD-973)

Woven white cotton patch of the USS John Young (DD-973), featuring the ship's badge and the motto 'PRENDS LA MER AVEC COURAGE' ('Set sail with courage'). The coat of arms features a tri-coloured shield, the upper portion of which is scarlet and the lower portion 'Independence Blue'. These are separated by a wavy bar of white. A golden fleur-de-lis in the upper part of the shield represents the American association with the French during the War of Independence. Four stars in the wavy bar represent the four enemy vessels captured by Captain John Young in 1780, and a golden anchor without cable in the lower section of the shield is indicative of the loss of Captain Young at sea with his entire crew in 1781. Above the shield is a mast with sail hoisted, symbolic of Captain Young's last command, the 'Saratoga'. A red rose on the sail represents the coat of arms of the Young family.

The Spruance Class Destroyer USS John Young (DD-973) was commissioned in 1978. After a lengthy and varied career, her final deployment (October 2001 - April 2002) was as part of the Maritime Interdiction fleet (which also included Australian forces) operating in the Persian Gulf against Iraqi smuggling vessels. During this time, she was engaged as a guard vessel at the 'Comiski' holding area for intercepted smugglers, carrying a pair of Seahawk helicopters from HSL-37 and later HSL-47 Det Six. The John Young was decommissioned in September 2002.