Nicholas (DDE 449) - Naval Cruise Book

Text from Pages 1 - 68 of the 1969 volume:

Oruaiea uxcwom c C1152 The Roadrunner 6' W uss Nicholas 40134499 Westpac Cru9ise 19 June - 18 December 1969 N On I4 SepTember I942, a sleek, Trim brand new desTroyer reporTed To Task Force 64 aT EspiriTu SanTo, in The New Hebrides. Her addiTion To The Pacific FIeeT's ship-sTarved escorT commander was keenly anTicipaTed, parTicuIarIy since she was The firsT in commission of The much heralded new FIeTcher class desTroyers from whom so much was ex- pecTed in The long bloody days ahead. Her name was,NICHOLAS and her ar4 rival ThaT day was The sTarT of a career ThaT would span TwenTy-seven years and Three wars and in company wiTh her sisTers who were soon To arrive, esTablish forever The legend of ver- saTiIiTy, self-sacrifice and indomiTable gaIIanTry ThaT were The FIeTcher class. The Thoughfsg ofi,ThaTiTla,sk Group Commanderxcon, T'haTTIong iagoI.'ISepTem- ber day arecnoT recorded, buT,'35as he waTched Tlfegship slice Through The Trop- ic sea anoiobserved The poeTryfo1S her graceful rrTovemenT, he musTrhave res- ponded asifcounTIess sailors were To respond down'Th,rough The years aT The sighT of one of These rnaTchIess war- My X: Zz ships aT home in her eIemenT. BUT grace and beauTy alone do noT win baTTles. No maTTer how graTifying NICHOLAS may have been To The ad- miral's eye, his ThoughTs were focused on The grim reaIiTies of The fighT ahead and uppermosT in his mind aT ThaT momenT was The viTaI role To be played by his new, unTried weapon and his concern wiTh her abiIiTy To do The job ThaT she had To if The Tenacious, power- ful enemy were To be overcome. In This The Admiral was To be soon reassured. NICHOLAS became involved almosT immediaTely in The brisk acTion of The area, quickly proving beyond all doubT ThaT beneaTh her comely exTerior lived The spiriT of an amazingly versaTile and deadly efficienT warship. The pages of her war diary resound wiTh names which evoke The drama of hisTory iTself -GUADALCANAL, SANTA CRUZ. CAPE ESPERANCE, KULA GULF, The GILBERT ISLANDS, The MARSHALL ISLANDS, KWAJALEIN, ENIWETOK. LEYTE GULF, LUZON, OKINAWA. For The nexT Three years The ship was all Things To all people, escorT, anTi-air- crafT plaTform, submarine chaser, mine sweeper, shore bombarder, Troop ship, supply ship, rescue ship, and above all, warship, The class of which NICHOLAS was The firsT To be commissioned proved a marvel of adapTabiliTy and dependabiliTy and esfablished a repuTa- Tion for endurance and versaTiliTy which consTiTuTes one of The shining pages of The hisTory of naval operaTions in World War II. NICHOLAS had unguesfionably ar- rived, and in The fullness of Time The ship aT lasT found iTself in Tokyo Bay- an honored wiTness To The awesome pageanfry of ThaT day of final vicTory, for which she and her sisTers had foughT so valianTly and well. The end of hosTiliTies however broughT wiTh iT an ineviTable reiecTion of war and iTs Tools, and America, in The pursuiT of