Stribling (DD 867) - Naval Cruise Book

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,I - T5 'S 1 I is f l I QI V2 1. If li ii 3, I: if li 3: fl fi. la' l L l .lf il 'ii fi is ., ii . 12 1 In LJ 2 gl if E I I 2 I ll QI I 'I I 'I ' Ii I L li Q ...' 'SL li I 3' '13 145 1552? . jg .' El ,gi s 1 4 1 : V? S I fire suppe,-1 exercises qt Culebrq, the ship returned' to Mayport on 15 November 1971 to commence a series of Inspections designed to bpm STRIBLING to peak efficiency before her next MED deployment. The close of 1971 found STRIBLING in her homeport in Mayport, Florida, preparing once again to become a member of the U.S. Sixth Fleet. 1975 dawned on STRIBLING with a trip to Charleston, S.C. for a predeployment yard period. LANTREDEX EXERCISES in the Caribbean, followed by a brief port visit to San Juan, Pue,-fe Rico. On 27 March Stribling returned to Mayport for a standdown period prior to deployment. On the 25th of April, STRIBLING' was again underway for the Mediterranean, this being the 14th cruise to that portion of the world since her commissioning in 1945. STRIBLING arrived at Rota, Spain on the 4th of May for turnover and INCHOP. Upon completion of yard period Stribling participated in After departing Rota, the first stop was Naples, Italy for 10 days of liberty and upkeep. The 25th of May we were once again underway, this time for 'task force operations with the USS ROOSEVELT. In conjunction with these OPS, STRIBLING also began test for a new sonar target classifier system built by Applied Research Laboratories. On 7 June STRIBLING returned to Naples for a TAV period. Underway on the 9th of June, STRIBLING began operations with the USS ROOSEVELT, leading into a maior exercise. This exercise, DAWN PATROL, was a combined NATO exercise and included participants from the French, Italian, Spanish, and U.S. militaries. From the 28th of June thru the 8th of July, STRIBLING participated in the first BILATERAL OPS with the Tunisian Navy ship PRESIDENT BORGUIBA. These operations ended with a port visit to the city of Bizerte, Tunisia. Again STRIBLING returned to Naples, this time for 20 days. On the Ist of August, we were again underway. This was enroute to Taranto Italy for 4 days liberty. ' On the 10th of August, Operation National Week XVIII began with STRIBLING on the side of the orange forces, where she was very successful in her attacts against the blue force carriers. 19 thru 29 August saw a visit to the beautiful port of Palma, De Maiorca. From there she headed to Barcelona, Spain for another period of liberty. The 20th of September found STRIBLING at training anchorage at Port Scudo, Sardinia, where her motor whale boat took first place in a race against other boats in the task force. I .STRIBLINGS 30th. anniversary was celebrated on the 29th of September while inport Civitivecchia, Italy. The celebration was attended by officials of the host city. The Sth of October, STRIBLING reassumed her role as an orange force unit for National Week XIX. During this last maior exercise of the deployment, she again lived up to her reputation and inflicted extensive damage to the blue forces. October the 13th was a special day for STRIBLING and her crew, as it was time t OUTCHOP d h d h ft ' I ' where she continually showed that STRlBLING at 30 still excels . 0 X on eo ome G er SIX Ong months of opemhons T ei H ,n,! 4 uffrxx .-f-'fi Y' -' we-'f1rvI'l5.' 3 , ff ' ,sf ' F V 1 .-I .. I e fil- 7 ! I, ,, gs, ,.,,..

