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USS Benjamin Stoddert (DDG-22)
Encyclopedia
USS Benjamin Stoddert (DDG-22), named for Benjamin Stoddert
(1751–1813), Secretary of the Navy from 1798 to 1801, was a Charles F. Adams-class
guided missile armed destroyer
in the United States Navy
.
She was laid down by the Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company
at Seattle in Washington on 11 June 1962, launched on 8 January 1963; sponsored by Mrs. Nancee Ravenel, a great, great, great, granddaughter of the Honorable Benjamin Stoddert; and commissioned at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
on 12 September 1964; Commander Walter Megginness in command.
to commence acceptance trials.
Since she was primarily designed to provide long-range antiaircraft cover for task forces at sea, Benjamin Stoddert conducted a two-month evaluation of her TARTAR antiaircraft missile system
, concluding with a test firing off Kauai, Hawaii
, in early February 1965. Other tests — including gunnery, torpedo
, and engineering exercises — helped the crew tie her antisubmarine, antiair, and communications gear into a single integrated system. In May, the warship entered the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for a two-month maintenance period. In July, Benjamin Stoddert’s crew took her through shakedown training, carrying out a variety of operational evolutions — from the complex tracking of aircraft and submarines, to underway refueling, down through the simple but important tasks of anchoring ship — under the watchful eyes of the Fleet Training Group, Pearl Harbor. Upon completing these exams, the warship officially joined the Pacific Fleet
in August 1965.
Assigned to Destroyer Division (DesDiv) 112, Benjamin Stoddert conducted local operations in Hawaiian waters through October, when she began preparations for her first tour of duty with 7th Fleet in the western Pacific. Underway with Hancock
(CV-19) in late November, she made a brief stop at Subic Bay
in the Philippines before proceeding to the South China Sea
for combat operations off Vietnam
.
Upon arrival at "Yankee Station
" on 16 December, Benjamin Stoddert joined Task Force (TF) 77 in support of Operation Rolling Thunder
. This naval air campaign, begun the previous March, was intended to interdict North Vietnam
's logistical pipeline through Laos
and across the demilitarized zone (DMZ
), cutting the flow of munitions and supplies to the Viet Cong in South Vietnam
. The surface Navy's companion campaign — Operation Sea Dragon
— supported this effort by targeting communist supply craft, shelling coastal batteries and radar sites, and bombarding coastal infiltration routes. Over the next six weeks, the guided-missile destroyer screened Hancock — providing antisubmarine and antiair protection for the carrier and carrying out planeguard services during flight operations. She also performed radar
control duties to assist strike and combat air patrol (CAP) aircraft returning to the carrier. On 4 and 5 January 1966, in a change of pace from earlier tasks, the guided-missile destroyer also fired her 5-inch guns against Viet Cong targets ashore.
Released from TF 77 on 22 January 1966, Benjamin Stoddert proceeded north, arriving at Yokosuka, Japan, on the 28th. The warship spent a week of alongside Isle Royale
(AD-29) to repair a broken steam blower before departing Japan on 6 February to return to the South China Sea. Six days later, the guided-missile destroyer resumed duty in TF 77 screening Hancock and remained so employed until setting out for the Philippines on 5 March. Benjamin Stoddert arrived at Subic Bay on the 7th for a five-day upkeep period alongside Ajax
(AR-6). She then sailed to Hong Kong on 12 March for six days of rest and recreation. The warship returned to the South China Sea and rejoined TF 77 late that month. During the next two weeks, the guided-missile destroyer conducted radar picket duty in the Gulf of Tonkin
before being relieved by Topeka
(CLG-8). Steaming to Subic Bay on the 12th, she then began preparing for a visit to Australia and New Zealand.
Departing Subic Bay on 17 April, Benjamin Stoddert crossed the equator north of the Admiralty Islands
and moored at Sydney, Australia
, on the 29th. Over the next three weeks, her crew took part in the annual "Coral Sea
Celebration" — in honor of the May 1942 Allied naval victory — and visited Sydney, Brisbane
, and Melbourne
in Australia as well as Wellington, New Zealand
. Underway for Hawaii on 22 May, the guided-missile destroyer arrived at Pearl Harbor, via Suva
in the Fiji
Islands, on 30 May.
Except for a brief trip to Honolulu, Benjamin Stoddert remained in port until 16 July when she put to sea to participate in the Gemini 10
capsule recovery operation. Then, from 25 July to 5 August, the warship conducted several antisubmarine exercises in Hawaiian waters. She returned to mid-ocean operations on 16 August to participate in the recovery of an unmanned Apollo capsule. After a fuel stop at Kwajalein
in the Marshalls on the 27th, the guided-missile destroyer returned to Pearl Harbor on 2 September. In addition to a limited availability alongside Prairie
(AD-15), the warship divided the remainder of the year between various service inspections and local operations out of Pearl Harbor.
These local operations — which included shore bombardment, carrier screening, and ASW exercises — continued into early 1967 as the crew prepared for another 7th Fleet deployment. During this time, her engineers and technicians busied themselves maintaining and improving the warship's complex electronic and fire-control systems, a task abetted by a two-week availability alongside Frontier
(AD-25) in mid-February.
After a final hull cleaning at Pearl Harbor in late March, Benjamin Stoddert got underway for the Far East on 6 April. The guided-missile destroyer crossed the central Pacific; and, after a short liberty at Yokosuka, Japan, the crew took the warship south to Subic Bay, arriving there on 23 April. Underway the following day, Benjamin Stoddert met Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) in the Gulf of Tonkin on the 27th. Later that same day, she joined Saint Paul
(CA-73) and Ault
(DD-698) for a "Sea Dragon" patrol; and the task unit prowled the North Vietnamese coast at the 19th parallel, searching for enemy waterborne logistics craft. Early on 5 May, the warships found two such craft, sinking one with gunfire and damaging the other. That afternoon, the trio carried out a preplanned bombardment mission off North Vietnam. This pattern — small-craft searches in the morning followed by shore bombardment missions later in the day — became the daily routine of Benjamin Stoddert’s later "Sea Dragon" patrols.
Following a diversion to Subic Bay on 7 May to fix a broken forced-draft blower, the guided-missile destroyer rejoined Bon Homme Richard on 16 May for 10 days of planeguard duty. Steaming on her second "Sea Dragon" patrol on the 26th, Benjamin Stoddert came under enemy fire for the first time later that day. A North Vietnamese coastal battery unexpectedly opened fire, forcing her to shift fire onto the battery, to commence weaving, and to clear the area. During this patrol, Benjamin Stoddert also rescued the pilot who parachuted from a stricken Air Force F4C "Phantom"
that crashed at sea on 30 May (the WSO was rescued by another ship) and provided gunfire protection during the helicopter rescue of an Air Force F-105 "Thunderchief"
pilot on 4 June. Returning to Bon Homme Richard the next day, the guided-missile destroyer alternated planeguard duties with "Sea Dragon" patrols through 12 July. At one point on 26 June, enemy counterbattery fire fell close enough to spray the ship with shell fragments, but the resulting damage was light and was quickly repaired. Next came a week of PIRAZ duty followed by four days of gunline operations, after which Benjamin Stoddert headed to Hong Kong
for a week of rest and recreation. After an upkeep period at Subic Bay, the guided-missile destroyer returned to "Yankee Station" on 9 August. Once again, she alternated between carrier planeguard services and gunline duties through the end of the month. A boiler tube failure on 4 September, however, forced the warship to proceed to Yokosuka for temporary repairs.
Departing Japan on the 21st, she arrived at Pearl Harbor on the 29th, and spent the remainder of the year undergoing boiler repairs, conducting post-deployment maintenance, and preparing for various service inspections. This routine was broken only by a few days of underway combat training with Jenkins
(DD-447) and Pickerel
(SS-524) in mid-December. On 20 December, the guided-missile destroyer fired two Tartar missiles at the hulk of the former Fessenden
(DE-142) about 50 miles (80.5 km) south of Oahu
. The old escort was damaged by one missile shot and was later sunk by combined gun and torpedo fire. It was during these exercises that the crew learned that Benjamin Stoddert had earned a meritorious unit commendation for the previous summer's combat operations in Southeast Asia.
The guided-missile destroyer continued local operations out of Hawaii until 5 March 1968 when she moved into the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard to begin a maintenance overhaul. Upon completion of these repairs on 29 August, the warship conducted four weeks of weapons system and sensor calibration tests. Departing Pearl Harbor on 1 October, Benjamin Stoddert steamed to San Diego, mooring there on the 7th. The next day, the warship began two weeks of training operations in the waters off southern California. Following a missile-firing exercise on the 24th, she put in to Redwood City, California
, for a port visit on 25 October. After departing there on the 29th, the warship returned home to Pearl Harbor on 2 November and spent the remainder of the year in port.
As part of her final post-overhaul refresher training, Benjamin Stoddert stood out of Pearl Harbor on 13 January 1969 for local operations with Enterprise
(CVAN-65) and Rogers
(DD-876). Early the next day, while she operated about nine miles (14 km) away, Benjamin Stoddert’s crew saw a plume of black smoke rise from the carrier. The guided-missile destroyer closed the smoking carrier — which had suffered a severe flight deck fire — to assist firefighting efforts and search for survivors. By late afternoon, she had recovered one body from the sea and set course for Pearl Harbor.
On 20 January, the guided-missile destroyer began tactical exercises in preparation for "STRIKEX 1-69," a fleet exercise to be held the following month. Underway from Pearl Harbor on 10 February, Benjamin Stoddert conducted two weeks of screening, antiair warfare, gunnery, and antisubmarine exercises off San Diego. After these successful maneuvers, she loaded 10 Standard and 24 Tartar missiles at the ammunition depot at Concord, Calif., and returned to Hawaii. There, she moored alongside Isle Royal (AD-29) in Pearl Harbor for three weeks of boiler tube repairs in preparation for another western Pacific deployment.
