Bainbridge (DLGN 25) - Naval Cruise Book

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What is the Ship but for Her Men ? Without man ' s mind and heart, his ship remains a sterile, lifeless thing. Through the years tech- nology has brought great changes in ship de- sign, power, potential, instruments, and weap- ons. Man ' s intelligence, however, is still needed to put these new advantages to their intended purpose. Man is still the most important means to guarantee tlie control of the seas.

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INTRODUCTION Bainbridge represents the United States Navy ' s first venture in combining the versatility and striking power of the destroyer with the durabihty and endurance of nuclear power. Her ap- pearance alone gives promise of speed, power, and versatility that, through the years, have been the special mark of the destroyer. But there is far more than mere promise in Bain- bridge; there is also the built-in ability to produce results in a manner never imagined before by the destroyermen of the fleet ' s early years. This was demonstrated in her first deployment to the Mediterranean just four months after commissioning. The top speed o{ Bainbridge is classified, but there is no secret to the fact that she can cruise at full speed for distances up to 180,000 miles, the equivalent of better than seven times around the world. At a conservative speed of twenty knots, she can keep going for roughly 450,000 miles. This means that there is no place upon the seas of this planet to which Bain- bridge cannot steam on an instant ' s notice, carrying to the scene of an emergency a self-suffi- cient, powerful instrument of sea power. It is tliis feature of mobility h.diig vts Bainb ridge her unique position in the history of Navy destroyers. She has the mobility to race unaided to any target area upon the sea lanes of the world. She has the endurance to maneuver in that area for an indefinite period of time, with- out the awkward necessity of breaking off operations to make rendezvous with a tanker for refueling. With her deadly striking power and her nuclear capacity for almost unlimited staying power Bainbridge is a mighty force for world peace. Should the demand arise, she could deliver with swift response her full capability. She represents as do all our fighting ships, the ability of the Navy to carry out its mission of defending free world security by maintaining control of the seas. Bainbridge is a proud symbol of destroyer tradition and of the destroyerman ' s dedication to service. But in a more critical scope, Bainbridge is also a symbol of the Fleet of Tomorrow and of the Navy ' s role as champion of freedom upon the resdess waters of the world.

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CHAPTER I SHIP IN READINESS What is the ship but for her men ? Without man ' s mind and heart the ship is a mere lifeless construction of steel possessing an armory of inef- fective weapons. Man is still the most important instrument to guarantee the control of the seas. To maintain its security, the Navy must know the nature of the enemy, his whereabouts, and his planned strategy. Just as important, the Navy must have the means of delivering the destructive power of its weapons against enemy targets. To guard against a change in the cold war temperature the Navy to- day keeps four fleets in deployment, the First, Second, SLxth, and Seventh. It is the responsibility of the Sixth Fleet to be ready for trouble in the Eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea and to keep an eye also on the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and the Arabian Sea. On February 5, 1963, fully ready and fueled with enough uranium to circle the globe more than twenty times, Bainbridge stood out of Charles- ton Bay bound for her first fleet deployment — just four short, but busy months since her commissioning in Quincy, October 6, 1962. At sea off the coast of North Carolina on the afternoon of February 7, she joined another of her breed, the supercarrier Enterprise. These two nuclear powered surface ships combined their mutual capabilities for the first time in an historic nuclear power for peace . The rendezvous was part of some twenty-one ships of Task Force 25 transiting the Adantic to deploy- ment with the Sixth Fleet. The units of this group became a part of the Sixth Fleet on February 16, when they steamed into the Mediterranean passing the famous Rock of Gibraltar. In joining the Sixth Fleet Bainbridge became a part of a modern, well-balanced fleet that includes an attack aircraft carrier striking force, an amphibious landing force, and a variety of sustaining auxiliary ships which make it possible for the fleet to operate indefinitely at sea without shore bases in the Mediterranean. The SLxth Fleet is an instru- ment of national policy and power whose goals are peace, stability and good will gained by maintaining operational readiness and earning re- spect for the United States. Its aims are entirely friendly but it is always batde ready, capable of waging any kind of warfare; hot or cold, limited or general, atomic or conventional. The SLxth Fleet has not only national responsibilities but responsibilities under the North Adantic Treaty Organization ( NATO) as well. In the U. S. chain of command the Sixth Fleet is a subordinate operational com- mand of Commander in Chief, U. S. Naval Forces, Europe. When the Sixth Fleet operates in its NATO capacity, it is known as Naval Striking and Support Forces, Southern Europe, and the Fleet commander reports to the Commander in Chief, Allied Forces, Southern Europe. 11