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On 29 September STRIBLING celebrated twenty-five continued years of commissioned service after coming down the ways in Staten Island, New York. lt was a celebration marked with messages from several high officials including the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Elmo R. ZUMWALT. STRIBLING continued her Eastern Mediter- . . , H ronean operations of patrol and rescue S I I 'fd destroyer until the night of 22 October when . . the watchword of all destroyers was heard on G the bridge: SONAR CONTACT . What fol- lowed was almost two days of evaluation, re-evaluation and most of all, waiting. Several times bits of evidence proved encouraging, but it was not until the night of the second day that our contact fully manifested itself. Shortly before 2000 the contact started to increase speed, and ultimately STRIBLING was involved in a high speed chase with speeds in excess of twenty-five knots. The submarine was definite- ly nuclear and STRIBLING had achieved the feat of holding it down for almost 48 hours! .QQ The month of November was filled with plane guard duties for the USS INDEPENDENCE lCVA-621 and port 'visits to Taranto and Naples, Italy, for a tender availability with the USS GRAND CANYON IAD-281. On 1 December it was underway for ASW operations in the area belwfef' SW , and Sardinia- 0Pe'0'l0n0' the usssnusunc mo-san underway on me comer florida. experiments with sonar Convergence Zone became the order of the day. STRlBLlNG's ASW team demonstrated such an outstanding proficiency and facility in Convergence Zone employment that Squadron Commodore, Captain Edward G. KELLEY, stated STRIBLING was SUPERB and conspiciously superior to all other units participating in the Convergence Zone operations. Additionally, on 5 December STRIBLING demonstrated firing an exercise ASROC for the French News Agency PATHET. This test firing was part of a multi-unit ASW demonstration involving ASW helos and surface ships. The devised scenario concluded reasonably well with all units getting off exercise shots for the cameras of the French press. Subsequently, STRIBLING proceeded to Barcelona, Spain for a port visit and then it was on to a new assignment with Task Force 61, the Amphibious arm of the Sixth Fleet. STRIBLING participated in a practice assault on Scuda Bay, Sardinia, performing the tasks of ASW screen ship and gun fire support. During this period STRIBLING also became involved in an evaluation of the utility of high speed PG craft in the Mediterranean. PG's DEFIANCE and SURPRISE assumed the role of high speed raiders on the task unit. Conversely, STRIBLING assumed this role with DEFIANCE and SURPRISE protecting the amphibious task force. It soon became evident the STRlBLlNG's superior radar and ECM tracking capabilities severely curtailed the PG's speed advantage. Following operations with Task 61, STRIBLING reioined the carrier INDEPENDENCE for transit to the Christmas ports of the French Riviera. STRIBLING was to spend Christmas and New Years in the port of Golfe Juan. The presence of a U.S. Navy task force spread out in various ports along the Riviera was reminiscence of days when relations with France were considerably more amiable. STRIBLING began 1971 enioying the holiday season at anchorage at Golfe Juan, on the French Riviera. The ship got underway 6 January for three weeks of operations with the amphibious Task Group. On 1 1 January the ship anchored in Aranci Bay, Sardinia, for a two week training anchorage. During the anchorage, ioint exercises and drills were conducted with amphibious units, and STRlBLlNG's landing party participated directly with Marine Units in squad and field tactics. On 23 January the ship, along with the amphibious units, got underway for a port visit in Mersin, Turkey. During the transit STRIBLING was once again doing her familiar iob of acting as a screen against submaries. On 29 January the ship moored in Mersin for a short visit and got underway again on 1 February for a two day transit to Athens, Greece. The ship's five days in Athens were busy. Besides the many tours available and all the historic sights to see, this was the ship's last port visit before an underway period of three weeks and the return transit to Mayport. All hands put forth great effort in preparing the ship for the trip home. STRIBLING got underway on 8 February and participated in National Week exercises from 10 - 18 February. On 21 February STRIBLING passed through the Straits of Gibraltar and steamed for home. STRIBLING crossed the Atlantic and arrived in Mayport on 1 March 1971 to commence a brief stand down period before entering Charleston Naval Shipyard on 27 April for a regular overhaul which lasted a little over four months. Her overhaul complete, STRIBLING departed Charleston on 5 September to transit to Mayport for a brief stay before leaving for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for modified refresher training. On 24 September, Commander Rollin L. BAUCHSPIES, Jr. relieved Commander Bruce A. BAUER andnassumed command of STRIBLING. STRIBLING arrived in GlTMO on 4 October. After extensive training, which included numerous engineering and damage control drills and gun

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