On 14 April, Benjamin Stoddert loaded a final pallet of 5-inch ammunition before steaming northwest toward Yokosuka. One day after a brief fuel stop at Midway Island, however, the warship suffered yet another boiler tube failure. This did not prevent regular operations; however, and the guided-missile destroyer arrived in Japan on the 24th. The next day, after North Korean fighters shot down a Navy EC-121 reconnaissance plane over the Sea of Japan
, Benjamin Stoddert put to sea for emergency operations in the Yellow Sea
. During the tense days that followed, the warship's duties included antiair early warning, carrier screening, and electronic intelligence gathering to pinpoint radar and other installations in the Shantung province of eastern China.
When the crisis abated in mid-May, Benjamin Stoddert turned south, visiting Singapore
and spending a day on "Yankee Station," before mooring at Subic Bay on 1 June. Fitted out with specialized reconnaissance equipment, the warship steamed to the Sea of Japan and relieved Dale
(DLG-19) as Pacific Area Reconnaissance Program (PARPRO) picket ship on 4 June. The guided-missile destroyer, aside from a few upkeep periods at Sasebo, collected intelligence off the Korean peninsula for the next eight weeks. She moored at Yokosuka on 8 August, unloaded the PARPRO equipment, and then set off south for combat operations on the 10th. After a week of liberty in Hong Kong, Benjamin Stoddert reported to the gunline off South Vietnam on 22 August. There, she carried out fire missions in the Chu Lai
area during the day and provided harassment and interdiction fire from Danang harbor during the night. During four weeks of operations, air and ground spotters directed her guns at enemy supply points, troop concentrations, rocket sites, and infiltration routes; and, by mid-September, she had fired over 5,000 5-inch rounds at these and other targets. To guard against enemy underwater swimmer attacks while at anchor in Danang harbor, Benjamin Stoddert’s crew assisted her marine sentries by frequently dropping concussion grenades in the water.
Departing Danang on the 18th, the warship steamed to Yokosuka for a second PARPRO cruise in the Sea of Japan. These duties included the difficult task of marshaling, routing, and refueling aircraft during large-scale intelligence gathering missions near North Korea. Relieved by Halsey
(DLG-23) in mid-October, Benjamin Stoddert unloaded her PARPRO equipment and sailed for Pearl Harbor on 19 October. During the transit, however, a typhoon moved across her track, forcing the warship to reverse course; and she did not arrive in Pearl Harbor until 1 November.
Tactical Underwater Range (BARSTUR). The warship conducted a second such training mission between 9 and 13 February, firing exercise rockets and torpedoes at underwater targets both times. In addition to putting to sea for routine training, she also did so to serve as standby ship for the Apollo 13
recovery mission. In May, Benjamin Stoddert conducted a very successful nuclear submarine detection and tracking exercise with Epperson
(DD-719), Knox (DE-1052), and Sargo
(SSN-583). At the end of a short availability alongside Bryce Canyon
(AD-36), the guided-missile destroyer passed her pre-deployment inspections in early June before joining the annual summer antisubmarine warfare exercise — conducted by American, Canadian, New Zealand, and Japanese warships — off Pearl Harbor at the end of the month. She followed up this exercise with a final tender availability in mid-July.
On 1 August, Benjamin Stoddert sailed for the western Pacific in company with Goldsborough
(DDG-20); and, after stopping for fuel at Midway and Guam
, the two warships arrived in Subic Bay on the 15th. Stoddert then moved on to "Yankee Station
" where she provided planeguard and screen services for Bon Homme Richard between 22 and 30 August. The guided-missile destroyer then headed south for Indonesia
, held "a rousing shellback initiation" when she crossed the Equator on 3 September and entered Surabaya
harbor for a goodwill visit on the 4th. Departing Java
on 7 September, Benjamin Stoddert traced a northerly course between Borneo
and Celebes
and arrived back at Subic Bay on the 11th.
Following a short upkeep period, the guided-missile destroyer headed for Danang and a tour on the northern search and rescue station (SAR) in the Gulf of Tonkin. Relieving (DLGN-25) on 17 September, Benjamin Stoddert provided continuous radar and communications services for barrier combat air patrol
(BARCAP) operations over the next 25 days. She then headed to Kaohsiung, Taiwan
, where her crew received four days of liberty. Over the next five weeks, Stoddert conducted two more patrols on the north SAR station, the second of which was interrupted by a small fire in the forward fireroom. Although damage was minimal, the warship sailed to Sasebo, Japan, for minor repairs alongside Hector
(AR-7). To make matters worse, she suffered another setback when a boiler pipe cracked on the return voyage, and she diverted to Subic Bay for repairs.
The warship finally returned to South Vietnam on the 13th, when she stood to on the gunline off Chu Lai. Once there, the warship settled into a pattern of sporadic call-fire missions during the day and night harassment and interdiction fire after dark. Over the next two weeks, her gun crews fired 2,200 rounds at targets ashore. Sailing for Hong Kong on 29 December, Benjamin Stoddert’s crew closed the year with liberty in that city. Underway again on 5 January 1971, the guided-missile destroyer commenced a final three days of lifeguard duty on "Yankee Station" before sailing for home on the 15th. After stops at Taiwan, Guam, and Midway, she finally returned to Pearl Harbor on 5 February.
Following preparations for a second shipyard overhaul — during which time Benjamin Stoddert was reassigned to Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 33 — she entered the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard on 17 May. The warship received improvements to her missile and gun systems, and much-needed repairs to her hull, sonar dome, and engineering spaces. With shipyard work completed on 17 September, the crew began refresher training on 13 October. In the evening of 29 October, however, a fire broke out in sonar control in the forward part of the warship. In the darkness and heavy rain, it took damage control teams and the shipyard fire department just over four hours to extinguish the blaze. The crew then spent the next six weeks helping shipyard workers repair the fire damage and get the warship's ASW systems back in battery. It was not until 13 January 1972 that Stoddert could begin a two months of refresher training and other local operations.
The warship finally got underway for deployment on 25 March, arriving in Subic Bay via Midway and Guam on 7 April. The next day, she sailed for the Tonkin Gulf and commenced gunline operations upon arrival off Vietnam on the 10th. She joined other 7th Fleet units in heavy attacks against North Vietnamese military units pushing south along the coast, firing numerous bombardment missions against enemy troops and tanks advancing towards Hue. Four days later, Benjamin Stoddert joined Task Unit (TU) 77.1.0 for Operation "Freedom Train" — a series of strikes against enemy forces and their logistical infrastructure in North Vietnam.
After rearming from ammunition ships Pyro
(AE-24) and Haleakala
(AE-25) early on 17 April, Benjamin Stoddert joined Oklahoma City
(CLG-5) for a raid on Vinh
, North Vietnam. As the warships closed the port, Stoddert’s electronic warfare unit registered signals from an enemy fire-control radar, followed almost immediately by the launch of two surface-to-surface missiles. Fortunately, both of the missiles missed her; one burst 50 yards to starboard while the other exploded well astern. When enemy gunfire started falling close aboard, including several air bursts that sprayed shell fragments near the warship, Benjamin Stoddert returned double salvos commencing an inconclusive gun duel that lasted about 13 minutes.
Over the next week, the guided-missile destroyer continued strikes against coastal targets, including daily bombardments of the shore as far north as Thanh Hoa
. North Vietnamese shore batteries repeatedly took her under fire and finally scored on 23 April when a shell struck Benjamin Stoddert forward in the windlass room. Although put out quickly, the resulting fire destroyed the medical storeroom and the degaussing cable. Returning to gunline duty shortly thereafter, Stoddert steered south and provided defensive fire for South Vietnamese (ARVN) forces ashore — at one point firing 1,009 rounds in a 24-hour period.
After a two-week repair and refitting period at Subic Bay between 12 and 26 May, she reentered the Tonkin Gulf on the 29th for more missions against the enemy's coastal logistics pipeline. Once American mines shut down the major North Vietnamese harbors, many Chinese communist merchant ships sought refuge in strategic lagoons and inlets whence their cargoes were ferried ashore. One of the guided-missile destroyer's missions was to search out and destroy the small ferry craft and any nearby supply caches. On the night of 10 and 11 June, Benjamin Stoddert closed one such merchant ship, firing on several small craft trying to make a run for shore. When she hit one, and its crew abandoned ship; Stoddert sent a boarding party to inspect the sampan. The craft — loaded with seven tons of rice — was later sunk by 5-inch gun and machinegun fire.
Resuming gunline operations on the 14th, the warship fired at enemy troop formations attacking ARVN troops, helping to stall and then repulse this communist thrust into South Vietnam. During one such mission, at 09:10 on 26 June, the forward 5-inch mount suffered a misfire which left a live round hung up in the barrel. Sadly efforts to extract the live shell failed when it exploded, killing two sailors outright and mortally wounding two others. The blast also heavily damaged the gun mount and nearby living spaces. Departing immediately for Subic Bay, the guided-missile destroyer spent the next month in port, replacing the wrecked gun mount and repairing other damage.
Arriving back in the Tonkin Gulf on 30 July, Benjamin Stoddert spent the next three weeks conducting fire missions with TU 70.8.9 off North Vietnam. At this point, South Vietnamese forces had taken Quang Tri
City, driving North Vietnamese forces back toward the DMZ; and the naval campaign against the North began to wind down. Coincidentally, Stoddert’s deployment drew to a close at about the same time, and she headed for home on 27 September, mooring in Pearl Harbor on 6 October after a quick transit. Three days later, she entered the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for a much needed 30-day standdown.
Benjamin Stoddert remained in the Hawaiian area for the next seven months, conducting routine training operations in preparation for her next 7th Fleet deployment. During this time, a cease-fire agreement was signed
in Paris on 27 January 1973, and American forces in South Vietnam began to withdraw. Underway for the Far East on 14 May, Stoddert stopped at Yokosuka, Japan, and Kaohsiung, Taiwan, before finally arriving off South Vietnam on 9 June. With combat operations over, the warship helped enforce the terms of the cease fire while on PIRAZ and antiair warfare picket duty in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Following liberty at Hong Kong in early August and two weeks of repairs at Subic Bay, Benjamin Stoddert received orders to sail for the Gulf of Thailand in response to a domestic crisis in Thailand
. She arrived in the gulf on 29 August and operated for three days with Task Group (TG) 76.4, the contingency force assembled in case Americans had to be evacuated from Thailand. Once the crisis eased, Stoddert returned to the Gulf of Tonkin. Arriving on station on 11 September, the guided-missile destroyer spent the next six weeks patrolling off Vietnam. Her only diversion came in mid-October, when the warship conducted antisubmarine tactical training in the Subic Bay operating area. Then, on 30 October while steaming near Singapore to avoid a typhoon in the Gulf of Tonkin, she suffered a boiler breakdown which forced her back to Subic Bay.
