USS William V. Pratt (DLG-13, DDG-44)

Figure 1: USS William V. Pratt (DLG-13) underway in the Mediterranean Sea, 27 May 1969. Photographed by Ph2 G.G. Cottrill, of USS John F. Kennedy (CVA-67). Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: USS William V. Pratt (DLG-13) underway off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, 22 December 1967. Photographed by Ph3/AC D.R. Hyder. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: USS William V. Pratt (DLG-13) underway in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, 22 December 1967. Photographed by Ph1/AC W.A. Clayton. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: USS William V. Pratt (DLG-13) at Rapallo, Italy, on 31 May 1969. Courtesy Carlo Martinelli. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 5: USS William V. Pratt (DLG-13) at Rapallo, Italy, on 31 May 1969. Courtesy Carlo Martinelli. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 6: USS William V. Pratt (DLG-13) underway in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Florida, 7 July 1972. Photographed by Ph3 Thomas E. Faught. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 7: USS William V. Pratt (DLG-13) at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 24 September 1973. Courtesy Ed Zajkowski. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 8: Operation "Unitas XIX," September 1978. Ships of Task Group 138 underway in the Atlantic during the operation. They are (from left to right): USS William V. Pratt (DDG-44); USS DuPont (DD-941); and USS Bowen (FF-1079). Official US Navy Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 9: USS William V. Pratt (DDG-44), date and location unknown. Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 10: HH-3 "Jolly Green Giant" US Air Force rescue helicopter hovering over the after deck of USS William V. Pratt (DLG-13) on either 17 or 18 August 1967, while the ship was on Vietnam War duty in the Gulf of Tonkin. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 11: USS William V. Pratt (DDG-44) entering Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, on 1 December 1975. Photo courtesy of Karsten Petersen. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 12. USS William V. Pratt (DDG-44) in the central Mediterranean, 11 August 1981. Courtesy Marc Piché. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 13: DN-SC-84-06179. A view of the guided-missile destroyer USS William V. Pratt (DDG-44) taken from the aircraft carrier USS America (CV-66) in the Atlantic Ocean, 10 January 1984. US Navy photo by: PH1 Dave MacLean.


Figure 14: The guided-missile destroyer USS William V. Pratt (DDG-44) comes up on the stern of the Military Sealift Command-operated oiler USNS Joshua Humphreys (T-AO-188), 1 March 1991. William V. Pratt is conducting Maritime Interdiction Force missions in support of UN trade sanctions against Iraq in the aftermath of Operation Desert Storm. US Navy Photo by PH2 Savage. Click on photograph for larger image.



Named after the US Navy’s fifth Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral William V. Pratt (1869-1957), USS William V. Pratt (DLG-13) was a 4,150-ton Farragut class guided-missile frigate that was built by the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was commissioned on 4 November 1961. The ship was approximately 512 feet long and 52 feet wide, had a top speed of 33 knots, and had a crew of 360 officers and men. William V. Pratt was armed with one 5-inch gun, one Terrier Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) System, one ASROC Antisubmarine Warfare (ASW) Missile System, and six Mk. 32 ASW torpedo tubes.

After being commissioned, William V. Pratt went on her shakedown cruise in the West Indies and then joined the Atlantic Fleet. After participating in a major naval exercise in European waters in 1963, William V. Pratt joined the US Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean in 1964. This was the first of more than a dozen deployments with the Sixth Fleet. During the next few years, William V. Pratt alternated assignments between the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean and the US Second Fleet in the western Atlantic, patrolling the Caribbean and off the coast of northern Europe.

From July to December 1967, William V. Pratt conducted operations in the western Pacific, primarily off the coast of Vietnam. She patrolled in the Gulf of Tonkin and was given the arduous job of maintaining the northern sea-air rescue station for pilots who had to bail out over the sea. William V. Pratt relieved USS Berkeley (DDG-15) on 12 August 1967 and remained on station in the gulf until early September. After going to Subic Bay, the Philippines, for some minor repairs, the ship returned to the Gulf of Tonkin in late September, only this time on the southern sea-air rescue station. William V. Pratt left Vietnam in November 1967 for some brief visits to Hong Kong and Taiwan before returning to the southern sea-air station off Vietnam a few weeks later. William V. Pratt then returned to the United States, arriving in San Diego, California, on 31 December. On 2 January 1968, the ship sailed south, transited the Panama Canal, and then headed north to her home port at Mayport, Florida, arriving there on 15 January.

