Fechteler (DD 870) - Naval Cruise Book

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DEDICATION This book, the account of USS FECHTELER ' s 1064 Western Pacific deployment, is dedicated to Admiral William M. Fechteler, USN (Ret), former Chief of Naval Operations. Admiral Fechteler is a son of Admiral Augustus F. Fechteler, and a brother of LT Frank C. Fechteler, for whom the ship is named.

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COVER DESIGN The cover, designed by LT Knight, depicts the themes of FECHTELER ' s July-August patrols. The vigilant Watchdog was FECHTELER. The Vietnamese eyes were her trademark. The palm tree is a reminder of the South China Sea and FECHTELER ' s boom of a Palm Tree. Cutting through the cover, as it cut through the middle of the deployment, is the phrase, Condition III. Battle Readiness Con- dition III. FECHTELER and her men know each of these symbols. The cover is theirs.

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SHIP ' S HISTORY Originally the ship was to be named in honor of Rear Admiral Augustus F. Fechteler, USN, who commanded a battleship division in World War I. Prior to commissioning the name was shortened to its present form and honors both the Admiral and his son, LT Frank C. Fechteler, and early naval aviator who was killed in a plane crash in 1922. USS FECHTELER (DD870) was constructed by the Bethlehem Steel Company, Staten Island, N.Y., was commissioned on 2 March 1946, and assigned to duty with the Atlantic Fleet. In January 1947, the ship proceeded to the Pacific area via the Panama Canal and reported for duty with the Pacific Fleet. In 1952 FECHTELER completed her fourth tour in the Western Pacific having operating with Task Forces 95 and 77 as a component of the 7th Fleet. She operated in the San Diego-Long Beach area until April 1953 when she was decommissioned for major overhaul and conversion to a radar picket destroyer. The new FECH TELER emerged and was commissioned at Long Beach in December 1953. In May 1954 she headed west on an around-the-world cruise which terminated five months later in Newport, Rhode Island. Enroute she stopped in WestPac long enough to operate with the Seventh Fleet. Upon her arrival at Newport, FECHTELER was assigned to Destroyer Division 102. In May 1956 she was once again assigned to the Paci fic, now sporting the coveted Battle Efficiency E awarded for her outstanding performance with DesRon 10 of the Atlantic Fleet. After only a few days in Long Beach FECHTELER deployed to WestPac as a unit of Destroyer Squadron 23, the Little Beaver Squadron of World War II fame. In the early spring of 1963 FECHTELER entered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard to undergo a Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization MK1 conversion, which was completed in December, 1963. During the conversion FECHTELER was re- commissioned a DD. Upon completion of her shipyard work, FECHTELER underwent a series of tests, trials, and exercises which were completed satisfactorily in March, 1964. A month later, on 5 May, she deployed for WestPac, a member of Destroyer Squadron 19, a ready unit of the powerful U.S. Pacific Fleet. She is a proud ship; proud of her ability, of her outstanding reputation in both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets, and even more proud of the men who breath life and soul into her steel.