Following three weeks of repairs, the warship sailed for Hawaii, arriving in Pearl Harbor, via Guam and Midway, on 7 December. Upon her return home, the guided-missile destroyer was greeted by a shrinking defense budget, lack of spare parts, and a shortage of fuel oil — the latter caused by the October 1973 Arab oil embargo
— all of which cut back the operating tempo of the Pacific Fleet's surface ships. In response, the Navy concentrated on improving overall operational readiness, a routine markedly different from previous training which had concentrated on preparing warships for combat operations off Vietnam. Benjamin Stoddert spent the first three months of 1974 participating in a series of fleet-wide inspections and maintenance programs. She remained in the Pearl Harbor area through October, engaged in extensive propulsion repairs, improving her maintenance procedures, and conducting a few local training operations.
On 2 November, Benjamin Stoddert got underway for her sixth deployment to the Far East. After a stop at Midway to refuel, the guided-missile destroyer arrived at Yokosuka on the 12th. After putting to sea four days later, she conducted ASW operations with Sailfish (SS-572) near Okinawa before sailing for Jinhae
, South Korea. Arriving at that port on 25 November, the warship then participated in a three-day antisubmarine operation called Exercise "Tae Kwon Do IV." After a two-week repair stop at Yokosuka in early December and a holiday port visit to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, she ended the year at Subic Bay.
In response to the growing Soviet Navy presence in the Indian Ocean, several American warships received orders to "show the flag" in the region. On 7 January 1975, Benjamin Stoddert got underway for the Indian Ocean in company with Enterprise. The warships conducted four weeks of training operations at sea before visiting Mombasa
, Kenya, between 5 and 9 February. The task force sailed back to the Pacific in mid-February and arrived at Subic Bay on the 28th.
After four weeks of liberty and repairs, the warship was placed on 48-hour alert following the success of the North Vietnamese "Easter" offensive in South Vietnam. Two days later, on 5 April, the guided-missile destroyer sailed for Vung Tau
, South Vietnam. Over the next two weeks, she cruised offshore with an amphibious ready group (ARG) and covered three Military Sealift Command
(MSC) ships sent to the Vung Tau area on the 23d for evacuation duty. Soon the situation worsened, and the departure of Americans and South Vietnamese from Saigon began on 29 April. The guided-missile destroyer covered helicopter and boat lifts of refugees in the Vung Tau area. Then, on 3 May, she sailed to the location of a sinking South Vietnamese naval ship and rescued 19 people, including one woman and four children. Later that same day, the warship took on another 158 refugees picked up by a Korean fishing vessel.
With the end of the evacuation after the fall of Saigon, Benjamin Stoddert sailed for Hawaii on 9 May, arriving at Pearl Harbor, via Guam and Midway, on the 21st. The warship spent the summer conducting local operations and preparing for a regular overhaul, which she began at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard on 1 October. Shifted out of drydock on 6 February 1976, she conducted a long series of full-power runs and sea trials before finishing her 10-month overhaul on 17 August. The crew then spent the remainder of the year conducting training evolutions, various inspections, and helicopter flight deck certifications. On 17 February 1977, the guided-missile destroyer got underway for "RIMPAC 77," a multinational naval exercise held in the Hawaiian Islands.
After finishing this exercise on 1 March, she sailed west for her first western Pacific cruise in almost two years. The end of the Vietnam War two years earlier meant that the guided-missile destroyer conducted different operations than during her previous deployments to the Far East. Instead of antiair or gunline combat operations aimed at the North Vietnamese, the warship concentrated on training to counter the threat of Soviet nuclear-powered submarines and guided-missile warships to the western Pacific region. After a stop in the Philippines in late March, Benjamin Stoddert steamed for Okinawa on 1 April and thence to the waters off Japan and South Korea for a series of exercises. She carried out an ASW exercise against Barb
(SSN-596) on 6 April, a "war-at-sea" exercise with Coral Sea on the 20th, and another ASW drill with Sailfish on 5 May before returning to Subic Bay on the 17th. Over the next eight weeks, Stoddert trained in Philippine waters, practicing underway replenishment and other drills. On 6 July, she escorted Coral Sea north to Okinawa, and then participated in "MissileEx 4-77" before putting in to Pusan, South Korea, on the 20th. After a week of liberty, she joined elements of the South Korean Navy for ASW exercise "Tae Kwon Do" on 30 July. The guided-missile destroyer then steamed south, stopping at Hong Kong in mid-August before returning to Subic Bay on the 21st.
For her trip home, which began on 6 September, Benjamin Stoddert detoured south, crossing the equator on the 10th, and mooring at Fremantle, Australia, on 17 September. Following a five-day port visit, the warship sailed on to Melbourne, Australia, and to Dunedin
, New Zealand, before arriving at Pago Pago, American Samoa
, on 14 September. Underway the next day, the warship visited Western Samoa before proceeding on to Hawaii, to arrive in Pearl Harbor on the 22d. She spent the remainder of the year engaged in post-deployment leave and upkeep. Starting on 9 January 1978, Stoddert began eight months of local operations in Hawaiian waters. These evolutions included several firings on the Pacific Missile Range, highlighted by the successful shootdown of two MQM 74C drones by RIM 66A Standard missiles on 29 July.
Following a series of inspections and ship surveys, the warship got underway for the South Pacific on 22 September. After crossing the equator on the 28th, Benjamin Stoddert anchored at Funafuti, Tuvalu
, on 29 September. The next day, she fired a 21-gun salute in recognition of that country's independence. Proceeding westward on 2 October, the warship stopped at Suva, Fiji Islands, on the 4th; visited Cairns, Australia, on 10 October; and rendezvoused with Constellation
(CV-64) south of Guam on the 21st. Delayed by the need to evade a typhoon near the Philippines, the warships did not put into Subic Bay until 30 October. Over the next seven weeks, Stoddert conducted operations similar to those of her most recent deployment. Attached to the Midway
(CV-41) task group, she provided screen services to the carrier as the task group cruised as far south as Pattaya
, Thailand, and as far north as Kyūshū
, Japan. After arriving at the latter place on 22 December, she ended the year moored at the Naval Ordnance Facility, Sasebo.
Shifting to Yokosuka on 7 January 1979, the warship received four weeks of repairs there at the Naval Ship Repair Facility. Benjamin Stoddert then steamed to Okinawa on 10 February to participate in an antiair warfare exercise called "BuzzardEx 1-79." Moving on to Subic Bay, the guided-missile destroyer provided planeguard services for Constellation
(CV-64) through the end of the month. Departing Philippine waters on 7 March, the warship returned to Pearl Harbor on the 19th to begin a seven-week maintenance availability.
s on the Pacific missile range. The warship then conducted training and other local operations out of Pearl Harbor through the summer and into the fall. On 19 October, she set out for San Francisco, arriving there on the 29th. After a week of liberty, the guided-missile destroyer cruised south to San Diego, mooring at the naval station on 6 November. Benjamin Stoddert then participated in Exercise "ReadiEx 1-82", the highlight of which was a missile firing exercise held on 23 November. Steaming to Hawaii the next day, she moored alongside Jason
(AR-8) in Pearl Harbor on 1 December for voyage repairs.
On 22 February 1982, Benjamin Stoddert departed Hawaii for her ninth western Pacific cruise. After a brief stop at Guam on 6 March, she proceeded on to the Philippines. While enroute to Subic Bay, the warship conducted both antisubmarine and antiair warfare exercises, an underway routine she would continue throughout this deployment. Following a week in Subic Bay, the guided-missile destroyer steamed to Korea and, between 28 and 30 March, participated in amphibious Exercise "Team Spirit 82." She then sailed between Hong Kong, Subic Bay, and Yokosuka before anchoring in Shimoda-ko, Japan, on 15 May. In the latter port, she took part in the Black Ship Festival, commemorating Commodore Matthew C. Perry's opening of Japan to foreign trade in 1854. Benjamin Stoddert returned to Subic Bay on the 24th.
Leaving the Philippines on 2 June, the guided-missile destroyer sailed to Sattahip, Thailand, anchoring there on the 6th. That same day, tension between the Soviet Union and the West increased after Israel
invaded Lebanon
. International friction notwithstanding, the warship joined the previously scheduled exercise "Cobra Gold 82" in the Gulf of Thailand on the 7th. Her participation included naval gunfire support for an amphibious landing exercise and ASW operations with three Royal Thai Navy warships. Still, heightened Cold War
tension intruded when, just before midnight on 8 June, Aneroid — a Soviet intelligence gathering trawler — fired an illumination flare over Thai ship HTMS Khirirat.
Departing Pattaya, Thailand, on 19 June, Benjamin Stoddert, guided-missile cruiser Sterett
(CG-31), and two other destroyers passed into the South China Sea on their way to Subic Bay. The next evening, Soviet aircraft — presumably from bases in Vietnam — began shadowing the American warships. At around 22:00, a Soviet aircraft dropped 16 flares over Turner Joy
(DD-951). A few minutes later, Lynde McCormick
(DDG-8) received .30-caliber machinegun fire from an unidentified ship in the vicinity. The warship responded in kind, deliberately aiming high; and the foreign ship ceased fire. Although tension remained high the rest of the night, no other incidents occurred; and the warships arrived at Subic Bay on 23 June. After that, however, Stoddert passed her remaining five weeks in the western Pacific without incident; and, following two "war-at-sea" exercises in the waters off Japan, she steamed for home on 6 August.
