Cushing (DD 985) - Naval Cruise Book

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r l tx i l l l l l i 4 l KJ i llli li. NS ,uggjktial ,,,Cilice wffflb' FG K 'W 5 gr an ww Zig-still AM www f M CUSHING RRIVI G OCT l9Sl Commander Will C. Rogers lll was born in Waco, Texas and commissioned in December, l965 through Officer Candidate School, His first assignment was onboard USS INDEPENDENCE CCV-625 where he served as Main Propulsion Division Officer and Assistant Combat lnformaf tion Center Officer. Subsequent assignments included the USS GEORGE K. MACKENZIE CDD-8365 as Main Propulsion Assistant and Combat Information Center Officer, Commis- sioning Operations Officer of the USS VREELAND QFF-lO68Dg and Commanding Officer of the USS EXPLOIT CMSO-4405. . Upon detachment from EXPLOIT, Commander Rogers attended the Armed Forces Staff College ia Norfolk, Virginia, followed by duty in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Systems Analysis Division of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Commander Rogers served as Commissioning Executive Officer of the USS DAVID R. RAY CDD-970, after which he served as Gas Turbine Type Desk Officer on the COMNAVSURFPAC staff. Commander Rogers is a graduate of Baylor University and earned a Masters degree in Economics and History from Trinity University.

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Commander William B. Cushing USS CUSHING is named after Commander William Barker Cushing, a Naval hero of the Civil War. Born in Delafield, Wis., Nov. 4, l842, he entered the Naval Academy in l857. He became lieutenant on July l6, l862, and subsequently attained the rank of commander on Jan. 3l, l872. After brilliant service in the blockading fleet off the North Carolina coast, his plans to outfit torpedo boats to destroy the formidable and dangerous Con- federate ram, Albemarle were approved. On Oct. 27, I864, Cushing- in a torpedo boat manned by I5 volunteers, eluded the enemy lookouts and crept up the Roanoke River under defense fire from small arms and suc- ceeded in disabling the Con- federate ram Albemarle. For this action, Cushing was promoted and officially thanked by Congress, the only non-flag officer of the war to be so honored. ln the four years he had risen from midshipman to lieutenant commander he was under fire perhaps more than any other officer in the Navy and seemed to have escaped without a scratch. After the Civil War he served in both Pacific and Asiatic squadrons, commanded the Lan- caster and Maumee, served as ordnance officer, Boston Navy Yard, and from July ll, IS73 commanded the USS WYOMING until relieved of active duty because of illness. While commanding USS WYOMING in the Caribbean, he helped to free the passengers of a ship detained by the Spanish government in Cuba. Com- mander Cushing died on December l7, I874 at the age of thirty two.