peace shared by all who are free, seT abouT The disesTablishmenT of her mighTy armies and greaT fleeTs. OuT of fashion, NICHOLAS was ordered inTo premaTure reTiremenT in January, I9-47. FreTTing, no doubT, aT her unac- cusTomed immobiliTy, The ship ioined The oTher baTTle TesTed veTerans of The moThball fleeT and conTempIaTed a bleak fuTure. BuT she had noT long To endure This indigniTy. In l95O The peace born on The decks of The MISSOURI and so carefully nur- Tured in The hosTile aTmosphere of The rapidly developing cold war was ab- rupTly and bruTally murdered in The hills of Korea. Once again a reIucTanT America Took up The challenge and Turning To The ships she had so hope- fully puT aside only a few shorT years earlier The counTry prepared for war. Recommissioned in November, I95O as a Desfroyer EscorT and assigned To Pearl Harbor, NICHOLAS again re- Turned To The waTers of The WesTern Pacific. A veTeran To be sure, buT sTilI in her prime and as graceful as ever, The ship now faced her fuTure wiTh pride and confidence. Reestablishing the reputation of her class NICHOLAS undertook and success- fully accomplished a wide variety of missions in Korean waters. In the course of three deployments the ship was a vital component of Task Force 77 throughout the conflict and once again demonstrated her gunnery prowess in shore bombardment. Peace again found NICHOLAS busily engaged in the pursuit of her trade, but now there was no talk of retirement, no beating of swords into plow- shares. An awakened America, mindful- at last of the need for constant vigi- lance in an uncertain world, had need of her ships and NICHOLAS became a permanent resident of the islands of Hawaii. The years in the Pineapple Fleet succeeded one another quickly and bus- ily. Repeated WESTPAC deployments marked the passing of time and inter- spersed with the constant training and exercises were moments of crisis that underscore the need for such vigilance-Ouemoy, Matsu, Formosa Strait. NICHOLAS was beginning to show her years and like all females, she had to resort to surgery to maintain her youthful appearance. In i960 the ship under- went a complete modernization and emerged with a revised silhouette which reflected her new Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter IDASHD. Reiuvenated, the ship returned to Pearl Harbor and reioined the Fleet. But even a face lifting does not stay the hand of time, and in I962 this fact was brought uncomfort- ably home when she became the oldest destroyer in the Fleet and passed her twentieth birthday. Undismayed, however, she ignored the years and reas- serted her vigor by winning the coveted Battle E in I963. ln 1965 The Tires of vvar were again kindled-This Time in VieTnam-and NICHGLAS was again called upon To serve her counTry in Time of urgenT need. NICHOLAS, a liTTle older and wiser, again proved her worTh ThroughouT Tour deploymenTs To The waTers off VieTnam, providing viTal supporT To TasT aTTack carriers and, wiTh guns blazing, To forces