Wilhouite (DER 397) - Naval Cruise Book

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DEDICATION To the loved ones at home who have borne extra bur- dens in our absence . . .who have enabled us to participate in this cruise and the struggle for Freedom from oppression. To you who wrote us letters and greeted our return. To you who have helped us so much during our curise, we dedicate our book. THE OFFICERS AND MEN USS WILHOITE ' 'N-.V . 0 C15 j sf Q x l',,' C l C? fl lb 47' A lf, t I l ,tj fl 1 '- .4 K7

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INTRODUCTION Webster's Dictionary defines cruise as to sail about touching ata series of ports, making for no set destination. During WlLl'lOlTE'S IQ68-l969 WESTPAC deployment, we did just this. We sailed for over seven months and touched more than half a dozen ports, most of them more than once. Although part ofthetime we were makingfor a set destination, our next port or patrol area, the maiority of our time was spent patrolling our assigned area in a random or semi- random manner, with no destination in mind. This Cruise Book is an attempt to recount the ex- periences of our deployment. We hope that the men who sailed on the WlLHOlTE will be able to browse through this book in years to come and recall the cruise. We hope that the families and friends of these men will be able to read this book and gain some insight of the lives that the WlLH0lTE'S sailors live, and the services they perform during a cruise. ln order to do this, it will be necessary to do much more than merely list the ports visited and the miles steamed. ln the first part of the book we will introduce you to the Captain, the WILHOITE, the officers and the men. The remainder of the book will be a narrative of the cruise from l9 June, l9o8, when we pulled out of Pearl Harbor until 29 January, l969, when we returned. Maior ship- board evolutions will be explained through pictures and accounts, so that those of you who have never lived aboard a ship will get a basic idea of what transpires during these events. The Cruise Book Staff sincerely hopes that we have accomplished our task in a reasonably effective manner and that you will enjoy our book. L.. ffm'

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COMMANDING OFFICER .A -,is-X LCDR D. H. GRIFFIN Lieutenant Commander David Hamlin Griffin, U. S. Navy, Commanding Officer, U.S.S. WILHOITE, entered the Navy through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps program in September l952. He participated in that pro- gram at Brown University, where he was awarded a Bache- lor of Science degree in Chemistry, and was commissioned an Ensign in the regular Navy in June I957.His first duty assignment was on board the USS BROWNSON CDD- 8687 where he served as Damage Control Assistant and Engineering Officer until l96O. From l96O until l96I, Lieu- tenant Commander Griffin served as Executive Officer of the USS ABILITY CMSO-5l9l. Subsequently, he was ordered as Commanding Officer of the USS FRIGATEBIRD CMSC- I9ll where he served until I963. Prior to receipt of orders to WILHOITE, he served successively in the Bureau of Naval Personnel and as Executive Officer, USS STRONG QDD-758l. On 3I December, IQ67 he assumed command of WILHOITE. Lieutenant Commander Griffin is married to the former Gail Schriver of Whitmire, South Carolina. They reside with their three children, a daughter, aged ten and two sons, aged seven and five months, in Honolulu, Hawaii.