Henry Tucker (DD 875) - Naval Cruise Book

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1970 USS HENRY W. TUCKER has performed duties as Astronaut Recovery Ship for Project Apollo and participated in various combat oriented assignments of current multi-phase destroyer operations including: gunfire support missions off the coasts of both North and South Vietnam, carrier escort duties, coastal surveillance patrols and search and rescue missions. TUCKER's numerous decorations include a Meritorious Unit Commendation and a Presidential Unit Citation among awards amassed during participation in three armed conflicts. ' This most recent WESTPAC deployment from 15 June to 18 December 1971 marked TUCKER's fourth Vietnamese War tour and eighteenth incursion to the realm of the Golden Dragon since her commissioning. We have attempted, in the following pages, to capture the activities, emotions and flavor of a United States warship at work. Seventh Fleet operations, among the most demanding assign- ments confronting the U.S. Navy today, are the substance of TUCKER's heritage. A 'proud ship, formerly a member of the fabled Asiatic Squadron , the repu- tation of USS HENRY W. TUCKER for professionalism, vigilance and destroyer can do spirit was founded and sustained in twenty-six years of WESTPAC steaming. 1958

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TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS OF SERVICE 1945 USS HENRY W. TUCKER QDD 8753 is a FRAM Mark I destroyer of the DD 710 GEARING class. Built by the Consolidated Steel Corporation of Orange, Texas, her keel was laid on May 29, 1944 and she was launched on November 8, 1944. Displacing 3,490 tons, TUCKER was commissioned on March 13, 1945. TUCKER is named inhonor of Henry Warren Tucker, Pharmacist's Mate Third Class of York, Alabama, who received the Navy Cross posthumously for extra- ordinary heroism and distinguished service on May 7, 1942, when the USS NEOSHO was torpedoed during the Battle of the Coral Sea. Following a shakedown cruise TUCKER proceeded to the Norfolk, Virginia Navy Yard for conversion toaradar picket destroyer and was redesignated DDR-875 in November 1945. In December 1962 TUCKER entered Boston Naval Shipyard for overhaul and FRAM I conversion. The rehabilitation program included an extensive reconstruction of the ship from main deck up and redesignation as DD 875. Having seen continuous action as a semi-permanent member of the United States Seventh Fleet and unit of Destroyer Squadron Three, TUCKER became a unit of Destroyer Squadron Seventeen on 1 April 1971. In recent years HENRY W. TUCKER has playeda significant role in U.S. Naval operations in Southeast Asia. On May 16, 1965 she became the first U.S. Navy ship to provide Naval Gunfire Support for combat operations in the Republic of Vietnam. Among the first destroyers to refuel Navy helicopters while underway, TSLEKER became the first ship to perform the evolution at night on 6 November ln April of 1969 TUCKER was the first rescue ship on the scene following the crash of a Navy EC-121 aircraft shot down by the North Koreans, and played the leading role in the recovery of the bodies of crew-members and debris from the disaster. An historic .rendezvous and boat transfer made with the Russian destroyer VODOKHNOVENNYY QD-4295 marked the first such meeting between ships of the two nations since World War II. .. Ei'Q '7 Zfkffil ,f , 159. :ITL-sl.n'7 ty Vi,-lv. i970 USS H1135 Preeee ff eurree 3 el the LA surveilb: Teen: andaP:a three et: This as marked TU realmdie :E lefeliei mem Eefrj llreee tetieneieg em do A e steamer, ee

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fi 15 June 1971 UNDER WA v 1 ,Q f 1' :Tiff X xx N :is