Joseph Strauss (DDG 16) - Naval Cruise Book

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FRU TH SKIPPER. . . The presence of the United States Navy in the Western Pacific is a matter of long record. Our Navy first showed itself in these waters when Commodore Perry made his celebrated voyage to Japan in 1853. Since the turn of the century, Naval units have been more or less in evidence in the Far East in support of American policy, both in war and peace. Today the boundary line between two political systems is drawn along the eastern shores of the continent of Asia. JOSEPH STRAUSS has just completed two years of duty on what might be called the ramparts of democracy, during which time our country has been engaged in hostilities with the enemy in Vietnam. Thousands of Americans g have devoted time, energy, and life itself to the proposition that our free American way of life with all its imperfections is unparalle- led on earth, and our homeland and institutions and those of our friends and allies, worth defending. Those who stand in the American cause have needed no persuasion that these things are true, the sum of their experience has convinced them of it. This book has been prepared to preserve these experiences. As you turn its pages in years to come, may it bring to you a taste of salt in recalling the excitement of operations at sea, a twinge of nostalgia of the youthful smile of a dimly remembered shipmate, and a warm feeling for the people of Japan, whose homeland and hospitality we have been fortunate to share for a brief span. More than this, however, may you recall the crew of JOSEPH STRAUSS, who through no other motivation than that they were Americans, selflessly gave all they were required to give, and stood ready to go beyond in order to preserve our Nation, our institution and our freedom. J. D. ELLIOTT Commander, U.S. Navy Commanding Officer . 'V'-fi u . O amy -- jxifsfkjvx' N-K .. X - 1 l ' 1 li 7,7 51 . 'A ii W' ali l Way B Q 'iw 7 - A 'TP' f .J - 'illlflllli - fr:- of N ' . V- 1- . 12.5, 444 OJ,-uhT,,.mf,, 24,4 .,- T rw . , 'f '.! . U1 '. - . gi. i t ,ini Xbx '-'nl 4 ,'. - . :' :os . Q 5 .E . H In x-,5H.3'- -1' lb sl '4 .. .1 ' I U- . I -rf: N' 1.-' g..-.a.Q::,i'f - -.eff -5532.1-. ., ,.,. r--essa- ISTN sw .,,.- v l - -.43 ,TIt':15. .-qv , I'

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from USS MIDWAY QCVA-41D under JOSEPH STRAUSS' advisory control shot down two J MIG-17's, accounting for the first two hostile aircraft downed by U.S. Forces in aerial combat since 1953. Three days later on 20 June, two propeller driven AIH Skyraiders, also from USS MIDWAY and also under JOSEPH STRAUSS' advisory control shot down a third MIG-17. For their part in this latter achievement, four members of JOSEPH STRAUSS' CIC team were decorated by the Secretary of the Navy. Except while taking part in an ASW exercise, Operation GILLNET from the 10th to the 19th, the month of August was spent in upkeep at Yokosuka. On 5 September, two successful improved TARTAR missile firings were conducted while -MCDR. BRUCE KEENER III, LT. T. J. M ARTI, i the ship headed south with USS BON HOMME LTJG, BNI, M ACKAMAN, W. MILLIGAN RD3, RICHARD QCVA-34J. After arrival in the R, PRATT RD3, South China Sea, JOSEPH STRAUSS was detached on independent duty and spent the last three weeks of September on AAW picket station in the Gulf of Tonkin. During the first two weeks of October, JOSEPH STRAUSS operated with two carriers in support of operations in Vietnam and then returned to Subic Bay. After a training period which included her first Naval Gunfire Support training since the spring of 1964, JOSEPH STRAUSS proceeded to Danang, South Vietnam, for additional type training. On 28 October, JOSEPH STRAUSS fired her Hrst shot in anger and became the first DDG to fire Naval Gunnre Support in South Vietnam, expending 217 rounds of 5 f 54 ammunition in just over twenty-four hours in support of a combined ARVN Marine Corps search- and-destroy operation. Throughout November, JOSEPH STRAUSS was again assigned as a member of the advanced SARXAAW picket team, this time with the USS TUCKER QDD-875J. On completion of this assignment JOSEPH STRAUSS proceeded to Yokosuka to commence a long awaited midterm availability. On 7 December, shortly after arrival in Yokosuka, CDR Bruce Keener, III, Commanding Officer, was presented with the Bronze Star Medal for outstanding performance of duty during April, May, and June 1965. In December COM- SEVENTHFLT nominated JOSEPH STRAUSS for the Navy Unit Commendation in recognition of her performance from 8 June to 1 December 1965. On 31 January 1966, JOSEPH STRAUSS was again underway, this time for a brief period of type training in the Yokosuka area before she again went back to the old stomping grounds of SAR station in the Gulf. JOSEPH STRAUSS proceeded at the end of February to provide Naval Gunfire Support in South Vietnam. During this period, the ship pounded enemy targets in the Mekong Delta area and the Gulf of Siam, firing their 1000th round without missing a call for Eire, a great tribute to her cun crews. CDR J.D. Elliott relieved CDR Bruce Keener, III, in the midst of an actual Gunfire Support mission. While painting the blistered gun barrels we headed for Hong Kong, arriving on 13 March to again assume the duties of station ship for two weeks. After a few hours stop in Buckner Bay, Okinawa, on the way north, we arrived in Yokosuka to face the fire of another Admin and NTPI. ' At the time this book goes to press a chapter in the history of JOSEPH STRAUSS is almost com- Plefed- In Juli' of 1966, JOE STRAUSS Will Shift homeports to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and assume HCW' duties as flagship of Destroyer Squadron 25. It has been a hard grind, but all hands have been enriched by our fortune of having had the opportunity to serve in the Asiatic Squadron

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COMMANDER BRUCE KEENER III U.S. Naval Academy graduate of 1947. . . Gunnery Oilicer aboard USS Maddox QDD-7315. . . recipient of two Presidential Unit Citations and the Navy Unit Citation while serving on board USS Evansville QPF-702 and USS Philippine Sea QCVA-475 during the Korean War. . . graduate with a Master's degree in Electronic Engineering at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California. . . Executive Officer on USS Savage QDER-386D and USS Lynde McCormick QDDG-8j. . .graduate of senior Couse of instruction at the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island. . . relieved Commander W.M.A. Greene, the first Commanding Ofhcer, on 22 july 1964 in Yokosuka, japan. . . using his excellent background in WestPac Operations and tireless effort, he instilled JOE STRAUSS with a truly professional spirit. Married to the former Kathryn Bateman with son Bruce, IV, and Kathryn E., he will next serve in the ofiice of the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington, D.C.