Mooring at Pearl Harbor on 12 August, the warship spent the rest of the year doing maintenance work on her boilers and standing several regular safety and readiness inspections. During the first three weeks of 1983, Benjamin Stoddert prepared for a joint Navy-Air Force exercise in the Hawaiian Islands. This refresher training included helicopter operations, naval gunfire support, damage control drills, and antisubmarine systems' tests. The highlight of Exercise "MidPacTraEx," held between 31 January and 3 February, was a defensive ASW operation with Harold E. Holt
(FF-1074) and Willamette
(AO-180). Later that month, she served as "surface deep dive safety ship" for Sargo
(SSN-583).
In a scenery shift from her familiar operational zone, the guided-missile destroyer sailed from Pearl Harbor to the southern California operating area on 31 March. There, she conducted a "war at sea" exercise with DesRon 17 in early April. The warship then joined Ranger
(CV-61) and operated with her battle group along the west coasts of California and Central America for the next four weeks. These evolutions were intended, in part, to demonstrate American resolve in checking the spread of communism in Central America.
Returning to Pearl Harbor on 25 May, the guided-missile destroyer remained in port for the next eight weeks. Between 21 and 24 July, the warship took part in a joint ASW exercise with Sample
(FF-1048), Cochrane
(DDG-21), Harold E. Holt, and three Japanese warships before getting ready to deploy overseas once more. On 26 August, Benjamin Stoddert put to sea with Ranger’s battle group and steered for the Philippines, arriving in Subic Bay on 14 September. Earlier in the year, and partly in response to the outbreak of the Iran–Iraq War in 1980, the United States had established Central Command
(CentCom) in the western reaches of the Indian Ocean to protect American security interests in the Middle East; and Ranger’s group received orders to patrol the northern portion of the Arabian Sea
in support of CentCom's mission.
Departing Subic Bay on 26 September, the battle group set course for the Strait of Malacca
. The unit's transit of the South China Sea was interrupted on the 30th, however, when Benjamin Stoddert rescued 39 Vietnamese refugees from their sinking boat, an act that later brought her the Humanitarian Service Medal
. Once the refugees had been passed along, the group continued on south and west, passing through the Strait of Malacca and entering the Indian Ocean on 4 October. Linking up with a British force built around , the warships sailed northwest and arrived on station in the Arabian Sea on 12 October. Stoddert remained in the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf through the end of the year, helping to assure Western access to oil and countering the spread of Soviet influence in the region. During this period, she paid two visits to El Masirah, Oman
, and called at Karachi
, Pakistan.
On 15 January 1984, the American task group turned east for the long voyage back to Hawaii. After stops in Singapore and Subic Bay, Benjamin Stoddert moored in Pearl Harbor on 22 February. Six days later, she entered the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for a major equipment overhaul. During the ensuing 15-month shipyard period, the guided-missile destroyer received new radar and fire-control systems, the navy tactical data system
(NTDS), the integrated automatic detection and tracking system (IADTS) and a modernized steam engineering plant. In addition to her combat systems' overhaul, she had her antiship capabilities enhanced by the installation of Harpoon missile launchers. Completing the overhaul on 9 July 1985, Stoddert occupied the rest of the year with a series of local operations and inspections. These ranged from a joint ASW exercise with Australian and New Zealand warships at sea to the more mundane propulsion plant and ordnance safety inspections while in port.
The warship's first exercise in the new year took place between 23 and 28 January 1986. Benjamin Stoddert operated as part of an "enemy" surface and submarine force that "attacked" the Enterprise battle group. Two more individual ship exercises followed in February. Then, after a command inspection in late March and a nuclear weapons certification inspection in early April, Stoddert got underway for "RimPac 86", an international naval exercise held in Hawaiian waters between 21 May and 12 June. As a unit of the "Blue Force," she served as communications link ship with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force warships involved in the maneuvers. The guided-missile destroyer also covered a SEAL
team insertion and extraction mission during the exercise.
After five more months of local training operations and other preparatory tasks, Benjamin Stoddert finally got underway for another Middle East deployment on 28 November. Steaming in company with Hepburn
(FF-1055) and Mahlon S. Tisdale
(FFG-27), she first sailed to the Philippines. After a week of upkeep at Subic Bay, Stoddert set out south on 21 December, stopping at Singapore on the 25th before passing the Strait of Malacca on the 26th and ending the year with a fuel stop at Colombo
, Sri Lanka
. The guided-missile destroyer continued on to the Middle East in the new year and relieved Goldsborough on station in the Persian Gulf on 6 January. Although Iranian and Iraqi attacks on neutral tankers had begun to increase in early 1987, no firm American policy regarding this "tanker war" had yet been established. This limited Stoddert’s mission, therefore, to surveillance operations against Iranian forces, especially "Silkworm" missile
sites in the Strait of Hormuz
, and to the provision of communications and other data links to friendly aircraft in the region.
Relieved by Waddell
(DDG-24) on 4 April after three months on station, the warship steamed toward home, passing into the Indian Ocean and stopping at Colombo on the 9th to refuel. Following port visits to Phuket
, Thailand, between 13 and 16 April and at Hong Kong between 23 and 27 April, the guided-missile destroyer moored at Pearl Harbor on 9 May. After a four-week leave and upkeep standdown, Benjamin Stoddert resumed the familiar routine. This included various weapons and supply inspections, equipment alterations in the shipyard, and training ashore for crew members. In addition, the warship participated in a joint Navy-Coast Guard exercise in late June, took part in ASW drills in mid-August, and served as ready duty destroyer during the month of September. She then began a phased maintenance availability at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard on 26 October.
With the repairs and upgrades to her engineering plant finished on 9 February 1988, Benjamin Stoddert began preparing for an upcoming fleet exercise. The warship set out for San Diego on 15 March, completing a transit exercise — including service as the target for simulated attacks by two attack submarines — before mooring in San Diego harbor on the 31st. On 8 April, she put to sea for "FleetEx 88-2", a carrier battle group exercise held off southern California, in which Stoddert’s crew took "revenge" for the transit exercise by successfully engaging a target submarine with an exercise torpedo. Later, she joined the Carl Vinson
(CVN-70) battle group and, in simulated air attacks, shot down three target drones with as many Standard SM-1 missiles. After more than two weeks of intensive training, the warship sailed for home, arriving in Pearl Harbor on 30 April.
Although originally scheduled for an overseas deployment in June, the warship delayed her departure until September so she could join the Nimitz (CVN-68) battle group. Her crew spent the summer testing new maintenance procedures, passing safety inspections, and taking the warship to sea for exercises such as the combined American, Australian, Canadian, and Japanese "RimPac 88" battle problems held between 7 and 17 July. Finally embarking on her deployment on 20 September, the warship joined Waddell, Hepburn, Barbey
(FF-1088), Kiska (AE-35), and Willamette
(AO-180) in Battle Group "Bravo" for the voyage west to the Persian Gulf. After a stop at Subic Bay between 7 and 11 October, the group conducted a few days of gunnery practice at the Tabones range in the Philippines before sailing to Hong Kong for liberty. Departing the British Crown Colony on the 20th, the battle group headed south, navigated the Malacca Strait, and passed into the Indian Ocean. From there, the warships took up station in the northern part of the Arabian Sea on 30 October.
Although the "tanker war" in the Persian Gulf had ended on 20 August with the cease-fire between Iran and Iraq, American warships still patrolled the region, replacing tanker-escort duty with general "zone defense." Benjamin Stoddert remained in the Arabian Sea for the first 10 days of this mission before receiving a brief availability alongside Prairie at the Masirah anchorage between 10 and 16 November. From there, she moved to the Strait of Hormuz and relieved Antietam
(CG-54) as patrol ship there. Turning over that patrol station to California
(CGN-36) on 2 December, the warship returned to the Arabian Sea for another 10 days with Battle Group "Bravo". After 56 days at sea, the crew displayed palpable relief when the guided-missile destroyer put into Abu Dhabi
for a three-day port visit on 14 December. While returning to her unit on the 18th, Stoddert provided medical assistance to three injured crew members of the British merchant vessel British Trident. Shortly thereafter, the group sailed east, passing through the Malacca Strait and anchoring at Singapore on 31 December.
Following a six-day port visit, the group steamed back into the Indian Ocean for a quick drop south of the equator on 9 January 1989 before returning through the Strait of Malacca on the 19th. The warships then steamed north into the South China Sea for four days of ASW exercises with units of the Royal Thai Navy
, followed by a three-day visit to Pattaya Beach, Thailand. Benjamin Stoddert then sailed independently for Subic Bay, arriving there on 1 February to begin a week-long upkeep and maintenance availability dedicated to main propulsion plant repairs. Departing the Philippines on 8 February, Stoddert steamed across the Pacific and moored in Pearl Harbor on 21 February.
At the end of a four-week post-deployment standdown, the guided-missile destroyer began preparations for a series of engineering and general survey inspections set for late spring. Those inspections ended late in June, and July passed relatively slowly, marked by an overnight "tiger cruise
" for crew dependents on the 18th, and a port visit to Hilo, Hawaii, between 19 and 25 July. A week after that, Benjamin Stoddert departed Pearl Harbor for two weeks of law enforcement operations with the United States Coast Guard
. The warship used her surface search radars and other equipment to spot small craft, which were then boarded by Coast Guard detachments
in search of drug smugglers. Back in port on 11 August, Stoddert spent the next week training submarine prospective commanding officers.
Back in Pearl Harbor on 12 May, Benjamin Stoddert did not leave Hawaii until 18 June when she set out for Central America and another Coast Guard law enforcement deployment. The warship began patrol operations off Baja California
on the 27th and remained there — save for a single port visit to San Diego — through 11 August. After rendezvousing with Badger
(FF-1071) and Kawishiwi (AO-146), the guided-missile destroyer sailed south for a drug interdiction patrol off Panama. These operations continued until 11 September, when the warship put into Rodman, Panama
— the first landfall for the crew after 47 days at sea. Departing Panama on the 14th, the guided-missile destroyer returned to her patrol station, remaining there until 29 September when she was relieved by Waddell. Instead of sailing northwest for home, however, Stoddert passed through the Panama Canal on 3 October, entered the Caribbean Sea
— the first and only arm of the Atlantic Ocean
to wash her hull — and pulled into Willemstad
, Curaçao
, on the 6th. After a five-day port visit, she turned west for her transit home, arriving in Pearl Harbor on 29 October. The guided-missile destroyer spent the rest of the year in port undergoing routine inspections and maintenance.