William V. Pratt’s next deployment in the Mediterranean occurred during the first six months of 1969, followed by another deployment in 1970, during which she bolstered the US naval presence off the coast of Jordan while that country was engulfed in a civil war. William V. Pratt had two more deployments with the Sixth Fleet before she was decommissioned in September 1972 for an extensive overhaul and modernization. She returned to active duty a year later, again joining the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean from October 1974 to March 1975. On 1 July 1975, the ship was reclassified a guided-missile destroyer and received the designation DDG-44.

Soon after being reclassified, William V. Pratt was sent south to join several Latin American navies for a few months of naval exercises (called UNITAS XVI). On 4 July 1976, the ship participated in US bicentennial celebrations and a naval review off New York City. For the remainder of the 1970s, William V. Pratt returned once to the Mediterranean and again to Latin America for yet another UNITAS naval exercise. The ship was modernized again from 1979 to 1980 and was assigned to the Sixth Fleet in 1981. William V. Pratt participated in the tragic US intervention in Lebanon in 1982 and provided gunfire support for the US Marines that were on shore in Beirut. Unfortunately, more than 200 Marines were killed in a suicide truck bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut on 23 October 1983 and 60 Americans were killed in yet another truck bombing that destroyed the American embassy in Beirut on 18 April 1983. The American Marines pulled out of Lebanon in February of 1984.

William V. Pratt completed three more major deployments during the next six years. She operated in the Mediterranean and Red Seas in 1984, and in the Mediterranean alone in 1987 and 1989. In between Mediterranean cruises, the ship participated in major naval exercises off Norway and in the North Sea-English Channel area of operations. In 1990, William V. Pratt assisted the US Coast Guard with law-enforcement duties in the Caribbean.

William V. Pratt’s final tour of duty, though, was an important one. She was part of the giant US naval armada during the First Gulf War which drove Iraqi forces out of Kuwait during the first few months of 1991. The ship also was part of the Maritime Interdiction Force that supported United Nations trade sanctions against Iraq in the aftermath of Operation Desert Storm. But time was running out for William V. Pratt. The ship was decommissioned on 27 September 1991 and was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 20 November 1992. USS William V. Pratt was sold for scrapping in 1995.

William V. Pratt was the typical Cold War frigate/destroyer, participating in numerous naval exercises, patrol and escort duties, and regional conflicts (such as the First Gulf War, the war in Vietnam, and the US intervention in Beirut). Ships like William V. Pratt provided more than 30 years of valuable service to the US Navy and served all over the world, proving just how tough and versatile they were.

USS Apache (AT-67, ATF-67)

Figure 1: USS Apache (ATF-67) underway off the coast of southern California, 31 August 1964, in a view taken by Photographer 2d Class Lindberg. US Navy photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: USS Apache (ATF-67) underway, date and location unknown. US Navy photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: USS Apache (ATF-67) and White Sands (ARD-20) moored at either Naval Station Rodman or Balboa, Panama Canal Zone, circa 28 February 1969. Apache and White Sands, with the deep submergence vehicle Trieste on board, were en route to an area near the Azores to search for the nuclear submarine USS Scorpion (SSN-589) which was lost in May 1968. Apache towed White Sands which was the support ship for the deep submergence vehicle Trieste that actually searched for the missing Scorpion. Courtesy Gary Ragsdale, EN3/Second Class Diver on board USS Apache.


Figure 4: USS Apache (ATF-67) underway, circa 1970-1971. Submitted by Bob Hallmark to the NAFTS (National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors). Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 5: USS Apache (ATF-67) underway off San Diego, California, in 1973. Courtesy Gary P. Ragsdale EN3/Second Class Diver on board USS Apache, 1972-73. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 6: Ex-USS Apache (ATF-67) in the Republic of China (Taiwan) service as ROCS Ta Wan (ATF-551), moored pier side at Keelung Harbor, Taiwan, 16 March 2006. Courtesy Perry Huang. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 7: ROCS Ta Wan (ATF-551) getting underway at Keelung Harbor, Taiwan, 16 March 2006. Courtesy Perry Huang. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 8: ROCS Ta Wan (ATF-551) underway departing Keelung Harbor, Taiwan, 16 March 2006. Courtesy Perry Huang. Click on photograph for larger image.



