Sterett (DLG 31) - Naval Cruise Book

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the Sea of Japan, service our country will not forget. Nor Will We, We have T he Tlzzim' STERETT KDLG-319 ima' The rest of our history we know-'we have made itl lt includes a record of success in missilery that is unsurpassed in the Pacific Fleet: it includes five awards for excellence, it includes friends made in Japan and elsewhere, unforgettable sights seen, experiences shared. It includes our long months of service in the Gulf of Tonkin and only to turn these pages to remember. And this is only the beginning. DLG-31 RECDRD July 68-Aug 70 135,000 Miles Steamed 147 Days on South SAR Station 91 Days on PIRAZ Station 69 Days on PARPRO Station 1900 Foreign Aircraft Tracked 3700 Intercepts controlled 25,000 Outgoing Messages 1150 Helo Landingsffakeoffs 92 UNREPS E 1

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Convoy duty in the South Pacific occupied STERETT for several months after the completion of the yard perigd, Then on the morning of 6 August 1943, STERETT and five sister destroyers surprised a group of four new Japanese destroyers headed for Kolombaranga with reinforcements for the troops there. In a devastating torpedo and gunnery assault, three enemy destroyers were sunk and the fourth driven off. By 1944 STERETT had joined the fast carrier task force of Vice Admiral MITSCHER for the preparatory raids on Japanese forces in the Marshall Islands and later participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. After duty in the Marianas Campaign the ship returned to Seattle for repairs. In December of 1944, however, STERETT was again ready to fight, escorting transports from Leyte to Mindoro in the Philip- pines. In one enemy air attack STERETT shot down five enemy aircraft and drove off others with a terrific barrage of antiaircraft fire. January, 1945, brought the campaign for the liberation of Luzon in the Philippines, and STERETT covered the landings in Lingayen Gulf as the first wave of troops hit the beach. STERETT went on to join the invasion of Okinawa in April, where the ship was attacked by five suicide planes. One of the enemy craft crashed into STERETT's starboard side at the waterline, knocking out all electric power and rupturing the forward fuel tanks. STERETT brought a large fire under control and restored casualties without loss of a single life throughout the fight. STERETT left Okinawa on 19 April 1945, bound for the United States, to repair the battle damage. Arriving at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on 17 May 1945, STERETT remained there until the end of the war. After a brief trip to Pearl Harbor, the ship set course for the Panama Canal, arriving in New York on 8 October 1945 for decommissioning. The second STERETT had seen more battles in six years than most ships see in twenty, The ship received twelve battle stars and earned a noteworthy place in naval history. STERETT's name was struck from the Navy list on 25 march 1947 and twenty years were to pass before the name STERETT would be reborn again, but the ship which would carry that name anew made the delay seem insignificant. Constructed by the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, in Bremerton, Washington, the third STERETT QDLG-315 was launched on 30 June 1964, under the sponsorship of Mrs. Paul NITZE, wife of the Secretary of the Navy. Commissioned on 8 April 1967, STERETT dwarfs its predecessors, measuring 547 feet overall and displacing 7900 tons. With a speed exceeding 30 knots, STERETT carries a com- plement of 22 officers and 373 enlisted men. Armed with a dual Terrier-ASRDC missile launcher for- ward, the ship's armament also includes a 5-inch 54 caliber rapid fire gun, two 3-inch guns and anti-sub- marine torpedoes. Advanced sensors enable STERETT to detect air, surface, and subsurface threats at standoff range where the ship's advanced weapons systems can counter such threats with rapid and deci- sive force. Following shakedown and fitting out STERETT's employment focused on preparations for our present deployment with the United States Seventh Fleet. i t fe 11 1 l 2 1 1 if 2 ll it 5 le 1 1 a 5 1. L i f . l. i. Q if i i i x I5 10.43-q,....,-as . l B Ii E F 3 ti il 1 . P K i ' 1 Y f K V l X r

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