Figure 1: USS Newman K. Perry (DD-883) underway, probably soon after she was first commissioned in July 1945. Note her tripod mainmast and other features fitting her for use as a radar picket destroyer. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 2: USS Newman K. Perry (DD-883) seen from directly ahead, while she was at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, 26 July 1947. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 3: USS Newman K. Perry (DD-883) seen from directly astern, while she was at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California, 26 July 1947. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 4: USS Newman K. Perry (DD/DDR-883) underway, circa the late 1940s or early 1950s. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 5: USS Canisteo (AO-99) refueling USS Saratoga (CVA-60) and USS Newman K. Perry (DDR-883) at sea off the coast of Florida, May 1959. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 6: USS Newman K. Perry (DD-883) receives a new lower bow while undergoing her FRAM I modernization at the Boston Naval Shipyard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, 8 October 1964. Photographed by Nicola Mette. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 7: USS Newman K. Perry (DD-883) firing her forward 5-inch guns on enemy positions ashore during a gunfire support mission off the Republic of Vietnam, 16 December 1966. Official US Navy Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 8: Seaman Nelson B. Brown looks out from USS Newman K. Perry's (DD-883) forward 5-inch twin gun mount during a pause in gunfire operations in support of friendly forces ashore in Vietnam, 16 December 1966. Note the expended five-inch shell casings on deck outside the gun mount. Official US Navy Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 9: USS Newman K. Perry (DD-883) crew members fire an anti-submarine torpedo from a Mark 32 triple torpedo tube mounting, 22 June 1967. Official US Navy Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 10: USS Newman K. Perry (DD-883) underway in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, 6 May 1969. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 11: USS Newman K. Perry (DD-883) underway in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, 6 May 1969. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 12: USS Newman K. Perry (DD-883) underway, circa the 1970s. This photograph was received by the Naval Historical Center in March 1977. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command. Click on photograph for larger image.
Named after Ensign Newman Kershaw Perry, who was killed in the disastrous boiler explosion on board USS Bennington on 21 July 1905, the 2,425-ton USS Newman K. Perry (DD-883) was a Gearing class destroyer that was built by the Consolidated Steel Corporation at Orange, Texas, and was commissioned on 26 July 1945. The ship was approximately 390 feet long and 40 feet wide, had a top speed of 35 knots, and had a crew of 345 officers and men. Newman K. Perry was originally armed with six 5-inch guns, 12 40-mm guns, 10 21-inch torpedo tubes, and depth charges, but this armament changed dramatically in later years.
While the ship was under construction, Newman K. Perry was
converted into a radar picket ship, which was a warship (usually a destroyer)
that was loaded with electronic equipment and sent ahead of a large task group
or amphibious landing force to warn them of oncoming enemy ships or aircraft.
But shortly after the ship was commissioned, Japan surrendered, so Newman K.
Perry served briefly with the Atlantic Fleet. By the end of 1945, the ship
transited the Panama Canal and steamed across the Pacific to begin her first
tour of duty in the Far East. In mid-1946, Newman K. Perry supported
Operation “Crossroads,” which were the atomic bomb tests in the Marshall
Islands. From 1947 to 1948, the destroyer completed a second deployment in the
western Pacific, primarily off the coasts of China, Taiwan, and Okinawa.
After returning to the United States in May 1948, Newman K. Perry
underwent an overhaul at the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, California, and
then participated in naval exercises off the west coast of the United States.
In March 1949, the ship was re-designated DDR-883, in recognition of her radar
picket capabilities. In late 1949, Newman K. Perry began the first of a
long series of deployments to the Mediterranean and Black Seas. These cruises,
which filled most of her time during the next 24 years, were occasionally
interrupted by operations in the western Atlantic and the Caribbean. Newman
K. Perry also made occasional trips to northern Europe and west Africa.
In 1953, Newman K. Perry received more advanced radar equipment,
an updated combat information center, and new anti-aircraft guns. In March
1961, the ship participated in the recovery effort for the Project Mercury
space flight. In the fall of 1962, Newman K. Perry took part in the
quarantine of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis. From 1964 to 1965, the
destroyer was heavily modernized for anti-submarine missions under the FRAM I
program. She also reverted back to her original designation of DD-883.
From late 1966 to early 1967, Newman K. Perry steamed to the Far
East and joined the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet off the coast of Vietnam. During
this wartime tour of duty, the destroyer was used for naval gunfire support,
escort missions, and search and rescue operations. After she completed her
deployment off Vietnam, Newman K. Perry sailed around the world and
returned to America’s east coast. In 1973, the destroyer was transferred to the
Naval Reserve Force. She made her last cruise to the Mediterranean that same
year. After that, the ship spent most of its time in the Atlantic and the
Caribbean.