Benjamin Stoddert began her last year in service with a surface warfare exercise in late January 1991, and her crew remained busy with training through the end of March. Departing Hawaii on 3 April, the warship cruised in southern California waters for the next five weeks, conducting antisubmarine warfare (ASW) drills and naval gunfire practice off San Clemente in addition to readiness training with the Abraham Lincoln
(CVN-72) battle group. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 15 May.
Following a series of inspections in June, the warship remained in port — save for a few days of local operations — as the crew prepared her for inactivation. On 3 September, the guided-missile destroyer began pre-inactivation procedures and unloaded all her fuel and ammunition. Benjamin Stoddert was decommissioned at Pearl Harbor on 20 December 1991, and her name was struck from the Navy list on 20 November 1992. On 7 September 1995, she was transferred to the Maritime Administration and was berthed with its National Defense Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay
, Calif., to await disposal. On 3 February 2001, while under to tow to Brownsville, Texas
, for scrapping, the old guided missile destroyer took on water and sank in the Pacific.
Benjamin Stoddert
Benjamin Stoddert was the first United States Secretary of the Navy from May 1, 1798 to March 31, 1801.-Early life:...
(1751–1813), Secretary of the Navy from 1798 to 1801, was a Charles F. Adams-class
Charles F. Adams class destroyer
The Charles F. Adams class is a ship class of 29 guided missile destroyers built between 1958 and 1967. Twenty three ships were built for the United States Navy, 3 for the Royal Australian Navy, and 3 for the West German Bundesmarine. The ships were based on the existing Forrest Sherman class, but...
guided missile armed destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
.
She was laid down by the Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company
Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company
Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company , was a shipyard in Seattle, Washington on Harbor Island at the mouth of the Duwamish River. Founded in 1898 as the Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company, the company that built Harbor Island, it was purchased by Lockheed in 1959...
at Seattle in Washington on 11 June 1962, launched on 8 January 1963; sponsored by Mrs. Nancee Ravenel, a great, great, great, granddaughter of the Honorable Benjamin Stoddert; and commissioned at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington...
on 12 September 1964; Commander Walter Megginness in command.
1960s
Over the next six weeks, Benjamin Stoddert fitted out at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, preparing for a series of weapon, sensor, and communication system tests. The guided-missile destroyer departed Bremerton for the first time on 7 November and, after brief stops at San Francisco and San Diego, arrived at Pearl HarborPearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
to commence acceptance trials.
Since she was primarily designed to provide long-range antiaircraft cover for task forces at sea, Benjamin Stoddert conducted a two-month evaluation of her TARTAR antiaircraft missile system
Tartar Guided Missile Fire Control System
The Tartar Guided Missile Fire Control System is an air defense system developed by the United States Navy to defend warships from air attack. Since its introduction the system has been improved and sold to several United States allies.-Description:...
, concluding with a test firing off Kauai, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, in early February 1965. Other tests — including gunnery, torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
, and engineering exercises — helped the crew tie her antisubmarine, antiair, and communications gear into a single integrated system. In May, the warship entered the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for a two-month maintenance period. In July, Benjamin Stoddert’s crew took her through shakedown training, carrying out a variety of operational evolutions — from the complex tracking of aircraft and submarines, to underway refueling, down through the simple but important tasks of anchoring ship — under the watchful eyes of the Fleet Training Group, Pearl Harbor. Upon completing these exams, the warship officially joined the Pacific Fleet
United States Pacific Fleet
The United States Pacific Fleet is a Pacific Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources under the operational control of the United States Pacific Command. Its home port is at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii. It is commanded by Admiral Patrick M...
in August 1965.
Assigned to Destroyer Division (DesDiv) 112, Benjamin Stoddert conducted local operations in Hawaiian waters through October, when she began preparations for her first tour of duty with 7th Fleet in the western Pacific. Underway with Hancock
USS Hancock (CV-19)
USS Hancock was one of 24 s built during World War II for the United States Navy. The ship was the fourth US Navy ship to bear the name, and was named for John Hancock, president of the Second Continental Congress and first governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts...
(CV-19) in late November, she made a brief stop at Subic Bay
U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay
U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay was a major ship-repair, supply, and rest and recreation facility of the United States Navy located in Zambales, Philippines. It was the largest U.S...
in the Philippines before proceeding to the South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...
for combat operations off Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
.
Upon arrival at "Yankee Station
Yankee Station
Yankee Station was a point in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of Vietnam used by the U.S. Navy aircraft carriers of Task Force 77 to launch strikes in the Vietnam War. While its official designation was "Point Yankee," it was universally referred to as Yankee Station...
" on 16 December, Benjamin Stoddert joined Task Force (TF) 77 in support of Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder
Operation Rolling Thunder was the title of a gradual and sustained US 2nd Air Division , US Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force aerial bombardment campaign conducted against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam from 2 March 1965 until 1 November 1968, during the Vietnam War.The four objectives...
. This naval air campaign, begun the previous March, was intended to interdict North Vietnam
North Vietnam
The Democratic Republic of Vietnam , was a communist state that ruled the northern half of Vietnam from 1954 until 1976 following the Geneva Conference and laid claim to all of Vietnam from 1945 to 1954 during the First Indochina War, during which they controlled pockets of territory throughout...
's logistical pipeline through Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
and across the demilitarized zone (DMZ
Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone
The Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone was established as a dividing line between North and South Vietnam as a result of the First Indochina War.During the Second Indochina War , it became important as the battleground demarcation separating North Vietnamese territory from South Vietnamese territory.-...
), cutting the flow of munitions and supplies to the Viet Cong in South Vietnam
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
. The surface Navy's companion campaign — Operation Sea Dragon
Operation Sea Dragon (Vietnam War)
Operation Sea Dragon occurred during the Vietnam War and was a series of American led naval operations beginning in 1966 to interdict sea lines of communications and supply going south from North Vietnam to South Vietnam, and to destroy land targets with naval gunfire, as well give CIA agents in...
— supported this effort by targeting communist supply craft, shelling coastal batteries and radar sites, and bombarding coastal infiltration routes. Over the next six weeks, the guided-missile destroyer screened Hancock — providing antisubmarine and antiair protection for the carrier and carrying out planeguard services during flight operations. She also performed radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
control duties to assist strike and combat air patrol (CAP) aircraft returning to the carrier. On 4 and 5 January 1966, in a change of pace from earlier tasks, the guided-missile destroyer also fired her 5-inch guns against Viet Cong targets ashore.
Released from TF 77 on 22 January 1966, Benjamin Stoddert proceeded north, arriving at Yokosuka, Japan, on the 28th. The warship spent a week of alongside Isle Royale
USS Isle Royale (AD-29)
USS Isle Royale was a named for an island of the Great Lakes.Isle Royale was launched by Todd Pacific Shipyards, Inc. of Seattle, Washington on 19 September 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Greer A. Duncan; and delivered to the Navy on 2 July 1946 for layup in the San Diego Reserve Fleet...
(AD-29) to repair a broken steam blower before departing Japan on 6 February to return to the South China Sea. Six days later, the guided-missile destroyer resumed duty in TF 77 screening Hancock and remained so employed until setting out for the Philippines on 5 March. Benjamin Stoddert arrived at Subic Bay on the 7th for a five-day upkeep period alongside Ajax
USS Ajax (AR-6)
USS Ajax was the second Vulcan-class repair ship and the fourth ship in the United States Navy to bear the name.-1941-1945:Ajax was laid down on 7 May 1941 at San Pedro, California, by the Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Drydock Corp., launched on 22 August 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Isaac C. Johnson...
(AR-6). She then sailed to Hong Kong on 12 March for six days of rest and recreation. The warship returned to the South China Sea and rejoined TF 77 late that month. During the next two weeks, the guided-missile destroyer conducted radar picket duty in the Gulf of Tonkin
Gulf of Tonkin
The Gulf of Tonkin is an arm of the South China Sea, lying off the coast of northeastern Vietnam.-Etymology:The name Tonkin, written "東京" in Hán tự and Đông Kinh in romanised Vietnamese, means "Eastern Capital", and is the former toponym for Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam...
before being relieved by Topeka
USS Topeka (CL-67)
USS Topeka , a Cleveland-class light cruiser was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named after the city of Topeka, Kansas.-Construction and Commissioning:...
(CLG-8). Steaming to Subic Bay on the 12th, she then began preparing for a visit to Australia and New Zealand.
Departing Subic Bay on 17 April, Benjamin Stoddert crossed the equator north of the Admiralty Islands
Admiralty Islands
The Admiralty Islands are a group of eighteen islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the south Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-covered islands form part of Manus Province, the smallest and...
and moored at Sydney, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, on the 29th. Over the next three weeks, her crew took part in the annual "Coral Sea
Coral Sea
The Coral Sea is a marginal sea off the northeast coast of Australia. It is bounded in the west by the east coast of Queensland, thereby including the Great Barrier Reef, in the east by Vanuatu and by New Caledonia, and in the north approximately by the southern extremity of the Solomon Islands...
Celebration" — in honor of the May 1942 Allied naval victory — and visited Sydney, Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, and Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
in Australia as well as Wellington, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. Underway for Hawaii on 22 May, the guided-missile destroyer arrived at Pearl Harbor, via Suva
Suva
Suva features a tropical rainforest climate under the Koppen climate classification. The city sees a copious amount of precipitation during the course of the year. Suva averages 3,000 mm of precipitation annually with its driest month, July averaging 125 mm of rain per year. In fact,...
in the Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
Islands, on 30 May.
