Cushing (DD 985) - Naval Cruise Book

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We departed Japan for Chinhae, Korea to participate with the Republic of Korea Navy in the first phase of Team Spirit '83. Our Korean hosts made us feel very welcome and we had an opportunity to exchange personnel during a concentrated ASW exercise. CLISHING was named top unit for her aggressive performance and despite a near miss by a civilian tanker the exercise was very valuable. We were detached to play aggressor against two carrier battle groups during the second phase of Team Spirit. For almost two weeks the Lion remained undetected while in turn successfully locating and targeting both battle groups. Following Team Spirit and a stop in Pusan, Korea to stock up on mink blankets we departed for a port visit to Beppu, Japan. Beppu is little visited by units of the Seventh Fleet and turned out to be a super stop. Famous for hot baths, scenic mountains and friendly people, the Lion received red carpet treatment. While there, CLISHING adopted a local orphanage and many of the crew donated their time to a major and successful clean up, paint up campaign. ' l2O

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Our next stop was Subic Bay for an upkeep period. The Cubs had kept the Mother Cat in great shape so we were able to see the sights, exercise our championship baseball team and groom the big Cat at the same time. We departed Subic Bay in mid-January to exercise the weapons and assist CTF-75 in conducting a missile shoot. CLISHING was named Top Gun following the exercise. We returned to Subic Bay only long enough to fuel as we were tasked to commence special surveillance operations against a Soviet task group headed by the ASW cruiser MINSK. Despite monsoon weather and many long days and nights, the ship operated flawlessly and our mission was most successful. Following detachment from special operations we transited to Sasebo, Japan for upkeep and liberty. The port visit was super with lots of quality work accomplished and plenty of opportunity to see the sights, purchase stereos, cameras and motorbikes. ll9

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A short transit to Sasebo followed where another successful upkeep period was held. The baseball team was victorious over everything in sight and we clinched the Seventh Fleet Championship. As we prepared to leave for Thailand, the ship was directed to transit at best speed in order to meet an urgent requirement. The flag dropped and we ran at full power for almost four days. This speedy transit established a record that is likely to stand for some time. Our stop in Pattaya Beach, Thailand was one of the most enjoyable of the cruise. On departure we had depleted the country of tee-shirts and Sing-Hai beer. Nobody was stepped on by the elephants, but lots of cases of sunburn. We joined the rest of DESRON SEVEN enroute to Subic for a brief stop before turning the Cat toward home. Following a brief stop in Pearl Harbor to pick up Lion Cubs for the dependents' cruise we left on the last leg, arriving home to a big reception and warm welcome. Shortly after our return, all our hard work was rewarded with the presentation of the Battle E for DestroyerSquadron SEVEN. lt was a great cruise by a great ship manned by a great crew. l2l