ashore. On 19 June 1969 NICHOLAS seT ouT on whaT was To be her lasT deploymenT. On This deploymenT she was To sTeam over 37,000 nauTical miles, Tire over 4,700 rounds of five inch ammuniTion, spending 130 days aT sea againsT only 52 fwere There ThaT many'?1 in porT. We called aT Midway, Yokosuka, Sasebo, Suloic Bay, Kao Hsiung, Guam, and almosf aT Hong Kong. The purpose of This book is To provide a glimpse, in picTures and words, of This lasT cruise and The men who made iT. On The way 5 We sailed under watchful eyes L , 7 7 We sfood plane guard Going alongside , QQ' fy! ai if 'n Q X ' .Q 'lv 4 A rl, -..- ,.......-.n.-....a - , ,, , Re-fueling aT sea .......1.-.Q-........g......... , ,L K , Taking on stores '43 I I7 au.,-....-......z - - ' A A , ...H ' ' ' , , , ' Y A R' , -W x ' ' -in -ax' ' ,......--.--.-n Black smoke and vvhiTe wafer --'-1' ---- ..-.........,,......9...,,.,....,-... ...g:.4Ja,Q., P Y I9 Search and Rescue 2I A popular sight Visitors from Vietnam u- 'QV A ship needs guidance i and power To Turn The shafts 45 A-A N1-Mu .H of WR Y Life at sea was many Things ew, + WN -UN' ww f Some of Us put away our razors Tried . . . and grew beards, ofhers of Us W..-up I l I i 1 i 29 Diversions are The spice of life 01 6 A G seie sei s e The ship Took a few days off for repairs WQMV E b AbA .a i l . e e, ' 1-g ,.......1 i k ' . . .- A :Q - va sf J . .. , V v 5 f+:'i1,arg fl . , W ., , ,f 'x g3?',g.'f.,--'CQ ., A 3 ,ff-T'-9 ' .Ji -v'- 'f f ...ba :A3T,3g.rg f.,Z,,':,,.fig.i,gAJ 3 dv '?:.' A 'pg' r 'E 'X 5 kr 'rm U f ' - fl' f ' , 'I .,.- Q V333 .,,. .-V' - .- -'kk f4 SL 4r r 4 , ' 3 f if ...ep 1 'H ' ' 'W 1 . , - J, f fs-f w - ' . 1.5-gif , , , ,.,' - . , K 3 Q ., ,i , , '-'wgf-.5 .. vklk' 1 : sa t' - A, . X, 4-, l iVl-vfQ warn f i, K, . '-hh - ,,+ '- ' ' 'f' ' 1' X. ,.., '+ 1Al-9, ' X, ,Jf N k , ,- g-., - f K, f , A X xff- f:1.a1:5zg.f1 PM . 'W f Land was a welcome sight after weeks at sea 1 6- , ., - - i.,.:,....... ....+.4. ,.-4.,-.-...N-1..........,sa. . --f f --'-M '- Japan had much To offer - - 'tw J 1 5 Mi., , 7f7522:i,,T,.:7,,,,,,7.,i,N ...,, M f ' . yi , ' f ' V' .' . I ily TW ,,, My ..w......,....-.m..a..,, w..,. d MW, I - We had a party on Grande Island W 1 I 1 Y' 37 Kao Hsiung was a popular port 1 -v- W -.- Am -.U ' H-aah... 39 .fww 5 5 , K Q, W' .4-mu-.ww-.0 1 ,',, I -V yur:-e ,-. ,...... . -1-u.........Q.' .........+ ..,...,..... ,......... .ai QQJ wa 3' if In Kao Hsiung NICHOLAS sailors participated in The people-To-people program, discovering that being good will ambassadors wasn'T all that load Commonding Officer From The Commanding Officer As The lasT deploymenf To The VVesTern Pacific draws To a close I wanT To ex- press my appreciafion To and pride in each and every crew member The de- ploymenT has been a successful one One ThaT has encompassed every as- pecT of desTroyer operafions. From The Sea of Japan To The Taiwan STraiT To conducfed carrier plane guard opera- Tions- anTi-air anTi-surface anTi-sub- marine surveillance paTrols search