Except for a brief trip to Honolulu, Benjamin Stoddert remained in port until 16 July when she put to sea to participate in the Gemini 10
Gemini 10
-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 28.87°*Period: 88.79 min-Docking:*Docked: July 19, 1966 - 04:15:00 UTC*Undocked: July 20, 1966 - 19:00:00 UTC-Space walk:...
capsule recovery operation. Then, from 25 July to 5 August, the warship conducted several antisubmarine exercises in Hawaiian waters. She returned to mid-ocean operations on 16 August to participate in the recovery of an unmanned Apollo capsule. After a fuel stop at Kwajalein
Kwajalein
Kwajalein Atoll , is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands . The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island. English-speaking residents of the U.S...
in the Marshalls on the 27th, the guided-missile destroyer returned to Pearl Harbor on 2 September. In addition to a limited availability alongside Prairie
USS Prairie (AD-15)
USS Prairie was a built just before the start of World War II for the U.S. Navy. Prior to U.S. entry into World War II, Prairie cruised between Atlantic ports from Colon, C.Z. to Argentia, Newfoundland...
(AD-15), the warship divided the remainder of the year between various service inspections and local operations out of Pearl Harbor.
These local operations — which included shore bombardment, carrier screening, and ASW exercises — continued into early 1967 as the crew prepared for another 7th Fleet deployment. During this time, her engineers and technicians busied themselves maintaining and improving the warship's complex electronic and fire-control systems, a task abetted by a two-week availability alongside Frontier
USS Frontier (AD-25)
USS Frontier was one of four Klondike class destroyer tenders built at the tail end of World War II for the United States Navy....
(AD-25) in mid-February.
After a final hull cleaning at Pearl Harbor in late March, Benjamin Stoddert got underway for the Far East on 6 April. The guided-missile destroyer crossed the central Pacific; and, after a short liberty at Yokosuka, Japan, the crew took the warship south to Subic Bay, arriving there on 23 April. Underway the following day, Benjamin Stoddert met Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) in the Gulf of Tonkin on the 27th. Later that same day, she joined Saint Paul
USS Saint Paul (CA-73)
USS Saint Paul , a Baltimore-class cruiser, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for St. Paul, Minnesota....
(CA-73) and Ault
USS Ault (DD-698)
USS Ault was an in the United States Navy. She was named for Commander William B. Ault, air group commander aboard . Commander Ault was declared missing in action on 8 May 1942 after leading an air attack in the Battle of the Coral Sea and was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his action in...
(DD-698) for a "Sea Dragon" patrol; and the task unit prowled the North Vietnamese coast at the 19th parallel, searching for enemy waterborne logistics craft. Early on 5 May, the warships found two such craft, sinking one with gunfire and damaging the other. That afternoon, the trio carried out a preplanned bombardment mission off North Vietnam. This pattern — small-craft searches in the morning followed by shore bombardment missions later in the day — became the daily routine of Benjamin Stoddert’s later "Sea Dragon" patrols.
Following a diversion to Subic Bay on 7 May to fix a broken forced-draft blower, the guided-missile destroyer rejoined Bon Homme Richard on 16 May for 10 days of planeguard duty. Steaming on her second "Sea Dragon" patrol on the 26th, Benjamin Stoddert came under enemy fire for the first time later that day. A North Vietnamese coastal battery unexpectedly opened fire, forcing her to shift fire onto the battery, to commence weaving, and to clear the area. During this patrol, Benjamin Stoddert also rescued the pilot who parachuted from a stricken Air Force F4C "Phantom"
F-4 Phantom II
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the United States Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. It first entered service in 1960 with the U.S. Navy. Proving highly adaptable,...
that crashed at sea on 30 May (the WSO was rescued by another ship) and provided gunfire protection during the helicopter rescue of an Air Force F-105 "Thunderchief"
F-105 Thunderchief
The Republic F-105 Thunderchief, was a supersonic fighter-bomber used by the United States Air Force. The Mach 2 capable F-105 conducted the majority of strike bombing missions during the early years of the Vietnam War; it has the dubious distinction of being the only US aircraft to have been...
pilot on 4 June. Returning to Bon Homme Richard the next day, the guided-missile destroyer alternated planeguard duties with "Sea Dragon" patrols through 12 July. At one point on 26 June, enemy counterbattery fire fell close enough to spray the ship with shell fragments, but the resulting damage was light and was quickly repaired. Next came a week of PIRAZ duty followed by four days of gunline operations, after which Benjamin Stoddert headed to Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
for a week of rest and recreation. After an upkeep period at Subic Bay, the guided-missile destroyer returned to "Yankee Station" on 9 August. Once again, she alternated between carrier planeguard services and gunline duties through the end of the month. A boiler tube failure on 4 September, however, forced the warship to proceed to Yokosuka for temporary repairs.
Departing Japan on the 21st, she arrived at Pearl Harbor on the 29th, and spent the remainder of the year undergoing boiler repairs, conducting post-deployment maintenance, and preparing for various service inspections. This routine was broken only by a few days of underway combat training with Jenkins
USS Jenkins (DD-447)
USS Jenkins was a World War II-era in the service of the United States Navy, the second ship named after Rear Admiral Thornton A. Jenkins....
(DD-447) and Pickerel
USS Pickerel (SS-524)
USS Pickerel , a Tench-class submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for a young or small pike. The contract to build her was awarded to the Boston Naval Shipyard and her keel was laid down on 8 February 1944. She was launched without a christening ceremony on 15...
(SS-524) in mid-December. On 20 December, the guided-missile destroyer fired two Tartar missiles at the hulk of the former Fessenden
USS Fessenden (DE-142)
USS Fessenden was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.She was named in honor of Reginald Aubrey...
(DE-142) about 50 miles (80.5 km) south of Oahu
Oahu
Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...
. The old escort was damaged by one missile shot and was later sunk by combined gun and torpedo fire. It was during these exercises that the crew learned that Benjamin Stoddert had earned a meritorious unit commendation for the previous summer's combat operations in Southeast Asia.
The guided-missile destroyer continued local operations out of Hawaii until 5 March 1968 when she moved into the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard to begin a maintenance overhaul. Upon completion of these repairs on 29 August, the warship conducted four weeks of weapons system and sensor calibration tests. Departing Pearl Harbor on 1 October, Benjamin Stoddert steamed to San Diego, mooring there on the 7th. The next day, the warship began two weeks of training operations in the waters off southern California. Following a missile-firing exercise on the 24th, she put in to Redwood City, California
Redwood City, California
Redwood City is a California charter city located on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California, approximately 27 miles south of San Francisco, and 24 miles north of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans from its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people, to its tradition as a port for...
, for a port visit on 25 October. After departing there on the 29th, the warship returned home to Pearl Harbor on 2 November and spent the remainder of the year in port.
As part of her final post-overhaul refresher training, Benjamin Stoddert stood out of Pearl Harbor on 13 January 1969 for local operations with Enterprise
USS Enterprise (CVN-65)
USS Enterprise , formerly CVA-65, is the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and the eighth US naval vessel to bear the name. Like her predecessor of World War II fame, she is nicknamed the "Big E". At , she is the longest naval vessel in the world...
(CVAN-65) and Rogers
USS Rogers (DD-876)
USS Rogers was a of the United States Navy. She was named for three brothers — Jack E. Rogers Jr., Charles E. Rogers, and Edwin K...
(DD-876). Early the next day, while she operated about nine miles (14 km) away, Benjamin Stoddert’s crew saw a plume of black smoke rise from the carrier. The guided-missile destroyer closed the smoking carrier — which had suffered a severe flight deck fire — to assist firefighting efforts and search for survivors. By late afternoon, she had recovered one body from the sea and set course for Pearl Harbor.
On 20 January, the guided-missile destroyer began tactical exercises in preparation for "STRIKEX 1-69," a fleet exercise to be held the following month. Underway from Pearl Harbor on 10 February, Benjamin Stoddert conducted two weeks of screening, antiair warfare, gunnery, and antisubmarine exercises off San Diego. After these successful maneuvers, she loaded 10 Standard and 24 Tartar missiles at the ammunition depot at Concord, Calif., and returned to Hawaii. There, she moored alongside Isle Royal (AD-29) in Pearl Harbor for three weeks of boiler tube repairs in preparation for another western Pacific deployment.
On 14 April, Benjamin Stoddert loaded a final pallet of 5-inch ammunition before steaming northwest toward Yokosuka. One day after a brief fuel stop at Midway Island, however, the warship suffered yet another boiler tube failure. This did not prevent regular operations; however, and the guided-missile destroyer arrived in Japan on the 24th. The next day, after North Korean fighters shot down a Navy EC-121 reconnaissance plane over the Sea of Japan
Sea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...
, Benjamin Stoddert put to sea for emergency operations in the Yellow Sea
Yellow Sea
The Yellow Sea is the name given to the northern part of the East China Sea, which is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It is located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula. Its name comes from the sand particles from Gobi Desert sand storms that turn the surface of the water golden...
. During the tense days that followed, the warship's duties included antiair early warning, carrier screening, and electronic intelligence gathering to pinpoint radar and other installations in the Shantung province of eastern China.
When the crisis abated in mid-May, Benjamin Stoddert turned south, visiting Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and spending a day on "Yankee Station," before mooring at Subic Bay on 1 June. Fitted out with specialized reconnaissance equipment, the warship steamed to the Sea of Japan and relieved Dale
USS Dale (DLG-19)
USS Dale was a United States Navy 5670-ton Leahy class cruiser. Dale was named in honor of Commodore Richard Dale .-History:...
(DLG-19) as Pacific Area Reconnaissance Program (PARPRO) picket ship on 4 June. The guided-missile destroyer, aside from a few upkeep periods at Sasebo, collected intelligence off the Korean peninsula for the next eight weeks. She moored at Yokosuka on 8 August, unloaded the PARPRO equipment, and then set off south for combat operations on the 10th. After a week of liberty in Hong Kong, Benjamin Stoddert reported to the gunline off South Vietnam on 22 August. There, she carried out fire missions in the Chu Lai
Chu Lai
Chu Lai is a sea port, urban and industrial area in Dung Quat Bay, Núi Thành district, Quang Nam province of Vietnam. The city is served by Chu Lai Airport.-Vietnam War:...
area during the day and provided harassment and interdiction fire from Danang harbor during the night. During four weeks of operations, air and ground spotters directed her guns at enemy supply points, troop concentrations, rocket sites, and infiltration routes; and, by mid-September, she had fired over 5,000 5-inch rounds at these and other targets. To guard against enemy underwater swimmer attacks while at anchor in Danang harbor, Benjamin Stoddert’s crew assisted her marine sentries by frequently dropping concussion grenades in the water.
