John McCain (DDG 36) - Naval Cruise Book

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A MESSAGE FROM THE CAPTAI The goal of delivering to the fleet a fully capable warship is a most difficult task. The long frustrating hours in the shipyard, the logistics of moving dependents from the east to the west coast, the at sea periods for test and evaluation and concluding with a concentrated Training Evaluation, requires sailors with understanding, talent, and dedication. The JOHN S. McCAIN cannot perform to her design capabilities unless every crew member has a desire to excel. It is excellence that wins honors, establishes reputations, and most of all it is excellence that Wins wars. I salute those of you that have strived so hard and served so well, during a most difficult period. It is to the White Hat, that has made our goal become a reality, that this Cruise Book is dedicated. COMMANDER DAVID N. DENTON , ,

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U55 jol-IN S. MCCAI DDG-365 The JOHN S. McCAIN QDDG-365 is a 5100 ton guided missile destroyer, carrying a crew of 19 officers and 309 enlisted men. She is a versatile ship, with the two-fold mission of anti-submarine and anti-air war- fare. Detecting an enemy submarine with her sonar, she can pursue at speeds in excess of thirty knots and if necessary destroy with anti-submarine rockets QASROCJ or torpedos. Simultaneously, she can defend herself and other ships in a task force from air or sur- face attacks with Tartar missles. Two 5 !54 caliber rapid fire gun mounts give her addi- tional capabilities against enemy ships and shore emplacements. 1 McCAIN was constructed as Destroyer Leader 3, the second ship of the MITSCHER frigate class, by Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine and was commissioned on October 12, 1953, at Boston Naval Shipyard. In her origi- nal configuration she was one of the five largest gunned destroyer type ships ever built. She is named in honor of Admiral John Sidney McCAIN. Admiral McCain was com- mander of'the SECOND Carrier Task Force during the latter years of World War II. For his achievements and heroism he received the Navy Cross, the Distinguished Service Medal, and two Gold Stars. In keeping with Admiral McCain's legacy, the McCAIN's motto is 'PRAESTATEQ Latin command meaning Excel , . I McCAIN has been tough opposition to hostile forces as well as mercy and goodwill to people in distress. During the Formosa crisis in the summer of 1958, she was part of a Fleet Task Group which aided the victims of a fire that ravaged the town of Koniya on the island of Amiami O Shima. In October, 1959, she carried antibiotics, donated food, and raised money for flood victims in the Bengal-Crissa lowlands outlying Calcutta, India. In January, 1960, the ship rescued the crew of the sinking Japanese freighter SHIN- WA MARU in heavy seas in the East China Sea. I In April, 1962, McCAIN joined Joint Task Force EIGHT and for the next six months participated in OPERATION DOMONIC con- ducted by the Atomic Energy Commission at Johnson Island. She .left Pearl Harbor in December of 1962 to join the Seventh Fleet for a six and one-half month deployment. In March, 1964, she again deployed to the Western Pacific, taking part in various hunter-killer group anti-submarine warfare operations, including operation LITGAS, a combined SEATO operation in the Philippines. McCAINdeparted Pearl Harbor again in Sep- tember, 1965 on her seventh deployment to WESTPAC. Operations included gunfire sup- port missions against the ,Viet Cong, sur- veillance, and joint trainging operations with the Republic of Korea Navy in the Sea of Japan. In May, 1966, McCAIN departed Harbor, her home port for nine years, and proceeded to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard where the ship was extensively modified to include the latest surface-to-air guided mis- siles and anti-submarine warfare weapons. McCAIN was commissioned as DDG-36 on September 6, 1969, at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, under the command of Commander David N. Denton. Upon completion of con- version in February, 1970, she joined the Pacific Fleet as the Flagship for Destroyer Squadron Twenty-Three, homeported in Long Beach, California.

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QW 4, X 2 ,R Commander David N. Denton entered the Navy in' 1953 and received recruit train- ing at the U.S. Naval Training Center, San Diego, California. He subsequently entered the Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island and was commissioned an En- sign in the United States Naval Reserve that same year. Following graduation, he served in the Gunnery Department of the USS BON HOMME RICHARD QCVA-315. In August, 1956, he began a tour as Administrative As- sistant and Aide to the Assistant Chief of Naval Operations fNaval Reserveb. It was on this tour of duty that he was appointed as an officer in the regular Navy. After attending Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California in 1958, he served as Operations Officer and Executive Officer of the USS JOHNSTON QDD-8215. In August, 1961, CDR Denton reported to the Chief of Naval Personnel in Washington, D.C. where he became as Assistant ENSXLTJG Assignment Officer fSurfaceJ. CDR Denton was a student at the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, when ordered to report on July l, 1964, as Com- manding Officer, USS DEALEY KDE-10063. On July 1, 1966, he returned to Washington and joined the Staff, Director ASW Pro- grams in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations. In this assignment he was re- sponsible for Special Studies, Speeches, Presentations, Government and Industrial Liaison. In Jime, 1969, CDR Denton was assigned as Prospective Commanding Of- ficer, USS JOHN S. McCAIN QDDG-365. CDR Denton is a native of Jefferson City, Tennessee and a graduate of Carson- Newman College with a Master's Degree in International Affairs from George Wash- ington University. He is married to the former Rita F. Hartington of Providence, Rhode Island. They have four children: David N. Denton, Jr, Emily Kate, Jennifer Louise, and Mark Hartington.