Gearing (DD 710) - Naval Cruise Book

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THE SIXTH FLEET You can compare the 6th Fleet to the cop on the neighborhood beat, a friendly guy who ' s liked by everybody and whose easy smile in no way indicates any softness towards any- one who would disturb the peace. Our mission is peace, but we are prepared for any eventuality. This is the way the former commander of the 6th Fleet, Vice Admiral C. E. Ekstrom, summarizes the task of the fleet. Specifically this means that the fleet has the responsibility to: — Help preserve the peace in the Mediter- ranean area. — Assure Mediterranean countries of the United States ' friendship and readiness to help them. — Protect and support United States citizens, interests, and policies in the Mediter- ranean area. — Be prepared to carry out such wartime as- signments as superior U.S. or NATO com- mands may order. — Provide realistic wartime training for ships and men of the U.S. Navy. — Perfect working relationships with our friends and allies. • — Familiarize U.S. Navy personnel with this strategic portion of the globe. Stated another way, the 6th Fleet has a twofold mission for peace first, and foremost, to maintain at all times a high degree of readiness and combat effectiveness ; and sec- ondly to spread and foster good will between the Mediterranean nations and our own. At sea the job of the fleet is to achieve and maintain a peak of combat readiness. In port the mission of the fleet is to promote good will, understanding, respect, and ac- ceptance, both through official contacts and through simple people to people relationships. Sports contests, ship teams, and local teams are a common feature of port visits. Church parties from ships worship in chui ' ches ashore. Exchanges of official calls and enter- tainment are a fixed part of all visits. Ships of the fleet are opened for public visiting all over the Mediterranean. Ship ' s bands play public concerts before enormous crowds. Bluejackets of the fleet can be found in all the great historic, or simply interesting, cities of Europe.

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U.S.S. GEARING DD-710 The USS GEARING (DD-71()), prototype of her class, was built by the Federal Ship- building and Drydock Company of Poit Newark, New Jersey. The keel was laid Aug-ust 10, 1914, and on P bruary 18, 1945 the ship was launched. Named in honor of Commander Henry Chalfant Gearing, USN (1855-1926) ; Captain Henry Chalfant Gear- ing, USN (1884-1914); and Lieutenant Henry Chalfant Gearing, USN (1912-1942) ; the ship was sponsored by the daughter of the late Commander Gearing, Mrs. Thomas M. Foley, at commissioning ceremonies in New York City on May :3, 1945. Although built during Wcirld War II, GEAR- ING was commissioned too late foi ' combat service. She has, however, spent 15 busy years in the Atlantic Fleet, particijiating in many U.S. and Allied exercises. During this time GEARING has been sighted in such widely separated areas as the Arctic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Red Sea. Since 1951 she has sailed eight times with the U.S. Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. The first homeport of the USS GEARING was Casco Bay, Maine. From this salty Downeast port she participated in Operation Frostbite, a cruise to Arctic waters in 1949, and, in early 1950, Operation Portrex, an Allied exercise in the Caribbean. In .January of 1951 the ship served her first tour of duty in the Mediterranean Sea. After this initial tour she returned in May to a new home port, Norfolk, Vii-ginia. Operating from Norfolk, GEARING has had a busy career. The summers of 1951, 1956 and 1958 h ave found her on midshipman ti ' ain- ing cruises. Among the ports visited were Barcelona, Belfast. Oporto, Copenhagen and Antwerp. Continuing to participate in the European i-otation plan, the ship has had Mediterranean tours in every year except 1956, visiting ports from Gibraltar to Istan- bul, and, in 1957, transiting the Suez Canal, calling at vai ' ious poi ' ts in the Red Sea. Early in 1954 GEARING joined the Atlantic Fleet Hunter Killer force to participate with other fleet units in Operation Springboard, and later, in Operation Novorock, which in- cluded Canadian Ships. Other exercises in which the ship jiarticiijated were the Joint Civilian Oi-ientation Cruise in the spring of 1957 and LANTFLEX 2-58 and 2-59. Dur- ing these exercises GEARING visited ports on the Eastern Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean. Between overseas deployments and fleet exercises GEARING has been engaged in shorter operations, maintaining herself cons- tantly prepared to carry out her wai ' time mission. The ship is capable of speeds over 30 knots and carries the latest electronic equipment to aid in her primary job of anti- submarine warfare. She employs two ahead thrown weapon mounts as well as depth charges against submarines, three 5-inch 38 caliber twin gun mounts against air, surface and shore targets, 40 millimeter machine guns against aircraft, and high speed tor- pedoes against surface shipping. GEARING, a unit of Destroyer Squadron Four, has officially made her home in Char- leston, South Carolina, since April 1, 1959.