Eaton (DDE 510) - Naval Cruise Book

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3 Destroyers Retu in DeS '0Ye'S By CLIFFORD HUBBARD Vlrglnian-Pilot Staff Writer NORFOLK-Three destroyers tame home to Norfolk from Viet- nam Tuesday afternoon, one of them bearing the memory of a North Vietnamese shell which killed one man and wounded eight. It was the DuPont that was hit. The shell landed on the barrel of a 5-inch gun and sprayed steel splinters into the decks below. The DuPont, in company with the New and Eaton, steamed in to t h e Destroyer-Submarine Piers after a seven-month tour off Vietnam. The ships came in to a warm welcome from fa milie s and friends of orewmen. A Navy band tootled welcoming music and small American flags in the hands of hundreds of children waved frantically. The DuPont spent her entire tour, except for normal port time, on the gunline off Vietnam. That was 76 days of banging away with her guns. The New spent 42 days on the ,gunline and the rest of her time serving as a plane guard for car- riers, a refuel ship for rescue helicopters and as a search and rescue vessel for 'downed air- craft. The Eaton spent 25 days on the gunline, and the rest of her time performing the same duties as the New. It was at 3 p.m. on Aug. 28 that the DuPont took the shell. Her skipper, Cmdr. Robert H. Small, said his ship had been off the demilitarized zone to provide counterbattery fire. North Viet- namese guns had been shelling Marines south of the DMZ. We had silenced one gun and were waiting for assignment to another target, S-mall said, when the heavy shells began to drop around the destroyer Robison. She was inshore from the DuPont. The Robison moved out to sea and the DuPont was taken under fire. They straddled us at the fourth salvo, Small said, but of the approximately 50 shells fired at her, only one hit the DuPont. That struck the barrel of a gun near the stern and put it out of action. That was just about the hardest piece of steel in the ship, Qutom in time Jllews En Route Home from Vietnam USS Eaton Morks 25th NORFOLK-The only Navy de- stroyer to be 'named after an Army g e n e r a l celebrated her 25th birthday while ten route home to Norfolk following a tour off Vietnam. The USS Eaton was named for Gen. William Eaton who freed the crew of the frigate Philadel- phia from the Barbary pirates in Tripoli in 1809 and has endeared himself forever to the Navy. The Eaton left Norfolk -last J une wth other imits of Destroy- er Squadron 22. The destroyer was also serving with DesRon 22 the last time she was in the Pacific nearly 25 years ago as a Little Beaver of Adm. Bull Halsey. During 35 months in the Pacif- ic she participated in 10 engage- ments and was credited with de- stroying six enemy aircraft and one submarine. Adm. Thomas H. Moorer, chief of naval operations, sent birth- day greetings and best wishes while the Eaton was anchored in and we were lucky it hit there, Small said. Shell fragments sprayed down- wards, killing a man on the deck below. Two others were wounded seriously and six more received minor injuries. The explosion started a fire, which Small said his men quick- ly brought under control and then extinguished. We had some cool characters back there, he said. Later more than 400 holes in the deck and in the compart- ments below were counted. They had been cut by the flying steel slivers of the shell. The whole action took only 10 minutes, until the DuPont was able to get out of range. But it seemed like a day, Small add- ed. A helicopter took off three of the wounded and in a short while the DuPont was back on the line. Small said jets from the car- rier Oriskany responded to a call within minutes after the first shells fell around the Robison. Bombs from the jets plus gunfire from other ships quickly silenced the rest of the North Vietnamese guns, he added. Capt. W. B. Morrow, commo- dore of Destroyer Squadron 22, used the DuPont as his flagship throughout the cruise. He had lit- tle to say while Small related the happenings of Aug. 28 but as the impromptu p r e s s conference broke up, he spoke up. I just want to say one thing, Morrow said. The thing that im- pressed me most . . . was the sailors we have aboard these ships. Their performance was a great credit to each and every one of them and to the young people of this country, ' Morrow added. Birthday Buckner Bay at Okinawa cele- brating of birthday on Dec. 4. The Eaton is commanded by Cmdr. R. W. Duggan of Norfolk. T-he Eaton in 1956 gained na- tional publicity of an unwanted nature when she was involved in a collision with the Navy's last ope-rating battleship, the Wiscon- sin, some 60 miles off Cape Hen- ry during a nine-ship formation following a false alarm man ov- erboard alert. The Eaton's keel was broken in three places and repairs cost nearly S2 million. Bock From Viet uty ' NORFOLK-Three No r fo l k- based destroyers return home to- day following a seven-month de- p l o y m e n t to Vietnam during which they pumped more than, 32,500 shells at enemy targets.i The destroyers DuPont, Newj and Eaton were scheduled to tic! up at the Destroyer-Submarint Piers at 1 p.m. for a warm re Q c-eption by dependents and offi-i cials. During their deployment they conducted s e a r c h and rescue missions for downed pilots, pro- vided plane guard service for aircraft carriers and refuelled helicopters in addition to their gunfire support assignment. The three ships of Destroyer Division 22, commanded by Capt. W. B. Morrow, departed Norfolk June 20 last year. They racked up a total of 2,905 missioss before they went off the line for the final time Dec. 1. Their 5-inch guns were respon- sible for destruction or damage to around 500 structures, 38 artil- lery positions, 29 bunkers, 6 com-- munications installations and 905 junks or sampans. The DuPont was the only oney to receive enemy fire during the? deployment. On Aug. 28 while operatingig near the demilitarized zone, she: was straddled by approximatelyi 40 shells from North Vietnamese! shore batteries and received ones hit. . The hit resulted in one man. killed, two seriously wounded and six with minor injuries. Onel gun was knocked out. One Bronze Star and nine Pur- ple Harts came out of the en- gagement. The ships left Yokosuka, Jai Pan, Dec. 7, stopping at Midway for fuel and spending Christmas Eve at Pearl ,Harbor and New Year's Eve in San Diego. 1 The DuPont is commanded by Cmdr. R. H. Small, the New by Cmdr. J. D. Nolan and the Eaton by Cmdr. R. W. Duggan. . i 'el' 4-. I fs. Y

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