|
The USS
WADDELL (DDG‑24)
was launched
on 26
February
1963 at
Seattle’s
Todd
Shipyards
and was
commissioned
on 28 August
1964. By
August 1965,
she was on
plane‑guard
duty with
the
TICONDEROGA
(CVA‑14),
where she
rescued one
of the
carrier’s
pilots off
the
California
coast. In
September
she left
Long Beach
for her
first
WestPac
cruise. En
route, her
task group
received
word of an
explosion
aboard the
Japanese
merchantman
TOKEI MARU.
The WADDELL
sped to the
scene where
she sent her
motor
whaleboat
with the
squadron
doctor and a
rescue party
to the
Japanese
ship. They
found three
fatalities,
but were
able to save
the life of
a seriously
burned crew
member. The
ship
continued on
her own, and
the WADDELL
rejoined her
group.
November
found the
WADDELL
bound for
Vietnam and
her first
deployment
on Yankee
Station. She
also spent a
month on the
northern
search and
rescue
station
(SAR).
During a
break, she
rescued a
man
overboard
from the
BRINKLEY
BASS
(DD-887)
while the
two were
conducting
underway
replenishment
from the
SACRAMENTO (AOE‑1).
She began a
second
deployment
in the
northern SAR
area at the
end of
January
1966. During
that
deployment
she engaged
enemy shore
batteries
and retired
from the
action
unscathed.
She was not
so lucky
during a
friendly
encounter
the
following
day. During
another
underway
replenishment
from the
SACRAMENTO,
the WADDELL
collided
with the
BRINKLEY
BASS and had
to return to
the
Philippines
for repairs.
In March,
following a
stint on the
gun line
supporting
troops in
the III
Corps
operating
area, she
returned to
Long Beach.
Early in
1967, the
guided
missile
destroyer
was underway
for one of
her busiest
WestPac
deployments.
From 2 March
to mid May,
she engaged
in gunfire
support off
South
Vietnam,
interdiction
of North
Vietnamese
supply
traffic
along the
coast, and
gunfire
against
selected
targets in
North
Vietnam. She
again
successfully
fought off
hostile
fire. During
her
deployment,
she fired
some 2,000
rounds of
ammunition
before
heading
home.
After an
extensive
overhaul,
the WADDELL
returned to
WestPac and
Yokosuka,
her new home
port, in the
summer of
1968. She
conducted
three tours
on the gun
line off
North and
South
Vietnam and
stood plane
guard duty
with the
CORAL SEA (CVA‑43)
and RANGER.
In
September,
off the DMZ,
she and the
ST. PAUL
(CA‑73),
rescued the
two-man crew
of a downed
attack
bomber.
On the
gunline in
January
1969, she
supported
the Army’s
101st
Airborne
Division and
the 7th and
9th ARVN
Divisions.
She was
again on the
gun line in
March.
There, in
the II Corps
area, she
fired 12
support
missions.
She
subsequently
conducted 79
more gunfire
support
missions
including 12
for
Australian
units, 11
for ARVN
units, and
15 in
support of
the United
States Army
101st
Airborne and
an ARVN
regiment.
Early in
April 1969,
when North
Korea downed
a navy
aircraft in
the Sea of
Japan, the
WADDELL left
the gun line
for the
Strait of
Tsushima to
screen the
aircraft
carriers
TICONDEROGA
and RANGER.
She was back
on the gun
line at
month’s end,
shelling
Vietcong
camps and
infiltration
points from
waters off
Phu Quoe
Island in
the Gulf of
Siam. She,
then, moved
on to the
Mekong Delta
to support
ARVN
divisions
with 19
bombardments
against
multiple VC
targets.
Duty on
Yankee
Station and
gunnery
support near
the DMZ
ended that
WestPac
deployment.
In 1970, the
WADDELL
sailed out
of San Diego
for another
Vietnam
deployment,
which
included
surveillance
of Russian
warships.
Her WestPac
tour in 1971
involved
gunline
operations
near the DMZ
and
interdiction
and night
harassment.
The year
ended with
operations
in the
Indian Ocean
during an
India-Pakistan
crisis. In
January
1972, she
represented
the U.S. at
the Imperial
Ethiopian
Navy Day
celebration
at Massawa,
Ethiopia.
Back off
Vietnam in
April, she
exchanged
fire with
shore
batteries
and knocked
out several
enemy sites.
She operated
mainly off
the Cua Viet
naval base
and in Quang
Tri
province. In
an April
fire fight,
she scored a
major hit,
suffering a
close call
when an
enemy shell
burst off
her bow,
damaged her
ASROC
launcher,
and littered
the her deck
with
shrapnel.
The rapid
pace
continued as
her guns
destroyed
several
sampans
ferrying
Viet Cong
and North
Vietnamese
troops
across the
Ben Hai
River and
blasted
antiaircraft
sites and
coastal gun
emplacements.
After
replacing
her worn out
guns she
took part in
two weeks of
continuous
nighttime
gunnery
strikes,
encountering
the fiercest
return fire
she had thus
far
experienced.
She silenced
enemy
batteries
but also
received
shrapnel
damage
before
shifting to
waters off
the DMZ to
support ARVN
operations.
June. She
ended her
1972 WestPac
deployment
on Yankee
Station
plane-guarding
the CORAL
SEA.
After an
extensive
overhaul,
she returned
to the Far
East in
early 1973.
By that
time,
American
land, sea,
and air
forces were
no longer
committed in
active
combat roles
in Vietnam.
She
conducted
only
training
operations
in the Gulf
of Tonkin,
then
supervised
the
clearance of
minefields
in North
Vietnamese
coastal
waters and
off key
ports and
performed
screening
duties for
the CORAL
SEA and
CONSTELLATION
(CVA‑64).
West Coast
operations
finished out
1973. Her
WestPac
deployment
in April
1974 saw her
operating
off the
Philippines
and
participating
in exercises
with the
Royal
Australian
Navy. She
returned to
San Diego at
year’s end.
The WADDELL
continued to
serve with
the Pacific
Fleet until
1 October
1992 when
she was
decommissioned
and
transferred
to the Greek
navy as the
HS NEARCHOS
(D‑219). She
was active
in the
Hellenic
Navy until
decommissioned
and sunk
following
missile- and
torpedo-firing
exercises
off Crete on
29 May 2006. |
