Maddox (DD 731) - Naval Cruise Book

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,. up ,i , --z-we -f: ,. ,3 ?7 'Z'fvv7':!'TrQFP?r+' fm ,wwe ff, ww- fi, . , , , M- 1. 1-fiffif ia , W,m.N.,....,M.,La.... , . Miles away, the voice of the carrier controlled intercept operator on the Ticonderoga shattered the peace and quiet of the F-8 Crusader patrol with his call signal, crackling out into four F-8 radios: 'I have a surface target for you. This is no drill', . , NEWSWEEK fAugust l7, l964j Attacked by three PT craft vicinity l9-14.5 N., 106-35.6 E at O20808Z. Craft pursued and overtook MADDOX. At least three torpedos and l2,7 MM machine gun fire experienced. No personnel or material casualties, Ships guns damaged one. Aircraft from Tico now attacking. . . 1' 55 ,iff Q ff ivwxnsex 402083825 The MADDOX continued in a southerly direction to join the destroyer Turner Joy SDD-9515 as Ticonderoga aircraft commenced attacking the PT's. . .The Turner oy has joined with the MADDOX and they are continuing their patrol in the area in international waters. . . CINCPACFLT 403223025 mul- ' 46 '

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Spotters picked up the torpedo tracks immediately and O ier wheeled his shi into . 8 P a tight evasive turn. lt was a close thing. The two torpedos flashed by within 100 yards of the destroyer. . . LIFE qAugust 14, 19645 Now the third torpedo boat took up the attack, Skillfully, she pulled 5,000 yards abeam of the destroyer so that evasion would be far more difficult. But this brought the PT boat under the fire of two pairs of the MADDOX's biggest guns. The MADDOX fired -- a direct hit. The enemy craft stopped dead in the water, helpless, and aflame. . . TIME QAugust 14, 19645 rf-4 4 ,4 S 3 tr: ,,xg,.5Z3! ,w v- , 75, s I Xa 43 44-1-ns V ZW W M' :ff ,G 1 v 7 V 4' d 4f,:ffQ' J! if vw Qfyggfi, 'aJlg5i19 4 R V 1

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as v.wf I sa as Welcome to the club. Hope your gunnery is sharp Those boys are ho in mad u . . ' . PP S P there. Anything can happen and probably will. Require condition three watch with liberal s rinklinv of G ' , F 11 b ' ' ip D Q s u attle dress with flak jackets. More dope as we go along, Will head north after UNREPJ' COMDESDIV 192 TO TURNER Jov 402143025 f'Tuesday dawned. The weather in the gulf turned bad. Thunder rumbled across the water. Sporadic storms churned waves, and the two U,S, Destroyers pitched and rolled. Despite the rough going, MADDOX radar late in the afternoon again detected the presence of distant company: Several tiny blips moved across the scope in tracks parallel those of the MADDOX and JOY. . . TIME QAugust l4, 19645 At 8:36 P,M, the combat information center on the MADDOX picked up three un- identified aircraft circling the area. With attack from the air also a possibility now, Skipper Ggier requested fighters again from the Ticonderoga to provide air cover for the MADDOX and the JQY. They arrived overhead at 9:08 P,M, but the bogies, apparently having picked up the approach of the carrier jets on their radar, had by then disappeared from the scene. The PT 's, however, remained on the MADDOX's radar. . .At 9:30 the radar showed several new blips. These were high-speed surface craft too, and they began to close on the destroyers at 50 knots, . . LIFE fAugust 14, l964p By 9:52 P,M,, both destroyers were under continuous torpedo attack. In the mountainous sea and swirling rain, no one knew how many PT boats were involved as they rose and fell in the wave troughs. The U,S, ships blazed out salvo after salvo of shells. Torpedos whipped by, some by only 100 feet from the destroyers' beams. A PT boat burst into flames and sank. More U.S. jets swooped in diving, strafing, flattening out at 500 feet, climbing, 'turning 90 degrees at 8,000 feet and diving again. . . NEWSWEEK fAugust 17, 19643 The night glowed eerily with the nightmarish glare of air-dropped flares and the boats' searchlights. For 3 lf2 hours the small boats attacked in pass after pass. Ten enemy torpedos sizzled through the water. Each time the skippers, tracking the fish by sonar, maneuvered to evade them. Gunfire and gun smells and shouts Stung the air Two of the enemy boats went down. Then at 1:30 A.M., the remaining PT boats ended the fight, roared off through the black night to the north. . . LIFE fAugust 14, 19647 3.1 ,