Wilhouite (DER 397) - Naval Cruise Book

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WESTPAC 29 May, 1967--8 January, 1967 WILHOITE departed her home port, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on May 29, 1967, for an ex- tended deployment to the Western Pacific. Following an uneventful two week voyage broken only by an eight hour fuel stop in Guam, we arrived at Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines, for four days of final pre- paration for our first patrol in the combat zone. We departed Subic Bay on 17 June and set a course for Vietnam, arriving a short two days later of the South Vietnamese coast near Chu Lai, where we relieved the USS KRETCHMER and assumed duties as a unit of Operation Market Time. Our mis- sion: to prevent the infiltration of ammuni- tion and supplies to the Viet Cong by sea. The days went quickly on Market Time, as we kept busy with watches, Replenish- ment-at-sea evolutions, a nd rendezvous with other Market Time units. We acted as mother ship for two navy swift boats, berthing extra crews on board and supply- ing them with food, fuel, and water. During our patrol we picked up a suspi- cious steel hull trawler which we suspected of making an infiltration attempt. WILHOITE requested that the trawler submit to a search of its cargo, but rather than com- plying, it began a run toward the coast. We were joined by three other Market Time units to intercept. The trawler was taken under fire and ran aground in flames, just before reaching the sanctuary of a river mouth. The following morning the trawler was boarded and a huge cargo of guns and ammunition was discovered - the largest single arms shipment captured during the Vietnam War. ,.,, f , l ,, ,f .,,,,, -. ,.

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WILHOITE was relieved on 26 July and proceeded to the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong for two weeks duty as station ship. In this new assignment, we carried out all the administrative duties of a small naval station, making berthing arrangements with the Royal Navy for US ships, and supplying mail, movies and numerous other services to units of the Seventh Fleet visiting this exotic port for R and R Despite our responsibilities as station ship, we found Hong Kong a welcome haven after forty days at sea and everyone discovered that there was ample time - if not always ample money-to enjoy the outstanding shop ping, restaurants and night life. On 12 August we were underway for Sasebo, Japan, were we were to undergo a thirteen day upkeep period. We accomplished a great deal of work in Sasebo, receiving repair assistance from the Ship Repair Department of the local shipyard as well as the repair ship, USS KLONDIKE. The industriousness and enthu- siasm of the Japanese shipyard workers gfeatly impressed everyone. They swarm- ed over the ship and accomplished a num ber of important jobs for us The twenty ninth of August found us enroute to Kaohsiung Taiwan to assume duties on the Taiwan Patrol Force a new assignment for WILHOITE We operated out of Kaohsiung and Keelung a busy port city on the northern coast of Taiwan for 29 days spending about half the time in port and the remainder patrolling the Taiwan Straits off the coast of Communist China. While in Taiwan, we had the Valuable experience of working with the Nationalist Navy on Anti-Submarine ,Warfare exercises We participated in a Joint training session at Tsoying, a large Chinese naval base out- side Kaohsiung, then joined two Chinese destroyer types for exercises at sea with the US submarine CHARR KAGSS-3285. On 29 September we departed Taiwan for Vietnam and another Market Time patrol. We spent an uneventful month patrolling the South Vietnamese coast in the vicinity of Qui Nhon. The only thing notable about the patrol was the weather, pcm ns -aw-.14-nrsyu-Inu v, mesu- . . I . Nl l . ' N . ' wa . I . 1, I T4 . ff' X , lr , X . , .. .l..,,....,.,,.,.,,,.i..- , . -Y H - +1 .- a Q Q ' U 41