Claude V Ricketts (DDG 5) - Naval Cruise Book

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DDG-5 built by the New York Shipbuilding Company, was commissioned USS BIDDLE, in ceremonies held at the Philadelphia Naval Ship- yard on 5 May 1962. This ship, the fourth of the DDG-2 Class, was named for Captain Nicholas Biddle, a hero of the Continental Navy, and be- came the third naval ship to bear his name. Her predecessors were Torpedo Boat Number 26, and the DD-151. The ship's sponsor was Mrs. Fred A. Bantz, wife of the former Under Secretary of the Navy. The ship was commanded upon commissioning by Commander Paul Roth, USN. After commissioning, DDG-5 was fitted out at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and put to sea on 19 June to join the Atlantic Fleet. Embarking immediately upon Independent Ship Exercises and Ship's Qualification Trials, the ship com- menced operations in East coastal and Caribbean waters. In March 1964, DDG-5 was designated as the U.S. Navy warship to participate in the mixed manning demonstration with navies of the United Kingdom, West Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Greece and Turkey. During the demonstration. the ship was manned by 5073 non-U.S. personnel. On 28 July 1964 the ship was renamed and re- commissioned USS CLAUDE V. RICKETTS in memory of the former Vice-Chief of Naval Oper- ations, Admiral Claude V. Ricketts, USN, who had devoted a great deal of his effort to the concept of mixed manning and the Multilateral Force. fMLFj. In the eighteen months of a successful mixed manning, demonstration, the CLAUDE V. RICK- ETTS steamed over 5000 miles,visiting ports in the United States and each of the countries participating in the demonstration. The ship operated as a unit of the U.S. Second Fleet in the Atlantic, and with the U.S. Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. She participated in major oper- ations, including underway replenishments and refuelings, missile firings, gunfire exercises, and tactical exercises. With many distinguished guests in attendance, including the Secretary of the Navy, the Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic, and the Commander in Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, the mixed manning demonstration was terminated with ceremonies at the Norfolk Naval Station on 1 December 1965, ln 1966 RICKETTS deployed for a six month Mediterranean cruise. Operations in the Sixth Fleet included two major NATO exercises, ASW exercises, an underway replenishment each month, and numerous other smaller operations. Many ports were visited. The ship returned to home port on 19 May 1967. Since that time, the ship has embarked with forty-one Naval Academy Midshipmen on a training cruise including several missile firings, an ASW exercise, and port visits to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Galveston, Texas, and continuously participates in major and minor Atlantic and Second Fleet Training cruises and exercises. On 6 March 1968, RICKETTS again departed for the Mediterranean Sea. This book is a brief history of that cruise. I

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--31-1 Y The weapons of the CLAUDE V. RICKETTS reach high into the sky and under the ocean to attack her enemies. The ship possesses two of the U.S. Navy's most modern systems - the TARTAR anti-aircraft missile system and the ASROC fAnti- Submarine Rocketj system. TARTAR is launched from a twin-arm launcher and homes on aircraft targets tracked by radar. The missile itself is a medium- range, supersonic. weapon powered by a dual-thrust, solid pro- pellant rocket motor. Coupled with the radar fire control system, TARTAR gives CLAUDE V. RICKETTS the capability of de- stroying aircraft at ranges and altitudes beyond the limit of conventional gun batteries. In most instances, the targets attacked by TARTAR will be destroyed before they are sighted visually by ship's personnel. ASROC, the U.S. Navy's newest anti-submarine weapon, is a surface-to-underwater solid propellant rocket torpedo that can be employed against all types of enemy submarines. ASROC is actually two missiles in one. Fired from surface ships, it is projected to the target area and upon. entering the water it be- comes an acoustic homing torpedo. I . sau: 33.

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Eammtzudiug V I Officrr COMMANDER THOMAS F. MULLANE Commander Thomas F. Mullane began his Naval Career aboard the USS DAYTON fCL-1052. He received a fleet appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1948 and graduated in 1952. Tours aboard the USS HARWOOD IDD-8612 in ASW and Communicationsg Staff, COMDESDIV 3.22, in Operations: USS PIMA COUNTY CLST-1081j and USS TRAVERSE COUNTY CLST-11611 as Executive Officer followed. The Bureau of Naval Personnel was his next tour of duty from 1957 - 1959. Commander Mullane then served as Weapons Officer of the USS DEWEY CDLG-142 until 1961 when he returned to BUPERS. In 1964 he reported to the USS DAMATO IDD-8712 as Executive Officer and in 1966 became a student at the U.S. Naval War College. He relieved as Commanding Officer, USS CLAUDE V. RICKETTS KDDG-'5J on 8 August 1967. Commander Mullane is married to the former Joyce Gibson and has four children, Susan Ann, Thomas James, Timothy Patrick and Terence Michael. ..-. . NM, - -- -f-f wa- Y -- Jig