Edson (DD 946) - Naval Cruise Book

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OPERATING SCHEDULE 26 January 1967 - 22 July 1967 January 26 January 26 - February 3 February 3 - 11 February 12 - 16 February 17 - 21 February 22 - 23 February 24 - March 13 March 14 - 18 March 19 - 21 March 22 - 26 March 26 - April 2 April 3 - 7 April 7 - 12 April 13 p- 14 April 15 - 29 - April 30 - May 1 May 2 - 3 May 4 - 27 May 28 - 29 May 30 - June 21 June 21 - July 4 July 5 - 9 July 10 - 12 July 13 - 22 July 22 Departed Long Beach lnport Pearl Harbor, Hawaii 'Enroute Western Pacific lnport Yokosuka, Japan Enroute Subic Bay, Philippines lnport Subic Bay Operation Sea Dragon Yankee Team Operation Beacon Hill ll Amphibious Landing Enroute Sasebo,- Japan lnport Sasebo Enroute Subic Bay lnport Subic Bay Enroute Hong Kong lnport Hong Kong Enroute Subic Bay lnport Subic Bay NGFS South Vietnam - Enroute Subic Bay lnport Subic Bay Operation Sea Dragon Enroute Yokosuka lnport Yokosuka Enroute Long Beach Arrived Long Beach DMZ

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A' 0 ,-1 If 0 ff. SUN ,EQ A ? , Qf1 Z A Z it-L V ,k,V L. . V f.i, Qi, Ky On the sunny morning of 26 January, USS EDSON got underway from the mole in Long Beach to begin her fifth Westpac cruise. One month later, after stops in Pearl Harbor, Yokosuka, and Subic Bay, she arrived on station in the Tonkin Gulf to put to use the intensive training and preparation accumulated in long yard and refresher training periods. Off North Vietnam she was the Navy's second ship to participate in Operation Sea Dragon, interdicting southward bound Communist logistics craft and making gunnery strikes against military targets ashore. It was here also that EDSON received her first counterbattery fire from Communist coastal defense sights, and proved that she could return it accurately. In the South, Operations Beacon Hill Il, Beau Charger, and Hickory saw EDSON supporting U.S. Marines and units of the South Vietnamese Army as they fought their way inland just below the DMZ. Around the clock she harassed the enemy with area fire, betrayed their nightly movements with illumination rounds, and thwarted their attacks with barrages of pin point accuracy. On 27 May, while firing emergency missions against mortar positions on Cap Lay, the ship came under heavy fire and received a hit on her forward mast. With the aid of the destroyers TAYLOR and BIGELOW, EDSON saturated the enemy sights with a hail of five inch shells, and maneuvered to seaward amid exploding rounds. Ten officers andmen hadbeenwounded, three seriously enough to be evacuated to Da Nang, where they were expertly treated. Between periods of operation on the line, EDSON found time to make liberty calls at various Far Eastern ports. In Hong Kong she was Station Ship, the United States Navy's ranking representative to the exotic Crown Colony. From Sasebo and Yokosuka members of the ship's company toured inland to such well known cities as Tokyo and Hiroshima, bought gifts, and made new friends. - Returning to the Tonkin Gulf as the flagship of Captain H. B. McClure, USN, Commander Destroyer Squadron Thirteen, EDSON joined HMAS HOBART for a final period of Sea Dragon operations. With a combined total of five long range five inch fifty-four caliber mounts, the small but powerful U.S.- Australian task unit roamed the coast striking the enemy's supply lines at will. It was with a tinge of regret that these two ships parted company as EDSON headed for Yokosuka and home. The cruise had been a success, and EDSON'S contribution to the Nation's efforts in Vietnam substantial. On the homeward passage the ship's officers and men assembled to pay tribute to those among them who had done the most to make the cruise what it had been. V