Named after an American Indian tribe, the 1,675-ton USS Apache (AT-67) was a Navajo class fleet tug that was built by the Charleston Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company at Charleston, South Carolina, and was commissioned on 12 December 1942. The ship was approximately 205 feet long and 38 feet wide, had a top speed of 16.5 knots, and had a crew of 85 officers and men. Apache was armed with one 3-inch gun, two twin 40-mm gun mounts, two single 20-mm gun mounts, and two .50-caliber machine guns.

After spending six weeks training off the coast of Portsmouth, Virginia, and Key West, Florida, Apache left in February 1943 for San Diego, California. Once there, she spent two months assigned to various towing operations before leaving for New Caledonia on 8 May. Apache arrived at Noumea, New Caledonia, in mid June and remained there until October, towing and salvaging ships at Noumea, Funafuti, and Espiritu Santo.

On 26 October 1943, Apache was assigned to Task Force (TF) 31 for the invasion of Bougainville in the Solomon Islands. The landing began on 1 November and Apache assisted grounded ships that were trying to pull away from the beaches. From December 1943 to March 1944, the ship worked throughout the Solomon Islands. On 17 March, Apache was attached to Task Group (TG) 31.2 for the assault on Emirau Island in the Bismarck Island chain. After assisting ships in this invasion, she returned to Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands on 4 April. On 15 May 1944, Apache was reclassified a fleet ocean tug and re-designated ATF-67.

On 4 June 1944, Apache participated in the invasion of Saipan and several weeks later assisted in the invasion of Guam. Apache cleared amphibious vessels from the beach on Guam and escorted transports that also were steaming off the coast of that island. After returning briefly to the Solomon Islands in August, Apache sailed to Auckland, New Zealand, in October. She returned to New Caledonia in November and then was sent to Hollandia, New Guinea, on 12 December. Apache then steamed to Leyte, the Philippines, and remained there until the end of the year.

Apache was assigned to TG 77.6 on 2 January 1945 and took part in the invasion of Luzon in the Philippines. For several days, the tug worked under frequent air attacks and on 5 January she was assaulted by a number of Japanese aircraft. Apache claimed to have shot down a total of four planes (although this was not verified), with one of them crashing into her radar mast and exploding off her port bow. Although three of her crewmen were wounded in this battle, the ship itself escaped with only minor damage. Apache remained on station with the task group and on 13 January she assisted the damaged escort carrier USS Salamaua (CVE-96) and brought the kamikaze-damaged warship to Leyte for repairs.

On 24 February 1945, Apache left for Ulithi atoll in the Pacific and remained there assisting damaged warships for roughly two months. After briefly returning to Leyte, Apache arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 16 June. She left for the west coast the next day and reached San Francisco, California, a few days later. She underwent a thorough overhaul at the United Engineering Company at Alameda, California, and was undergoing training exercises off San Pedro, California, when the war ended in August. In September 1945, Apache was sent to San Diego and was based there for the next 14 months. On 3 December 1946, Apache was decommissioned and placed in reserve for the Pacific Fleet.

Due to a need for warships after the outbreak of the Korean War, Apache was re-commissioned on 20 July 1951. After a few months of work along America’s west coast, Apache was sent to the Far East and arrived in Sasebo, Japan, in early December 1951. On 17 December, Apache sailed to Wonsan, Korea, and became the primary salvage and rescue vessel there. She briefly returned to Sasebo in early January 1952, but then acted as a patrol boat off Cho Do Island near Korea’s west coast on 18 January. Apache went to Yokosuka, Japan, on 19 February for some minor repairs and then returned to Wonsan Harbor on 20 March. She actually participated in several shore-bombardment missions in addition to serving as a salvage and rescue vessel. Apache returned to Sasebo in April, but made several salvage trips to Cheju Do, Korea, before returning to Sasebo once again.

Apache returned to Wonsan on 16 June and served there until going back to Sasebo on 28 June. The ship left Japan on 2 July and steamed to Pearl Harbor. She remained there for roughly nine months. Apache went to Seattle, Washington, on 4 May 1953, towed a ship there and then returned to San Diego. After working along the California coast until mid-July, Apache returned to the western Pacific. She served there until the end of 1954, performing various towing missions at Guam, Kwajalein, Eniwetok, Bikini atoll, and the Philippines.

