Steinaker (DD 863) - Naval Cruise Book

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P 'Q AFTER COMMISSIONING IN MAY 1945, STEINAKER MADE HER INITIAL SHAKEDOWN CRUISE TO GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA. SHE THEN RETURNED TO NORFOLK AND UNDERWENT A PERIOD OF INTENSIVE TRAINING, INCLUDING TACTICAL AND ANTI-SUBMARINE TRAINING, ON THE ATLANTIC COAST. UNFORTUNATELY, STEINAKER CERTIFIED TOO LATE TO SEE ANY ACTION IN WORLD WAR II. BETWEEN THE FALL OF 1947 AND THE EARLY SUMMER OF 1952, STEINAKER PARTICIPATED IN FIVE EUROPEAN AND MEDITERRANEAN CRUISES. UPON COMPLETION OF THIS FIFTH DEPLOYMENT, SHE WAS PREPARED FOR DECOMMISSIONING AND CONVERSION TO A RADAR PICKET DESTROYER. SHE WAS DECOMMISSIONED ON 1 JULY 1952. ,wvA xxx, DURING THE OVERHAUL, STEINAKER WAS FITTED WITH THE LATEST EARLY WARNING RADAR FOR USE IN LONG- RANGE DETECTION OF AIRCRAFT. THE CONVERSION COMPLETED. THE STEINAKER WAS RECOMMISSIONED ON 23 FEBRUARY 1953 AT THE NOR- FOLK NAVAL SHIPYARD. AND DESIG- NATED DDR 711 CLASS. FOLLOWING SHAKEDOWN CRUISE TO GUANTANA- MO BAY, CUBA, STEINAKER COMPLET- ED ONE MEDITERRANEAN DEPLOY- MENT, AND VARIOUS TACTICAL AND TRAINING CRUISES IN THE WEST AT- LANTIC. ANOTHER SHORT YARD PERI- OD WAS COMPLETED DURING SUM- MER OF 1955, FOLLOWED BY A THIRD SHAKEDOWN CRUISE AT GITMO . A HEAVY OPERATIONAL SCHEDULE MARKED BY SIX MED DEPLOYMENTS AND THE REGULAR OVERHAULS OC- CURRED BETWEEN 1955 AND 1964.

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BY DAWNIS EARLY LIGHT , , I 'Hua MISSION or 'I'IIIf Iss STEINAKER 411118633 IS 'lu sl'vPcmR'r THE ug, SURFACF. I'II.I4I'FVIAI, WIIICH IS TO IfiNSURIi TIIIi FXPLOITATION OF THE SEAS IN ICJI5IE IiNSIi OID THE UNITED STATES. AI.I. ACTIVITIES ARE DIRECTED TOWARDS MAINTAINING OR INCREASING RIQLADINIZSS. AT THE SAME TIME, THF IIS. SURFACE FLEET IS A POWERI- UI, FORCE FOR PEACE BY GAINING FRIENDS FOR OUR COUNTRY AND INCREASING ITS PRESTIGE ABROAD. WITH THIS LONG-STANDING MIS- SION AN ESTABLISHED CONCEPT, USS STEINAKER CDD-8631 WAS BUILT BY THE BETHLEHEM STEEL COM- PANY IN STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK AND WAS COMMISSION ED ON 26 MAY 1945 AS A DD 692 SUMMER CLASS QLONG HULLJ DESTROYER. THE SHIP IS NAMED IN HONOR OF PFC DONALD BAUR STEINAKER, USMCR, WHO WAS KILLED AT THE AGE OF 20 DURING THE EARLY CAMPAIGN FOR GUADAL- CANAL. ON THE MORNING OF 8 OC- TOBER I942, PFC STEINAKER PARTICI- PATED IN A VIOLENT BATTLE AGAINST OVERWHELMING JAPA- NESE FORCES. HE REFUSED TO LEAVE HIS POSITION, AND DIED HEROICAL- LY DEFENDING IT. FOR THIS ACTION. PRIVATE STEINAKER WAS POSTHU- MOUSLY AWARDED THE NAVY CROSS. l...,v' inn... I---Us 1 ' i -iym 'rl 659121:-' ' 4, ' iz-I ., , I U' 1 2, -I ' ...ar

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THIS PERIOD WAS HIGHLIGHTED BY PARTICIPATIONS WITH THE U.S. MARINE CORPS LANDING IN LEBANON IN 1958, ALSO BEING DESIGNATED THE FLAGSHIP FOR DESTROYER SQUADRON 26 IN 1959. IN 1961, THE SHIP ASSISTED IN THE PROJECT MERCURY SPACE PROGRAM. STEINAKER RE-ENTERED THE YARDS IN 1963 FOR A COMPREHENSIVE AND COMPLEX OVERHAUL. STEINAKER WAS CONVERTED IN 1964 UNDER THE FLEET REHABILITATION AND MODERNIZATION CFRAM IJ PRO- GRAM. ONE OF THE THREE GUN MOUNTS WAS REMOVED, AND ADDED WERE SOPHISTICATED ANTI- SUBMARINE TORPEDO TUBES AND AN ANTI-SUBMARINE ROCKET CASROCJ MISSILE SYSTEM. ROUNDING OUT TH E NEW PACKAGE WAS STATE OF ART SUBMARINE DETECTION EQUIPMENT, CALLED THE AN-SOS 23 SONAR SUITE. THESE CAPABILITIES, COMBINED WITH THE MODERN AN-SQS I0 AND TWO 5 INCH 38 CALIBER GUN MOUNTS MADE STEINAKER ONE OF THE MOST VERSATILE SHIPS IN THE UNITED STATES FLEET. OPERATIONALLY, THE NEXT EIGHT YEARS PROVED TO BE A BUSY PERIOD AS STEINAKER COMPLETED SEVEN NORTH ATI.ANTICfMEDlTERRANEAN DEPLOYMENTS. SHE SAW ACTION IN THE RED SEA AND INDIAN OCEAN AS PART OF U. S. MIDDLE EAST FORCES DURING THE 1967 ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT, AND PARTICIPATED IN SUCCESSFUL OPERATIONS OFF THE COAST OF VIETNAM. ON I FEBRUARY 1973, AS SHE NEARED THE AGE OF 28, STEINAKER WAS ASSIGNED TO THE NAVAL RESERVE FORCE AND HOMEPORTED IN BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ADDING TO ITS MISSION THAT OF TRAINING READY RESERVE UNITS. SHE WAS INITIALLY ASSIGNED TO DESTROYER SQUADRON THIRTY, LATER TO SURFACE SQUADRON TWO, AND IS PRESENTLY ASSIGNED TO SURFACE GROUP FOUR. STEINAKER COMPLETED A FOURTEEN MONTH MAJOR OVERHAUL IN NOVEMBER 1979. HER OPERATING TEMPO SINCE THEN HAS KEPT HER AWAY FROM BALTIMORE 6596 OF THE TIME. THE SHIP WAS CERTIFIED TO EMPLOY ASROC AFTER A SUCCESSFUL TEST SHOT IN APRILXMAY 1980, CONCURRENT WITH SUCCESSFUL WSATfFORACS EXERCISES IN THE CARIBBEAN. THE SHIP COMPLETED REFTRA IN GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA AND ATTAINED NAVAL GUNFIRE SUPPORT CNGFSI QUALIFICATIONS WHAT SO PROUDLY WE HAILED ad' 0 5- ag.,-