Lloyd Thomas (DD 764) - Naval Cruise Book

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The Captain Commander JARDINE, a native of New jersey, was commissioned in june of 1955 following graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy. His first sea assignment was in USS HUGH PURVIS tDD709J, where he served in engineering and weapons billets from 1955 until 1958. He then served as Operations Officer for COMDESDIV 181 until the disestalolish- ment of that Staff, at which time he assumed, command of USS FRIGATE BIRD tMSC191J in 1958. Other sea assignments included USS RALEIGH QLPD-11 from 1962 until 1964 as Engi- neer Officer, and USS WITEK QDD-8487 as Executive Officer from 1967 to 1968. From WITEK, Commander JARDINE reported to duty as Commander Mine Division SEV- ENTY-ONE in Pearl Harbor, where he served as Division Commander until 1970. Commander jARDINE's shore assignments primarily have been related to education. He attended the U.S. Navy Postgraduate School, Monterey, California from 1960 until 1962, graduating in the Nuclear Engineering CEFFECTSJ Course, and was awarded a Master of,Science Degree in Physics tNuclearD. From 1964 until 1966, he instructed in the Weapons Department at the Naval Academy and subsequently attended the Naval War College, School of Naval Command and Staff, from 1966 until 1967. He served as Force Inspector for Commander Naval Forces, Vietnam and Chief, Naval Advisory Group, MACV, from june 1970 to june 1971. Commander IARDINE is married to the former Mary KUCHER of Manchester, New Hampshire. The IARDINES have three children, Douglas, age 12, Nancy, age 11, and Edward, age 5.

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The Ship Construction of the United States Ship honoring Lloyd Thomas was authorized on july 9, 1942. The keel was laid in San Francisco, California, by the Bethlehem Steel Company on March 26, 1944. The USS LLOYD THOMAS was launched on October 5, 1945, and commissioned as a general purpose destroyer March 21, 1947. LLOYD THOMAS is 390 feet long and 41 feet wide, with a maximum draft of 21 feet, design displacement of 3477 tons. Four boilers deliver steam to two geared turbines that furnish 60,000 horsepower to twin screws capable of maneuvering the ship at over 30 knots. She is manned on this cruise by 15 officers and 270 enlisted men. The primary weapons are anti-submarine, and two twin 5-inch, 38-caliber gun mounts are carried for shore bombardment and defense against air, land and surface attackers. In 1948 LLOYD THOMAS joined a round the world goodwill cruise starting in San Diego, California, transiting both the Suez and Panama Canals, and covering 45,168 miles. Following conversion to an escort destroyer in 1949 in San Francisco, LLOYD THOMAS was transferred to Newport, Rhode Island. ln the years between 1949 and 1961 LLOYD THOMAS made one South American cruise, two European cruises, and six Mediterranean deployments, one of which included' numerous port calls east of the Suez Canal. From October 1958 through March 1961 LLOYD THOMAS was an element of Task Group Bravo, an anti-submarine hunter-killer group. - LLOYD THOMAS received a fleet rehabilitation and modernization overhaul CFRAM-Ill at the New York Naval Shipyard in 1961. This was followed by one European cruise and four deployments to the Mediterranean, three of which included extensive operation with Middle East forces. During these years LLOYD THOMAS served as host ship' for an American Cup race in Newport, saved a fishing trawler flooding off Boston, tracked a probable Soviet submarine for eight hours in the Mediterranean, and won both the Squadron Battle Efficiency Award and Departmental Excellence Awards twice within three years. Late in 1968 the ship lost a large percentage of its crew and entered a reduced operational status. LLOYD THOMAS returned to full operational status in 1969 and in April 1970 changed home port to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. In August 1970 LLOYD THOMAS departed Pearl Harbor for her first WESTPAC deployment. After returning in February 1971 she conducted various type training exercises, visited the Seattle Sea Fair, and participated in the Atomic Energy Commission's Project Cannikin. Upon her return from the Amchitka' test LLOYD THOMAS began preparations for her second WESTPAC deployment chronicled in this cruisebook.

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This Is The Captain Speaking... This book pictorially describes life onboard LLOYD THOMAS much better than the thousands of words it would take to fill these pages. Life onboard will be best remembered by people and events, and here you are, the men of LLOYD THOMAS. This Western Pacific cruise tried our very fiber, as we were first tested by unique operations and finally by the ardors of actual combat. Every event during this cruise required the proper actions of many men working in concert in order to be successful. Moorings, anchorings, underway replenishments, carrier escort, trawler surveillance, naval gunfire support and gunfire strikes within the coastal waters of North Vietnam are the major events and evolutions we will all long remember. The minor ones of cookouts on the flight deck, liberty in foreign ports, and just plain old comradeship onboard underway are equally important in understanding what makes a group of men living and working together become a crew of a U.S. Navy ship. That we indeed were successful as a crew in doing our job has probably best been said by our 'lboss, Commander United States SEVENTH Fleet, upon completion of our deployment. I am quoting the following words with pride from his farewell message: NSAYONARA I As LLOYD THOMAS completes her last and finest deployment ever before decomission- ing at Pearl, the log of her final VVESTPAC tour can be reviewed with pride. Your cruise extended despite a shortage of personnel and upkeep, you nevertheless saw action early in Freedom Train operations off the North Vietnamese coast and performed with distinction. Equally as well accomplished in gunline operations, trawler surveillance and attack carrier escort, your indomitable fighting spirit was best symbolized by the Stars and Stripes photo- graph showing your ship speeding through a hail of enemy gunfire. To a proud, venerable lady and her outstanding team of officers and men, SEVENTH Fleet says farewell and well done. The pride I feel is for each and every man assigned to LLOYD THOMAS, and to you I can truly say how happy I am to have been privileged to serve with you as your Commanding Officer. I know that I have been blessed in having such a fine crew. Now with the imminent decommissioningof LLOYD THOMAS upon us, I am saddened to watch you all leave, virtually being scattered to the Four Winds and the Seven Seas. May God's blessings be with you and a warm Aloha always in your heart as you depart. Remember LLOYD THOMAS - it was more than a ship - it was you.