From January 1955 to 1965, Apache divided her time between towing operations along America’s west coast and assignments in the Far East, mostly in Japan and the Philippines. In late 1965, Apache made her first trip to Vietnam. She began an assignment with the Seventh Fleet on Yankee Station off the coast of Vietnam. In February 1966, Apache escorted the destroyer USS Brinkley Bass (DD-887) to Subic Bay after that ship collided with USS Waddell (DDG-24) in the South China Sea. After a short stint at Danang, Vietnam, Apache went to Hong Kong and Taiwan for some brief recreational visits. She then returned to the Philippines and completed one more towing mission from the Philippines to Danang before leaving Vietnam and returning to the United States. She arrived at San Diego on 1 April 1966.

For almost three years, Apache served as a tug along America’s west coast. But in May 1969, she was sent to the Azores and assisted in the search for the sunken submarine USS Scorpion (SSN-589). Apache escorted the salvage ships that inspected the remains of the submarine before returning to the United States. The ship arrived at San Diego on 7 October 1969. After an extensive overhaul, Apache returned to duty in mid-April 1970. Apache continued her duties as a tug off the coast of California until she made her last tow on 31 January 1974, when she delivered USS Sterett (DLG-31) to Long Beach, California. On 27 February 1974, the veteran tug was decommissioned for the last time. But Apache was sold under the Security Assistance Program to Taiwan on 1 June 1974. The ship was renamed Ta Wan (ATF-551) and, as of 16 March 2006, was still in service. Her final fate, though, is unknown.

USS Apache was an amazing ship. She served in three wars and provided more than 64 years of service in two navies. USS Apache also won six battle stars and the Navy Unit Commendation for her service in World War II, she earned two battle stars for her service during the Korean War, and she received two battle stars, the Navy Unit Commendation, and the Meritorious Unit Commendation for her service in Vietnam. This was a remarkable achievement for a fleet tug and one few ships have matched.

USS Cushing (DD-376)

Figure 1: USS Cushing (DD-376) off the Puget Sound Navy Yard at Bremerton, Washington, during her pre-commissioning trials period, July 1936. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: USS Cushing (DD-376) underway at sea, 1 November 1937. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: USS Cushing (DD-376), date and place unknown. Given her paint scheme and size of the ship’s number on her hull, this is a pre-war photograph. Courtesy Ed Zajkowski. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: USS Cushing (DD-376) underway at sea, 28 April 1938. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 5: USS Cushing (DD-376) in San Diego Harbor, California, circa 1938. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 6: USS Cushing (DD-376) steams ahead of USS Drayton (DD-366) at sea on 8 February 1938. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 7: USS Cushing (DD-376) at sea on 26 October 1937, followed by USS Smith (DD-378). US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 8: View of the forward part of USS Cushing (DD-376), taken at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 15 July 1942. Note the ship's quadruple torpedo tubes and torpedo crane, bicycles on the pier (one being ridden), and buildings, motor buses, large yard cranes and assorted shipyard material in the background. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on the photograph for larger image.


Figure 9: View of the after part of USS Cushing (DD-376), taken at the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 15 July 1942. Note the ship's 5-inch gun mounts, life rafts, and depth charges; Navy pickup truck (serial # 13125) and "Classic Cleaners" delivery van on the pier; and USS Chester (CA-27) in the background. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 10: USS Cushing (DD-376) off the Mare Island Navy Yard, California, 15 July 1942. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 11: USS Cushing (DD-376) off the Mare Island Navy Yard, 15 July 1942. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.



Named after Commander William B. Cushing (1842-1874), a Union naval hero during the Civil War, USS Cushing (DD-376) was a 1,465-ton Mahan class destroyer that was built by the Puget Sound Navy Yard at Bremerton, Washington, and was commissioned on 28 August 1936. The ship was sponsored by Miss K.A. Cushing, daughter of Commander Cushing. The ship was approximately 341 feet long and 35 feet wide, had a top speed of 36 knots, and had a crew of 158 officers and men. Cushing was armed with five 5-inch guns, four machine guns (although this was increased after the start of the war), 12 21-inch torpedo tubes, and depth charges.

After being commissioned, Cushing spent the pre-war years with the US Pacific Fleet. She participated in numerous naval exercises and also was assigned to various patrol and escort duties. She even took part in the mid-ocean search for the missing aviator Amelia Earhart in July 1937. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on 7 December 1941, Cushing was completing an overhaul at the Mare Island Navy Yard in California. For the first months of the war, Cushing escorted convoys going to and from the United States and Hawaii. She then patrolled off Midway Island and also escorted what was left of the US Pacific battleship force off America’s west coast. By mid-1942, Cushing was sent to the south Pacific and joined the US naval effort to hold Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Cushing was assigned primarily to convoy escort duties, but she also escorted the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands on 26 October 1942.