Departing Danang on the 18th, the warship steamed to Yokosuka for a second PARPRO cruise in the Sea of Japan. These duties included the difficult task of marshaling, routing, and refueling aircraft during large-scale intelligence gathering missions near North Korea. Relieved by Halsey
USS Halsey (DLG-23)
The first USS Halsey , a Leahy-class guided missile cruiser, was a ship of the United States Navy named in honor of Fleet Admiral William Halsey...
(DLG-23) in mid-October, Benjamin Stoddert unloaded her PARPRO equipment and sailed for Pearl Harbor on 19 October. During the transit, however, a typhoon moved across her track, forcing the warship to reverse course; and she did not arrive in Pearl Harbor until 1 November.
1970s
The guided-missile destroyer remained in port until 12 January 1970, when she got underway for a three-day exercise at the Barking SandsBarking Sands
Barking Sands is a beach on the island of Kauaʻi in the US state of Hawaiʻi. It is the location of Pacific Missile Range Facility, a rocket launch site and also an official Missile Defense Testing Area, both controlled by the United States Navy....
Tactical Underwater Range (BARSTUR). The warship conducted a second such training mission between 9 and 13 February, firing exercise rockets and torpedoes at underwater targets both times. In addition to putting to sea for routine training, she also did so to serve as standby ship for the Apollo 13
Apollo 13
Apollo 13 was the seventh manned mission in the American Apollo space program and the third intended to land on the Moon. The craft was launched on April 11, 1970, at 13:13 CST. The landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded two days later, crippling the service module upon which the Command...
recovery mission. In May, Benjamin Stoddert conducted a very successful nuclear submarine detection and tracking exercise with Epperson
USS Epperson (DD-719)
USS Epperson was a of the United States Navy, named for United States Marine Corps Private Harold G. Epperson , who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in the Battle of Saipan....
(DD-719), Knox (DE-1052), and Sargo
USS Sargo (SSN-583)
USS Sargo , a Skate-class nuclear-powered submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the sargo, a food and game fish of the porgy family, inhabiting coastal waters of the southern United States....
(SSN-583). At the end of a short availability alongside Bryce Canyon
USS Bryce Canyon (AD-36)
USS Bryce Canyon was a , the only ship to be named for the Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah.Bryce Canyon was launched 7 March 1946 by Charleston Navy Yard and sponsored by Mrs. William J. Carter, wife of Rear Admiral Carter. Little additional work was done on her until after the outbreak of the...
(AD-36), the guided-missile destroyer passed her pre-deployment inspections in early June before joining the annual summer antisubmarine warfare exercise — conducted by American, Canadian, New Zealand, and Japanese warships — off Pearl Harbor at the end of the month. She followed up this exercise with a final tender availability in mid-July.
On 1 August, Benjamin Stoddert sailed for the western Pacific in company with Goldsborough
USS Goldsborough (DDG-20)
USS Goldsborough , named for Rear Admiral Louis M. Goldsborough USN , was a Charles F. Adams-class guided missile armed destroyer....
(DDG-20); and, after stopping for fuel at Midway and Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, the two warships arrived in Subic Bay on the 15th. Stoddert then moved on to "Yankee Station
Yankee Station
Yankee Station was a point in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of Vietnam used by the U.S. Navy aircraft carriers of Task Force 77 to launch strikes in the Vietnam War. While its official designation was "Point Yankee," it was universally referred to as Yankee Station...
" where she provided planeguard and screen services for Bon Homme Richard between 22 and 30 August. The guided-missile destroyer then headed south for Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, held "a rousing shellback initiation" when she crossed the Equator on 3 September and entered Surabaya
Surabaya
Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million , and the capital of the province of East Java...
harbor for a goodwill visit on the 4th. Departing Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
on 7 September, Benjamin Stoddert traced a northerly course between Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
and Celebes
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
and arrived back at Subic Bay on the 11th.
Following a short upkeep period, the guided-missile destroyer headed for Danang and a tour on the northern search and rescue station (SAR) in the Gulf of Tonkin. Relieving (DLGN-25) on 17 September, Benjamin Stoddert provided continuous radar and communications services for barrier combat air patrol
Combat air patrol
Combat air patrol is a type of flying mission for fighter aircraft.A combat air patrol is an aircraft patrol provided over an objective area, over the force protected, over the critical area of a combat zone, or over an air defense area, for the purpose of intercepting and destroying hostile...
(BARCAP) operations over the next 25 days. She then headed to Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, where her crew received four days of liberty. Over the next five weeks, Stoddert conducted two more patrols on the north SAR station, the second of which was interrupted by a small fire in the forward fireroom. Although damage was minimal, the warship sailed to Sasebo, Japan, for minor repairs alongside Hector
USS Hector (AR-7)
The USS Hector was a repair ship that served in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1987.-World War II:Hector was launched 11 November 1942 by the Los Angeles Shipbuilding & Drydock Company and sponsored by Mrs. Schuyler F. Helm. Hector was commissioned 7 February 1944, with Commander J. W...
(AR-7). To make matters worse, she suffered another setback when a boiler pipe cracked on the return voyage, and she diverted to Subic Bay for repairs.
The warship finally returned to South Vietnam on the 13th, when she stood to on the gunline off Chu Lai. Once there, the warship settled into a pattern of sporadic call-fire missions during the day and night harassment and interdiction fire after dark. Over the next two weeks, her gun crews fired 2,200 rounds at targets ashore. Sailing for Hong Kong on 29 December, Benjamin Stoddert’s crew closed the year with liberty in that city. Underway again on 5 January 1971, the guided-missile destroyer commenced a final three days of lifeguard duty on "Yankee Station" before sailing for home on the 15th. After stops at Taiwan, Guam, and Midway, she finally returned to Pearl Harbor on 5 February.
Following preparations for a second shipyard overhaul — during which time Benjamin Stoddert was reassigned to Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 33 — she entered the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard on 17 May. The warship received improvements to her missile and gun systems, and much-needed repairs to her hull, sonar dome, and engineering spaces. With shipyard work completed on 17 September, the crew began refresher training on 13 October. In the evening of 29 October, however, a fire broke out in sonar control in the forward part of the warship. In the darkness and heavy rain, it took damage control teams and the shipyard fire department just over four hours to extinguish the blaze. The crew then spent the next six weeks helping shipyard workers repair the fire damage and get the warship's ASW systems back in battery. It was not until 13 January 1972 that Stoddert could begin a two months of refresher training and other local operations.
The warship finally got underway for deployment on 25 March, arriving in Subic Bay via Midway and Guam on 7 April. The next day, she sailed for the Tonkin Gulf and commenced gunline operations upon arrival off Vietnam on the 10th. She joined other 7th Fleet units in heavy attacks against North Vietnamese military units pushing south along the coast, firing numerous bombardment missions against enemy troops and tanks advancing towards Hue. Four days later, Benjamin Stoddert joined Task Unit (TU) 77.1.0 for Operation "Freedom Train" — a series of strikes against enemy forces and their logistical infrastructure in North Vietnam.
After rearming from ammunition ships Pyro
USS Pyro (AE-24)
The second USS Pyro , an ammunition ship, was laid down 21 October 1957 by Bethlehem-Sparrows Point Shipyard, Inc., Sparrows Point, Maryland; launched 5 November 1958; sponsored by Mrs. Stuart H. Ingersoll; and commissioned 24 July 1959 at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Norfolk, Va., Capt. Robert A...
(AE-24) and Haleakala
USS Haleakala (AE-25)
USS Haleakala was a Nitro class ammunition ship of the United States Navy in service from 1959 to 1993.The USS Haleakala was launched on 17 February 1959 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation in Baltimore, Maryland and was sponsored by Mrs. Maurice E. Curts, wife of Vice Admiral Maurice Curts....
(AE-25) early on 17 April, Benjamin Stoddert joined Oklahoma City
USS Oklahoma City (CLG-5)
USS Oklahoma City was one of 27 United States Navy light cruisers completed during or shortly after World War II, and one of six to be converted to guided missile cruisers. She was the first US Navy ship to be named for Oklahoma City, Oklahoma...
(CLG-5) for a raid on Vinh
Vinh
Vinh is a city in Vietnam. It is located in the northern half of the country, and is the capital of Nghệ An Province. Politically, Vinh is a municipality within Nghệ An Province. On September 5th, 2008, it was upgraded from Grade-II city to Grade-I city, the fourth Grade-I city of Vietnam after...
, North Vietnam. As the warships closed the port, Stoddert’s electronic warfare unit registered signals from an enemy fire-control radar, followed almost immediately by the launch of two surface-to-surface missiles. Fortunately, both of the missiles missed her; one burst 50 yards to starboard while the other exploded well astern. When enemy gunfire started falling close aboard, including several air bursts that sprayed shell fragments near the warship, Benjamin Stoddert returned double salvos commencing an inconclusive gun duel that lasted about 13 minutes.
Over the next week, the guided-missile destroyer continued strikes against coastal targets, including daily bombardments of the shore as far north as Thanh Hoa
Thanh Hóa
Thanh Hóa is the capital city of Vietnam's Thanh Hoa province. The population is nearly 200,000 with an area of only 57.9 square kilometers....
. North Vietnamese shore batteries repeatedly took her under fire and finally scored on 23 April when a shell struck Benjamin Stoddert forward in the windlass room. Although put out quickly, the resulting fire destroyed the medical storeroom and the degaussing cable. Returning to gunline duty shortly thereafter, Stoddert steered south and provided defensive fire for South Vietnamese (ARVN) forces ashore — at one point firing 1,009 rounds in a 24-hour period.
After a two-week repair and refitting period at Subic Bay between 12 and 26 May, she reentered the Tonkin Gulf on the 29th for more missions against the enemy's coastal logistics pipeline. Once American mines shut down the major North Vietnamese harbors, many Chinese communist merchant ships sought refuge in strategic lagoons and inlets whence their cargoes were ferried ashore. One of the guided-missile destroyer's missions was to search out and destroy the small ferry craft and any nearby supply caches. On the night of 10 and 11 June, Benjamin Stoddert closed one such merchant ship, firing on several small craft trying to make a run for shore. When she hit one, and its crew abandoned ship; Stoddert sent a boarding party to inspect the sampan. The craft — loaded with seven tons of rice — was later sunk by 5-inch gun and machinegun fire.