and rescue paTrols and Naval gunfire sup- porT missions. The success ThaT NICHO- LAS has enioyed can be aTTribuTed To The hard work and Team efforT puT forTh by each man aboard. While NICHOLAS will shorTIy reTire To The coasT of Soufh VieTnamg NICHOLAS com J. B. Hurd, usN make way for newer, more modern ships, she leaves a legacy of perfor- mance and accomplishmenf ThaT will be difficulT To maTch. Each man aboard can proudly ioin The many hundreds of oThers who over The pasT 27 years have conTribuTed To The ouTsTanding record compiled by USS NICHOLAS IDD 4495. I I I as.sd gig f, vas 5 J fi I , s .T s Q xg if X Sq . , is 2 , , L f 5fQ.T,:, I N NN Executive Gfficer 2 , f if -W ,7 4? ,, ,gf , Z? ff W, ff f f 5 f ' ' v'!f'f'fff5 I' jay fff ., ' ff 3 V, LCDR W. L. S+ow, USN R A ,,,, , ., Department Hecids -f , ., . aff C ff' f X VG.:-L , V f fe - fy ,, W' . T T T T C . fr LT R. M. NORYS, USN '- L if Weapons Officer ,.,: 1 , e ', . uvll , .L ,.', 1 V, , , if eee,e, T LT D. J. SCOTT, USN Operations Officer LT A. J. COVITZ, USN Chief Engineer LTJG C. F. TAYLOR, SC, USN Supply Officer First Division , ,ww X , , .e , - ENS SIMONDS ENS ANGLIM BMC GAGNE BMI ELLIS BM2 GOBLE BM3 SOEFJE BM3 WOLFORD BM3 PRINCE BM3 DIBENEDETTO BMSN OLSON SN ALEXANDER SN BIONDI SN COWLES SN DOSSANTOS SA ESCARSEGA SA GEORGE SN GRATIAS SA GUAGLIARDO SN HILLEARY SN HUGHES SA JENSEN SA JOHNSON SA KINEST SN LOCKWOOD SA LUNDGREN SN MCKISSICK SN NQBLE SN O'NEILL SN POPKO SN WALLI SN WATKINS SN WHITE , 1 ary' Second Division ENS HELSEL GMGC TAYLOR FTGC FLANDERS GMGI RAMOS GMG3 CORBY FTG3 DAHL FTGSN FRY FTG3 GOSS GMG3 HAMNIITT FTGSN HAUGER SN LUCAS GMG3 MOYLE FTC-12 NAGLE GMG3 PHILLIPS SN PIERCE ' I I ,.,f fl 1- ,K A V U' X' aw . E - fx 45' Q 5 1. , .1 GMG3 TOPE SN WILSON' FTG2 POWERS FTG3 QUIRK GMG2 RABB FTGSN RANSOM FTGSN REED GMG3 SHAW A.S. Division LTJG ROBERSON STC RAMBER STG2 FULLER STG3 GODBEY TM3 JACK SN LINN SN MCMANUS SN MILLER STG2 OSBGURN TM3 ROBERTS TM3 SMITH STG2 WIDEMAN 5, , g i i H... ,.. ,,.,, , , Rh DASH Division ENS MORTENSEN 11 sw is S 5 ATN3 ARMINGTON EN2 BOTELLE ETR2 JONES SN PARENT! ADJ3 SHARPE 1 f, f N' y 7 f fi 'Q ai E ff yff J 2 ' 'i ' k J 1 S B Division r' W 1 ' if fi ENS KH-LEY BTC GARDNER B and M Division Officer BTi MANANTAN BTI PAVIN FN AILES FN ALLEN BT2 BENEDICT BT2 BUCKLEY FN CAULFIELD BT3 FLISS BTFN FOUTS BT3 GREENE BT2 HADLEY FN HAMMOND BT3 HATHAWAY BT3 HERNDON BT3 LUCAS FN MELSENHOLDER BTFN SHADWICK FN D..SMITH BT3 SOUTHWORTH FN WATSON FN KICKERY BT3 MILLER BT3 SHOOK FN WEBB BT2 LARSON BT2 MITCHELL BTFN SNEARY BT3 WOLFE M Division MMCS BUCKBEE MMI MMI MM3 MMC MOO R E CARTER FREEMAN MMI MARTIN MMI PUIG BARTOSH FN BLANSFIELD MM3 MM3 FN COPPEDGE FN DOLAN GARDER GRIMM FN HEBERT FA HOPKINS 'Nils 1 --.W4.,.' N 74 ,xml ' Qiw Q 7 ,W , 1 -4 FA KRATZER MM3 KROEGER MM3 LEMIEUX FN LINDAHL MM3 MANNING MM3 MORLAN MM3 MURRAY FN OLIVER FN PEDRIN MM3 PEMBLE MM3 ROBARDS FN B. SMITH MM3 STILLER FN VIEN FN WARREN MM3 WEAVER R Division i LTJG FALKENSTEIN SFC ZANDARSKI MMI DUNCAN ENI