Less than three weeks later, on the evening of 13 November 1942, Cushing was the lead ship in a column of 13 US warships sent to intercept a Japanese task force that was trying to bombard the only landing strip for aircraft on Guadalcanal, the strategically vital Henderson Field. Some, but not all, of the US ships were guided by a relatively new weapon called radar. Headed straight for them was a Japanese task force of 14 ships, all of which were not equipped with radar. But in the Japanese task force there were the powerful battleships Hiei and Kirishima, while the American task force only possessed several cruisers. At approximately 0141 on the morning of 13 November, Cushing, which did not have radar, suddenly spotted Japanese warships. They were steaming only 3,000 yards away. Cushing’s skipper, Lieutenant Commander A.E. Parker, ordered a quick turn to port to avoid hitting the oncoming enemy warships. Within minutes, all of the Japanese and American warships had run into each other, with only 1,600 yards separating them. Ships started shooting each other at almost point-blank range. Thus began the first major night action of the Naval Battle for Guadalcanal.

Since Cushing was at the head of the American column, she suffered some of the first hits of the battle. According to the famous naval historian Samuel Eliot Morison, “Cushing sent several salvos screaming after a destroyer to starboard, but within two minutes received shell hits amidships which severed all power lines and slowed her down. Her bow was pointing almost due north when her skipper sighted the battleship Hiei on his port beam, on a collision course. Using hand steering control and what little way remained, he swung Cushing right and, by local control, fired six ‘fish’ [torpedoes] at the enemy battlewagon less than half a mile distant. None hit Hiei, which was also the target of destroyer and cruiser gunfire; but she didn’t like it and turned slowly away to the westward. Cushing had only a few moments to exult like David. A probing searchlight beam picked her out and enemy gunfire reduced her to a sinking wreck in short order.”

A brief lull in the shooting gave Cushing an opportunity to fight the many fires on board the ship, but, just as some of the fires were brought under control, several enemy salvos hit her. The ship now was ablaze and at 0315 on 13 November, Lieutenant Commander Parker gave the order to abandon ship. Roughly 70 of Cushing’s crew were killed during the battle, while the rest of the crew (most of them wounded) was recued from the water. The ship itself somehow managed to stay afloat until late in the afternoon of 13 November, when a final explosion in her magazine doomed her and she sank shortly after that. But the Japanese task force was prevented from bombarding Henderson Field that night and the Japanese ships that were not sunk during the battle were forced to leave the area. The battleship Hiei was so badly crippled during that battle that she was not able to retreat and was sunk by US aircraft the following afternoon. Some of the aircraft, ironically, came from Henderson Field.

Although lost during the battle, USS Cushing played an important role in the first major night action in the Naval Battle for Guadalcanal. Cushing received three battle stars for her service in World War II.

USS Basilone (DDE-824, DD-824)

