Joseph Strauss (DDG 16) - Naval Cruise Book

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ConTrol of The seas means sec:ariTy. ConTrol of The seas can mean peace. ConTrol of The seas can mean vicTory. - John F. Kennedy -. Underway 5 August 1968 IT came The day The Lord sayeTh anTo Joseph, Sail unTo The wilder- ness of Tonlqin and Tind Their posiTion. And Joseph sailed unTo The wilderness and was losT. BUT lo, The Lord did sayeTh To Joseph in The Torm of a c:ounTer-baTTeryg Go To The land of Thine enemies, desTroy his bridges and WBI-CS, flail his fishing sTiclgs,rain upon his Tields Tire, brimsTone, and Willie PeTer, and Thou will be saved. And Joseph sayeTh unTo The Lord, MoanT 52 is down.

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There are Two oTher areas To whichl would like To express special recogniTion. l:irsT To our engineers who provided us The mobiliTy To meeT every commiTmenT. DespiTe Their mini- mum numbers in manning level, adverse working condiTions, and mainTenance reauiremenTs reTlecTing our 8075 underway Time, Their performance has been splendid and above re- proach. This includes The Repair Division 'personnel and parTicularly The shipTiTTers who were required To make a large number of diTTiculT repairs. All supply deparTmenT personnel are likewise deserving of recogniTion. Besides providing a sTeady sTream of repair parTs and consumable iTems, They provided hoT meals on shorT noTice and oTher services viTal To our heaITh and comTorT. A ship is a maze of equipmenT and sysTems. They are inanimaTe and require skilled seamen To operaTe and main- Tain Them. No one parT oT a ship sTands alone. lT always has been and always will be ThaT a combaT eTTecTive ship reTlecTs Teamwork, The abiliry of each man of The crew To conTribuTe his share. Commander Layman was awarded The Bronze STar Medal wiTh CombaT ' ' V aT The conclusion oT The cruise. The ciTaTion noTed Commander Layman's excepTional insighr and leadership while direcTing his ship in such Tasks as OperaTion Sea Dragon, Naval Gunifire SupporT, Task Group Commander Flagship, special operaTions and carrier escorT Trom 29 AugusT T968 To 9 January l969 and on several occasions when his ship was Taken under Tire, his skill, calmness, and ,iudgmenT enabled The ship To escape unscraTched and To Take prompT and eTTecTive acTion To counTer The aTTacks. Commander Layman is married To The Tormer Carmen Meyer oT Memphis, Missouri. Commander and Mrs. Layman and Their Tour children, Linda, Larry, l-larry and John.

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Ship 's Histo USS JOSEPH STRAUSS is the second ship of her class employing The single arm TAPTAR launcher.She was christened at New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, New Jersey on December 9, l96l, by her sponsor, Mrs. Lawrence Haines Coburn, a granddaughter of Admiral Joseph Strauss. On March 29, i963 JOSEPH STRAUSS was delivered to the Navy. She was commissioned at U.S. Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, Pg, on April 20, i963 and Commander William M. A. Greene, USN, assumed command. JOSEPH STRAUSS has an overall length of 437 feet, a beam of 47 feet, and a displacement of 4500. tons.' Her authorized crew includes 2O officers and 319 men.' Though considerably larger than destroyers of the past, JOSEPH STRAUSS is o fOST, highly rnaneuverable ship. She possesses anti-submarine and anti-air warfare capabilities that are infinitely greater than those of previous classes of destroyers. I-ler armament includes the TARTAR guided missile weapons system, ASROC ianti-submarine rocketj, anti-submarine torpedoes, and two 5 inch 54 caliber dual purpose gun mounts. She is equipped with the most modern communications and electronics equipment and is capable of detecting, tracking, and delivering rapid salvos of missiles and proiectiles against enemy targets in the air, on the sea, or on land. ' On July l3, i963 JOSEPH STRAUSS arrived in Long Beach, California to ioin Cruiser-Destroyer Force, U.S. Pacific Eleet. Operating out of Long Beach the ship underwent Ship Qualification Trials and Shakedown Training, the culmination of which was marked by the successful firings of TARTAR missiles to measure the teamwork and spirit indicative of a well trained team. T In April i965, the JOSEPH STRAUSS, together with squad- ran teammate USS ERNEST G. SMALL CDD-8383, became the first advance SARXAAW picket team in the Tonkin Gulf. On June i7, i965, two FAB aircraft under JOSEPH STRALJSS advisory control shot down two MIG-i7's, the first hostile aircraft encountered by United States Forces since the Korean War. A JOSEPH STRAUSS' homeport changed officially to Pearl Harbor-, Hawaii on June i5, T966, as she became a part of Destroyer Squadron TWENTY-FIVE, and on July 26, l966, JOSEPH STRAUSS arrived in Pearl Harbor, her first day in a U.S. port in two years. The following three months were spent in training and upkeep in preparation for the antici- pated regular overhaul to commence in December. -JOSEPH STRAUSS spent the period from November 7 to November l5, l966, as the primary recovery ship in the Mid- Pacific Recovery Zone in support of the GTA i2 mission of Proiect Gemini. After returning from Gemini operations, operational re- quirements dictated postponing regular overhaul until August l967 and reioining the Seventh Eleet in January l967. The remainder Of i966 was spent in preparation for deployment. On i0 February i967, as flagship of Task Unit 77.2.i, Captain T. W. WALSH, USN embarked, JOSEPH STRAUSS ioined Operation Sea Dragon, the first DDG designated to participate in this operation. 'At the time, the mission of Sea Dragon units was the destruction of waterborne logistics craft along the coast of North Vietnam, from a point north of THANH HOA, south to the DMZ. During the TET Cease- fire, from i9-ill February i967, enemy shipping activity' was observed and reported.