Gearing (DD 710) - Naval Cruise Book

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is i i eng.. j I Gl.E33lsQS Lg- f A A . 1 51ffzf37T U DD-710 ' K O O J 1 irhe U.s.s. GEARING QDD-vioywag built by the' Q 'Q Fosderal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Port gNu:wark, New Jersey. The keel was laid August , 1944, and the vessel was launched February lf, 1945. Named in honor of Commander Henry alfant Gearing, USN, Q1855-l926j, Captain fnenry chalfanr Gearing, USN, .QI884-19441, and L- eutenant Henry Chalfant Gearing, USN, 11912.- l'i4Zj, the ship was sponsored 'by the daughter of l the late Commander Gearing,'Mrs. Thomas M. Fpley, at commissioning ceremonies in New York C ty May 3, 1945. The GEARING is the prototype the DD-710 for Long Hullj class of destroyer. After World War II the ship was stationed at Casco Bay, Maine, and during the fall of 1949 she V participated in Operation FROSTBITE, a cruise Arctic waters. In early 1950 she joined with a-lied vessels to participate in Operation PORTEX the Caribbean Sea. .Q In January of 1951, the ship went to the Medi- .flcfrranean Sea for a regular tour of duty with the jiS-xth Fleet under the European Rotation Plan.i She I C31 oil vw itcl j. ,111 , returned to Norfolk, Virginia, her new home port, limi May, and participated in a six-week -NROTC idshipman training cruise that summer. hi the full the GEARING joined with other units of the' tlantic Fleet for LANTEX, a month of fleet exe r - ses in the Caribbeanf 'BetweeJn January, 1952, and October, 1953, the 'QQCHEARING served two more Sixth Fleet Mediter- ranean deployments. ' Fil -L W Early in 1954 the ship joined the Atlantic Fleet jtlunter Killer Force to participate with other fleet Mins in Operation SPRINGBOARD and later in eration NOVORACK, which included Canadian 95. ips. The GEARING departed for her fourth hitch with the Sixth Fleet in May of 1954 and returned to United States in July. PE he . i'The GEARING operated in the Norfolk area in he spring of 1955 and in July departed for the Medi- exrrandean. While serving with the Sixth Fleet, the hip visited Istanbul, Naples, Palma, Rhodes, lthens, Iskenderun, Suda Bay, and Gibraltar, and then returned home in December. The first three months of 1956 were'devoted b Operation SPRINGBOARD, with calls at Havana and San Juan. Two months of upkeep and brief jut intensive training operations followed. In July i vessel departed on an NROTC Midshipman he p Cruise, At the first port of call, Barcelona, Com- mander E.A. LANE, JR. , USN, relieved Com- mander WOODS as 'commanding officer. Belfast and Guantanamo Baywe re also vis ited during the cruise, and the ship returned to Norfolk at the end of August. the fall she participated in type training exercises and plane guard assignments, entering the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in November. for regular overhaul. . Emerging from the shipyard in late February, the ship proceeded in March to Guantanamo Bay for two months of refresher training which included a visit to Kingston, Jamaica, in April. In May and June the GEARING underwent type training and participated in the Joint Civilian Orientation Cruise with numerous othe 1' Atlantic Fleet units , including the newest operational ships and weapons, off the Florida' Coast. She departed for her sixth tour with the Sixth 'Fleet in July, and late that same month joined the U. S. Mid East Force in the Red Sea. Visits were made to Aden and Massawa, Eritrea, before rejoining the'Sixth Fleet in July. The ship participated in two NATO exercises, visited Athens, Corfu, and Suda Bay, Kandi re-turned to Norfolk in late October. . 1 In October 1957, Commander Destroyer Squaid- ron Four transferred his pennant from the GEAR- ING to the USS MANLEY QDD 940j, a new destroyer which had just joined the squadron. 'The GEARING sailed again for the Mediterranean inkearly December and was caught in a severe storm off the Azores Islands, with serious damage re- sulting.. Emergency repairs were effected at Gi- braltar, and the ship then proceeded to Naples where more extensive repair work was done by the ship's force and the USS TIDEWATER during the ensuing month. Late in January, -the GEARING resumed her tour with the Sixth Fleet, visiting Iskende run and Izmir, Turkey. Duringthe summer of 1958 the GEARING took part in the combined Midshipman-FleetExercjfse Cruise to Northern Europe. A combination of interesting ports -- OPorto, Portugal, Copen- hagen, Denmark, and Antwerp, Belgium -- com- bined with short uns cheduled stops in Vigo, Spain, and Plymouth, England, made this a memorable cruise. Awide variety of fleet operations proved the Gearing to be ready and able to carry out any missionto which she may be assigned.