Figure 1: USS Basilone (DDE-824) underway in Boston Harbor at Boston, Massachusetts, 21 July 1949. Photographed by R.A. Halverson, Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: USS Basilone (DDE-824) underway in Boston Harbor at Boston, Massachusetts, 21 July 1949. Photographed by R.A. Halverson, Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: USS Basilone (DDE-824) underway in Boston Harbor at Boston, Massachusetts, 21 July 1949. Photographed by R.A. Halverson, Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: USS Basilone (DDE-824) comes alongside USS Albemarle (AV-4) to transfer personnel, 24 February 1960. Photographed by Ozizkonski. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 5: USS Basilone (DDE-824) underway at sea, circa the later 1950s or early 1960s. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 6: USS Valley Forge (CVS-45) steaming in formation with Destroyer Squadron 36, during anti-submarine exercises with the Atlantic Fleet's Task Group ALFA, 6 November 1958. The destroyers are (from top): USS Basilone (DDE-824); USS Damato (DDE-871); USS Robert L. Wilson (DDE-847); USS Harold J. Ellison (DD-864); USS Holder (DDE-819) and USS New (DDE-818). Official US Navy Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 7: View looking forward from astern of USS Basilone (DD-824), taken at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in March 1964 as Basilone was completing her FRAM I conversion. Note the crane barge alongside. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 8: USS Basilone (DD-824) underway off Oahu, Hawaii, in February 1966. Taken by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class (AC) C.A. Komperda, of Composite Squadron One (VC-1). Official US Navy Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 9: USS Basilone (DD-824) operating off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, 17 February 1966. Photographed by Komperda. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 10: USS Basilone (DD-824) underway at sea, circa the later 1960s or early 1970s. This photograph may have been taken by USS America (CVA-66). Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 11: USS Sacramento (AOE-1), center, replenishing the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14), at right, and the destroyer USS Basilone (DD-824), left, in the South China Sea, 13 April 1966. Taken by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class J.L. Rivera, USN. Official US Navy Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 12: USS Basilone (DD-824) underway in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, 3 January 1972. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 13: USS Basilone (DD-824) receives assistance from the harbor tug Cochali (YTM-383) as she arrives at Newport, Rhode Island, on 6 February 1973. While operating in the Atlantic on the previous day, Basilone had sustained a boiler explosion that took the lives of three of her crew and injured eight more. Taken by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Troy A. Lewiston. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 14: Jacket patch used after USS Basilone (DD-824) was re-designated from DDE to DD in 1962. The central part of the emblem and the ribbon at top containing the ship's name were adopted in 1961, while Basilone was still a DDE. Its design features crossed cutlasses and a trident, traditional naval symbols, superimposed by a shield with waves of blue on white and a naval crown, both ancient symbols of the sea and its men. The Latin motto "Triumphus Supra Invisum" is translated "Victory Over the Unseen," reflecting Basilone's primary mission of anti-submarine warfare. The background shield, featuring the national colors (blue field with red and white stripes), was added sometime between 1962 and 1970. Courtesy of Captain G.F. Swainson, USN, 1970. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.



Named after US Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone (1916-1945), who received the Medal of Honor for defending Henderson Field on Guadalcanal, USS Basilone (DD-824) was a 2,425-ton Gearing class destroyer that was launched by the Consolidated Steel Corporation at Orange, Texas, in July 1945, just two months before the end of the war in the Pacific. The ship remained inactive for more than two years before the US Navy decided to convert her into an escort destroyer (DDE). The ship was towed to the Bethlehem Steel Company at Quincy, Massachusetts, for completion and Basilone was armed specifically for anti-submarine warfare missions. Once completed, the ship was approximately 390 feet long and 40 feet wide, had a top speed of 34.6 knots, and had a crew of 345 officers and men. Basilone’s original armament was to have consisted of six 5-inch guns (in three twin gun mounts), four 3-inch guns, eight 20-mm cannons, depth charges, and four 21-inch torpedo tubes, but this changed drastically when the ship was converted into a DDE. One of her original trio of five-inch twin gun mounts and all of her torpedo tubes were replaced with new anti-submarine weapons, including the Weapon ABLE rocket launcher and trainable mounts for Hedgehog spigot mortars. Basilone was formally re-designated DDE-824 on 28 January 1948 and was commissioned on 26 July 1949.

After a shakedown cruise off the coast of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Basilone joined the Atlantic Fleet. She patrolled the western Atlantic and the Caribbean before being sent to the Mediterranean and, occasionally, to northern Europe. Basilone spent several years with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean and was present in that troubled part of the world during the 1956 Suez Canal crisis and during the US intervention in Lebanon in 1958. On 7 August 1962, Basilone once again was reclassified and returned to her original designation as a destroyer, DD-824. Then in October 1962, Basilone participated in the naval “quarantine,” or blockade, of Cuba during the missile crisis with that island nation.

From July 1963 to April 1964, Basilone was completely overhauled and received extensive modifications in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She underwent a “FRAM I” destroyer modernization and obtained a new superstructure, an eight-cell ASROC anti-submarine rocket launcher, and a small landing pad, hangar, and facilities for an anti-submarine helicopter. In 1964, she started the first of what would be, over the next thirteen years, eight more tours of duty with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. During this period of time, Basilone completed two trips around the world (in 1966 and 1972) and was deployed off the coast of Vietnam.

In 1966, Basilone was assigned to Task Force 77 on Dixie Station off South Vietnam. She served as the plane guard for the aircraft carrier USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) and also provided gunfire support of US troops on shore. After briefly being placed on “picket” duty in the Gulf of Tonkin, Basilone went to Subic Bay, the Philippines, for provisions. On 9 April 1966, she returned to Vietnam, this time on Yankee Station off the coast of North Vietnam. After spending several days on Yankee Station, Basilone steamed south again on 7 May and actually went up the Saigon River and bombarded Communist Viet Cong targets on 24 May. After leaving the Saigon River, the ship spent several more weeks bombarding Viet Cong positions. Basilone returned to Subic Bay on 4 July and, after stopping there briefly, returned to the United States for an overhaul. She arrived at Newport, Rhode Island, on 17 August.

