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Page 5 text:
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SHIP ' S HISTORY USS DAMATO was commissioned on April 27, 1946. She was named in honor of Corporal Anthony Peter DAMATO, United States Marine Corps, who was killed in the Eniwetok Campaign of 1944 and posthumously granted the Congressional Medal of Honor. As she was completed after the war, during a period of general disarmament, DAMATO spent her first few years in independent operations. The Korean Conflict in 1950, however, revived the Navy ' s interest in anti-sub- marine warfare and convoy protection, work for which DAMATO was originally in- tended. As a unit of the United States Atlantic Fleet, DAMATO has sailed in virtually all the waters in and around the Atlantic Ocean, and has visited many of its ports. She also makes regular cruises to the Mediterranean. In January 1961, she was dispatched after the SS SANTA MARIA, which had been seized by Portuguese insurgents as a political manuever. Their action had been quickly labled as piracy, attracting world attention. DAMATO was instrumental in the final disposition of the ship and her return to her rightful owners. In 1962 the ship participated in the Cuban Blockade, and in the fall of 1965 was sent to the Dominican Republic during that country ' s political crisis. DAMATO underwent a major overhaul in 1964, during which her antisubmarine warfare capabilities were greatly enchanced by the installation of Drone Anti-sub- marine Helicopter (DASH), which has since been remo ved, and the Anti-Submarine Rocket (ASROC). She subsequently became the flagship for Destroyer Division TWO TWO TWO. In July 1967, following two months of refresher training at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, DAMATO deployed to Vietnam for seven months to see her first wartime action. She traveled over 58,000 miles and was fired on nine times. She was hit twice by enemy shore batteries on September 13, but no one was injured. She returned to Norfolk on January 30, 1968. DAMATO got underway for South America in July 1968 to become part of UNITAS IX forces. The annual UNITAS cruises provide the opportunity for various American navies to coordinate and perfect their capabilities for combined operations. DAMATO ' s officers and men served as goodwill ambassadors in Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Ecuador. They drew praise from military and civilians alike for their conduct, as they always do. The ship returned to the United States on November 4, 1968. After a four-month break, DAMATO got up steam on the morning of February 24, 1969, for six weeks of arduous training on Springboard 1969. These annual exercises in the Caribbean, put a fine edge on an already sharp crew. After a month ' s stay in Norfolk, DAMATO got underway for another Mediterranean deployment on May 9, 1969. On July 1, 1969, DAMATO became part of Destroyer Squadron THREE SIX and Destroyer Division THREE SIX TWO. As far as we know, navies originated in the Mediterranean Sea, which separates three continents, abounds in long peninsulas and islands, and has favorable weather during most of the year. The Mediterranean, then, marks the beginning of sea power, where maritime trade, piracy, and naval war- fare have flourished since early times. Although the lands which border the Mediter- ranean have recently declined somewhat in importance, the seas themselves maintain a strategic importance. The pr esence of units of the United States Navy in this al- most landlocked body lend moral support to the people of the Mediterranean, and help keep the seas free.
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Page 6 text:
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' . ' . ' f ESS If ' ' -. ' - ' COMMANDER LAURENCE THOMAS FUREY COMMANDING OFFICER BnimMuuiLiim».i.
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