ROY MRI TURNER MM3 ANTONS FN COLE EN3 CROLICK FN DRESSEN FN GASTILLO DC2 KING SN LUNDIN DCFN MEREDITH DC2 NELSON FN PAGE FN SANDOLOWICH SFP2 SCHULTZ 41 E Division EMI CASTLE EMI EDDINS EM3 ALFONSO IC3 APITZ ENS CARSWELL EMCS HAUSER EM2 BALLARD FN BERKHEIMER IC3 GLANN EM3 HESTER EM3 LIUDAHL EM2 LOWE IC3 WATKINS O.C. Division LTJG GOODWIN LTJG MAULDIN ENS ZURCHER QMI HELLWEGE YN2 BOUDREAU I 'Dwi YNC SHEA RMC KAYLOR AND FRIEND SMI PROCTOR QM2 BREITWEISER SN BRESSLER SMI GUNTER QM3 BERRY YN3 BROWN RM3 DOSS I RM2 DRIGGERS PN2 GOTHARD SN KNUEPPEL SN SAUNDERS muQ 'lf- EASON QM3 ERICKSON SM2 FABELA SM2 FEGURGUR HAMBURG SM3 JESSEE SM2 KELLY RMSN KING .IVIATURI COCO'S RM3 PARBEL RM2 RANDALL SANCHEZ SN SHEEHAN RMSN SIMON PC3 WRIGHT O.I. Division 2? LTJG BROOKS ENS WISBERG HMC CARPENTER RDI MOORE RD3 BAPTIST RDI FUENTES RD3 BERGER RDSN CRIPE ETN2 CARVALHO RD3 ELMORE RDSA GALUSHA RD2 FISHER 60 ' , X X ETC JORDAN I , I RDSN HALL RD3 HENSEL RD2 HUNSBERGER ETR2 ETN2 ETR3 ETR3 INMA KINTNER LYDON SMITH SN TAYLOR ETN3 WELLS SN YAHN S Division in ,, V ' 5 ' -- LTJG TAYLOR SKC GRAY DKC MAGPAYO CSC HILL SDI MARIANO CST LAT TN ABULENCIA DK2 AHLES CS2 ALMAGUER SH3 BAKER TN COLLANTES SK3 ESCUDERO SK3 FARRELL SK2 BERGER L SKSA GALLAGHER SN HADDEN 62 CS2 HARTMAN TN MICU M,..,--,M SD3 LIZARONDO SH3 LOCH CS2 MORELOS DKSN NAKANO TN POTTER SD2 QUERIDO . X ,s 1 ' ,fmf VL! fy VVQA M 7 , .,,, , , I f If ' ,,,,fM:fm , T ig , I, Tr' 7 ir G '. 0 J , ff Z 46 A ,.,.G ,V 3 V? i' f X , f vu +L ff E 4 , V, My QV T 1 ' T if A' T 1 7 A flashy 1 1 1 LOPEZ PAINE RABULAN TINGLE SHL2 MEYER SN PALUMBO SN SNOW SN ZAWISZA In December of I969, TwenTy-seven years and Three monThs afTer she proudly sailed inTo EspiriTu SanTo in The full bloom of her youTh, NICHOLAS de- parTed The waTers of The WesTern Pacific for The lasT Time, her guns which so recenTly blazed aT The enemy were si- Ienced, never To fire again-yeT They re- main proud and foreboding, silenT mon- umenTs To TwenTy-seven years of dis- Tinguished service. On 30 January I97O NICHOLAS was puT To resT in a ceremony in Pearl Har- bor. If The spiriT of The NICHOLAS could speak on ThaT day she vvould have spoken of The men who served in her over The years, The men who made her The proud ship she was. She would Talk of baTTles foughT and won, of The his- Tory she made. BuT above all, she would Tell of anoTher ceremony which Took place in The same harbor TwenTy-six years before in January, I944. On her deck sTood The Commander in Chief of The UniTed STaTes Pacific FleeT, Admiral ChesTer NIMITZ, on ThaT day he pre- senTed To NICHOLAS The PresidenTial UniT CiTaTion she had earned in The BaT- Tle of Kula Gulf. The lasT senTence of ThaT ciTaTion expresses succincTly The Thoughfs of all who have known The ship over The years: The valorous achievemenTs of The NICHOLAS reflecT greaT crediT upon The UniTed STaTes Naval Service. CrediTs: EdiTor: LTJG C. F. TAYLOR AssisTanTs: MRS. C. F. TAYLOR ENS lvioRTENsEN Phvfvgraphy: me TAYLOR ArT: SN sl-IEEHAN COPY: YNc sHEA