After serving with the Sixth Fleet for several more years, Basilone returned to Vietnam on 7 July 1972. She was assigned to plane guard duties with the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany (CVA-34) and on 23 July approached the coast of Vietnam near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) for gunfire support missions. After participating in several gunfire support missions for troops on shore, Basilone steamed back to the Philippines on 10 August.

After serving in Vietnam, Basilone conducted numerous “good will” visits to ports all over the Middle East and the Mediterranean. But, like many of the Navy’s ships during the 1960s and 1970s, Basilone had major problems with her steam powerplant. On 5 February 1973, a large boiler explosion on board the ship killed three crewmen and injured eight more. After being repaired, the destroyer resumed operations six months later and went on to serve in the active fleet for another four years. After completing her final Mediterranean deployment, USS Basilone was decommissioned on 1 November 1977. She escaped being scrapped by being used as a target for missile-firing exercises and was sunk on 9 April 1982 in the Atlantic Ocean, roughly 80 miles east of St. Augustine, Florida.

HMS Triumph

Figure 1: HMS Triumph underway off Subic Bay, Philippines, during joint US and UK naval exercises, 8 March 1950. Planes on her deck include Supermarine Seafire Mk. 47s of 800 Squadron, forward, and Fairey Fireflys aft. Photographed from a plane from USS Boxer (CV-21). Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 2: First Korean War Carrier Air Strikes, 3-4 July 1950. A North Korean railroad train is attacked just south of Pyongyang by planes from the joint US-British Task Force 77, 4 July 1950. The carriers involved were USS Valley Forge (CV-45) and HMS Triumph. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 3: Lieutenant (Junior Grade) W. Boyd Muncie disembarks from a H03S helicopter upon his return to USS Valley Forge (CV-45) on 19 July 1950, following his rescue from the Sea of Japan by an amphibian "Sea Otter" from HMS Triumph. The first naval aviator to be shot down by North Korean anti-aircraft fire, he spent two and a half hours in the water. Official US Navy Photograph, from the "All Hands" collection at the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 4: HMS Triumph entering Grand Harbor, Malta. Date unknown. Royal Navy Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 5: HMS Triumph seen near Devonport, England, 5 October 1951. Royal Navy Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 6: HMS Triumph (A108) seen in 1965 as a heavy repair ship. Place unknown. Royal Navy Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 7: The Royal Navy heavy repair ship HMS Triumph (A108) in the Atlantic in January 1972. Courtesy Isaac Newton, RN. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 8: A Supermarine Seafire Mk. 47, similar to the ones that served on board HMS Triumph during the Korean War. Note the unique Rotol contra-rotating propellers that were standard on the Mk. 47 model of the Seafire. Royal Navy photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 9: Two Supermarine Seafire Mk. 47’s of 1833 Squadron, RNVR, flying at the Woverhampton air show on 16 May 1953. Note the two Rotol contra-rotating propellers on each plane. Courtesy RuthAS. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 10: A Fairey Firefly, similar to the ones that served on board HMS Triumph during the Korean War. Courtesy the Canadian Armed Forces. Click on photograph for larger image.


Figure 11: A Westland Wessex helicopter lands on board HMS Triumph (A108) while docked at Mombassa, Kenya, in December 1971. Courtesy Isaac Newton, RN. Click on photograph for larger image.



HMS Triumph was a 13,350-ton Colossus class aircraft carrier that was built by Hawthorn Leslie and Company at Newcastle-on-Tyne, England. The ship was laid down during World War II on 27 January 1943, but was not commissioned until 6 May 1946, almost a year after the war ended in Europe. Triumph was approximately 695 feet long and 80 feet wide, had a top speed of 25 knots, and had a crew of 1,300 officers and men. The ship was originally armed with 24 (or six quad) 2-pounder anti-aircraft guns, 22 (or 11 twin) 20-mm anti-aircraft guns, and 10 single 20-mm anti-aircraft guns, but this armament changed during the 1950s. Triumph could carry roughly 48 aircraft, depending on the size and type of the aircraft.

Triumph served actively during the post-World War II years and participated in various missions and naval exercises for the British Royal Navy. But when North Korea invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950, Triumph was steaming to Japan as part of the British Far East Fleet. As she was nearing Hong Kong, Triumph received the news of the invasion and was placed on high alert. Escorted by the destroyer HMS Cossack, the two ships went to the Royal Australian Naval base at Kure, Japan, for fuel and provisions. Once there, they were joined by another destroyer, HMS Consort, along with the cruiser HMS Jamaica, the Australian River class frigate HMAS Shoalhaven, and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker Wave Conqueror. The task force left Kure and refueled at Okinawa, Japan, before proceeding to the waters off the west coast of Korea.

At this time, Triumph was the only Royal Navy aircraft carrier in the Far East. This carrier and her aircraft played a vital role during the early months of the Korean War. After joining American carriers that had already arrived off the coast of Korea, Triumph’s 827 Naval Air Squadron (which was comprised of Supermarine Seafires, naval versions of the classic Spitfire fighters) began combat operations against North Korean targets. Triumph also carried Fairey Firefly strike fighters, which started flying combat missions as well. The propeller-driven Seafires and Fireflies were leftovers from World War II and, even though these aircraft were gradually being replaced by jets, they were all the Royal Navy had on hand when the war started.

On 3 July 1950, Seafires and Fireflies from Triumph, along with aircraft from the American carrier USS Valley Forge, participated in the first carrier strike of the war by bombing and strafing airfields at Pyongyang and Haeju. On 19 July, a Supermarine Sea Otter amphibious aircraft from Triumph, flown by Lieutenant P. Cane, rescued an American pilot, Lieutenant (Junior Grade) W. Boyd Muncie, after Muncie was forced to ditch his F4U Corsair in the Sea of Japan. Muncie was the first naval aviator to be shot down by North Korean anti-aircraft fire and he was forced to endure two and a half hours in the frigid water because of rough seas and terrible weather conditions. But Lieutenant Cane managed to land his amphibious aircraft to pick Muncie up and then he made a remarkable landing on board Triumph. For his extraordinary courage in rescuing Muncie, Cane was awarded the US Air Medal.

Triumph’s Seafires continued pounding the North Korean coastline. The Seafires sank two North Korean gunboats, attacked numerous railway tracks, and used their rockets to destroy enemy oil tanks and small coastal vessels. The Seafires also completed many photographic reconnaissance missions. But all of these combat operations were taking a toll on Triumph’s aircraft. With only nine operational aircraft left on board the ship, Triumph went to Sasebo, Japan, for some badly needed repairs and supplies. She arrived at Sasebo on 23 August 1950, but was back in action by 29 August. The next day, though, Triumph had to return to Sasebo to pick up 14 new aircraft to replace the ones that had worn out. By 3 September, Triumph left Sasebo and returned to Korea’s west coast. Her aircraft performed Combat Air Patrol missions and reconnaissance missions, and identified land targets that were bombarded by the cruiser HMS Jamaica and the destroyer HMS Charity. On 6 September, Triumph steamed to the east coast of Korea to replace some American carriers of the US Seventh Fleet. Her Seafires and Fireflies started attacking enemy targets on 8 September, causing major damage to North Korean forces.

Triumph’s aircraft provided vital air cover and anti-submarine patrols during the amphibious landing at Inchon on 15 September 1950. Fireflies from Triumph also identified land targets for the cruisers HMS Jamaica and HMS Kenya, which provided a devastating bombardment of North Korean positions during the landing. The target spotting by Triumph’s Fireflies was so accurate that, on one occasion, a broadside from HMS Jamaica was able to blow up a camouflaged supply dump of North Korean weapons and ammunition. The explosion that followed destroyed a large hill and sent a plume of smoke 8,000 feet into the air. On 21 September 1950, Triumph arrived at Sasebo for the last time during the Korean War. Temporary repairs were made to her in dry dock and she left for Hong Kong on 25 September.

After her part in the Korean War ended, Triumph became a cadet training ship. In 1952, the ship was used for the first trials of an angled flight deck. The success of these trials led to the development of the now standard design, with additional areas of the flight deck added to the port side of the ship. Triumph’s role as a cadet training ship ended in 1955 and from 1956 to 1965 she was converted into a heavy repair ship. Triumph was based at Singapore after her conversion and participated in a major naval exercise in the Far East in 1968. In 1975, HMS Triumph was decommissioned and placed in reserve at the Chatham Dockyard in Kent, England. She was sold for scrapping in 1981.