Resuming gunline operations on the 14th, the warship fired at enemy troop formations attacking ARVN troops, helping to stall and then repulse this communist thrust into South Vietnam. During one such mission, at 09:10 on 26 June, the forward 5-inch mount suffered a misfire which left a live round hung up in the barrel. Sadly efforts to extract the live shell failed when it exploded, killing two sailors outright and mortally wounding two others. The blast also heavily damaged the gun mount and nearby living spaces. Departing immediately for Subic Bay, the guided-missile destroyer spent the next month in port, replacing the wrecked gun mount and repairing other damage.
Arriving back in the Tonkin Gulf on 30 July, Benjamin Stoddert spent the next three weeks conducting fire missions with TU 70.8.9 off North Vietnam. At this point, South Vietnamese forces had taken Quang Tri
Quang Tri
Quảng Trị is a town district of Quang Tri province in the North Central Coastal region of Vietnam. Significantly, it was the only South Vietnamese provincial capital to be captured by the North Vietnamese forces for a limited period in the 1972 offensive....
City, driving North Vietnamese forces back toward the DMZ; and the naval campaign against the North began to wind down. Coincidentally, Stoddert’s deployment drew to a close at about the same time, and she headed for home on 27 September, mooring in Pearl Harbor on 6 October after a quick transit. Three days later, she entered the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for a much needed 30-day standdown.
Benjamin Stoddert remained in the Hawaiian area for the next seven months, conducting routine training operations in preparation for her next 7th Fleet deployment. During this time, a cease-fire agreement was signed
Paris Peace Accords
The Paris Peace Accords of 1973 intended to establish peace in Vietnam and an end to the Vietnam War, ended direct U.S. military involvement, and temporarily stopped the fighting between North and South Vietnam...
in Paris on 27 January 1973, and American forces in South Vietnam began to withdraw. Underway for the Far East on 14 May, Stoddert stopped at Yokosuka, Japan, and Kaohsiung, Taiwan, before finally arriving off South Vietnam on 9 June. With combat operations over, the warship helped enforce the terms of the cease fire while on PIRAZ and antiair warfare picket duty in the Gulf of Tonkin.
Following liberty at Hong Kong in early August and two weeks of repairs at Subic Bay, Benjamin Stoddert received orders to sail for the Gulf of Thailand in response to a domestic crisis in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. She arrived in the gulf on 29 August and operated for three days with Task Group (TG) 76.4, the contingency force assembled in case Americans had to be evacuated from Thailand. Once the crisis eased, Stoddert returned to the Gulf of Tonkin. Arriving on station on 11 September, the guided-missile destroyer spent the next six weeks patrolling off Vietnam. Her only diversion came in mid-October, when the warship conducted antisubmarine tactical training in the Subic Bay operating area. Then, on 30 October while steaming near Singapore to avoid a typhoon in the Gulf of Tonkin, she suffered a boiler breakdown which forced her back to Subic Bay.
Following three weeks of repairs, the warship sailed for Hawaii, arriving in Pearl Harbor, via Guam and Midway, on 7 December. Upon her return home, the guided-missile destroyer was greeted by a shrinking defense budget, lack of spare parts, and a shortage of fuel oil — the latter caused by the October 1973 Arab oil embargo
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...
— all of which cut back the operating tempo of the Pacific Fleet's surface ships. In response, the Navy concentrated on improving overall operational readiness, a routine markedly different from previous training which had concentrated on preparing warships for combat operations off Vietnam. Benjamin Stoddert spent the first three months of 1974 participating in a series of fleet-wide inspections and maintenance programs. She remained in the Pearl Harbor area through October, engaged in extensive propulsion repairs, improving her maintenance procedures, and conducting a few local training operations.
On 2 November, Benjamin Stoddert got underway for her sixth deployment to the Far East. After a stop at Midway to refuel, the guided-missile destroyer arrived at Yokosuka on the 12th. After putting to sea four days later, she conducted ASW operations with Sailfish (SS-572) near Okinawa before sailing for Jinhae
Jinhae
Jinhae is a district in Changwon City, South Korea. This region is served by the Korean National Railroad, and is famous for its annual cherry blossom festival every spring....
, South Korea. Arriving at that port on 25 November, the warship then participated in a three-day antisubmarine operation called Exercise "Tae Kwon Do IV." After a two-week repair stop at Yokosuka in early December and a holiday port visit to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, she ended the year at Subic Bay.
In response to the growing Soviet Navy presence in the Indian Ocean, several American warships received orders to "show the flag" in the region. On 7 January 1975, Benjamin Stoddert got underway for the Indian Ocean in company with Enterprise. The warships conducted four weeks of training operations at sea before visiting Mombasa
Mombasa
Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....
, Kenya, between 5 and 9 February. The task force sailed back to the Pacific in mid-February and arrived at Subic Bay on the 28th.
After four weeks of liberty and repairs, the warship was placed on 48-hour alert following the success of the North Vietnamese "Easter" offensive in South Vietnam. Two days later, on 5 April, the guided-missile destroyer sailed for Vung Tau
Vung Tàu
Vũng Tàu is a city in southern Vietnam. Its population in 2005 was 240,000. The city area is including 13 urban wards and one village. It is the capital of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, and is the crude oil extraction center of Vietnam. It is also known as one of the most beautiful cities of tourism...
, South Vietnam. Over the next two weeks, she cruised offshore with an amphibious ready group (ARG) and covered three Military Sealift Command
Military Sealift Command
The Military Sealift Command is a United States Navy organization that controls most of the replenishment and military transport ships of the Navy. It first came into existence on 9 July 1949 when the Military Sea Transportation Service became solely responsible for the Department of Defense's...
(MSC) ships sent to the Vung Tau area on the 23d for evacuation duty. Soon the situation worsened, and the departure of Americans and South Vietnamese from Saigon began on 29 April. The guided-missile destroyer covered helicopter and boat lifts of refugees in the Vung Tau area. Then, on 3 May, she sailed to the location of a sinking South Vietnamese naval ship and rescued 19 people, including one woman and four children. Later that same day, the warship took on another 158 refugees picked up by a Korean fishing vessel.
With the end of the evacuation after the fall of Saigon, Benjamin Stoddert sailed for Hawaii on 9 May, arriving at Pearl Harbor, via Guam and Midway, on the 21st. The warship spent the summer conducting local operations and preparing for a regular overhaul, which she began at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard on 1 October. Shifted out of drydock on 6 February 1976, she conducted a long series of full-power runs and sea trials before finishing her 10-month overhaul on 17 August. The crew then spent the remainder of the year conducting training evolutions, various inspections, and helicopter flight deck certifications. On 17 February 1977, the guided-missile destroyer got underway for "RIMPAC 77," a multinational naval exercise held in the Hawaiian Islands.
After finishing this exercise on 1 March, she sailed west for her first western Pacific cruise in almost two years. The end of the Vietnam War two years earlier meant that the guided-missile destroyer conducted different operations than during her previous deployments to the Far East. Instead of antiair or gunline combat operations aimed at the North Vietnamese, the warship concentrated on training to counter the threat of Soviet nuclear-powered submarines and guided-missile warships to the western Pacific region. After a stop in the Philippines in late March, Benjamin Stoddert steamed for Okinawa on 1 April and thence to the waters off Japan and South Korea for a series of exercises. She carried out an ASW exercise against Barb
USS Barb (SSN-596)
USS Barb , a Permit-class attack submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the barb, a kingfish of the Atlantic coast....
(SSN-596) on 6 April, a "war-at-sea" exercise with Coral Sea on the 20th, and another ASW drill with Sailfish on 5 May before returning to Subic Bay on the 17th. Over the next eight weeks, Stoddert trained in Philippine waters, practicing underway replenishment and other drills. On 6 July, she escorted Coral Sea north to Okinawa, and then participated in "MissileEx 4-77" before putting in to Pusan, South Korea, on the 20th. After a week of liberty, she joined elements of the South Korean Navy for ASW exercise "Tae Kwon Do" on 30 July. The guided-missile destroyer then steamed south, stopping at Hong Kong in mid-August before returning to Subic Bay on the 21st.
For her trip home, which began on 6 September, Benjamin Stoddert detoured south, crossing the equator on the 10th, and mooring at Fremantle, Australia, on 17 September. Following a five-day port visit, the warship sailed on to Melbourne, Australia, and to Dunedin
Dunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
, New Zealand, before arriving at Pago Pago, American Samoa
American Samoa
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
, on 14 September. Underway the next day, the warship visited Western Samoa before proceeding on to Hawaii, to arrive in Pearl Harbor on the 22d. She spent the remainder of the year engaged in post-deployment leave and upkeep. Starting on 9 January 1978, Stoddert began eight months of local operations in Hawaiian waters. These evolutions included several firings on the Pacific Missile Range, highlighted by the successful shootdown of two MQM 74C drones by RIM 66A Standard missiles on 29 July.
Following a series of inspections and ship surveys, the warship got underway for the South Pacific on 22 September. After crossing the equator on the 28th, Benjamin Stoddert anchored at Funafuti, Tuvalu
Tuvalu
Tuvalu , formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls...
, on 29 September. The next day, she fired a 21-gun salute in recognition of that country's independence. Proceeding westward on 2 October, the warship stopped at Suva, Fiji Islands, on the 4th; visited Cairns, Australia, on 10 October; and rendezvoused with Constellation
USS Constellation (CV-64)
USS Constellation , a Kitty Hawk-class supercarrier, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the "new constellation of stars" on the flag of the United States and the only naval vessel ever authorized to display red, white, and blue designation numbers...
(CV-64) south of Guam on the 21st. Delayed by the need to evade a typhoon near the Philippines, the warships did not put into Subic Bay until 30 October. Over the next seven weeks, Stoddert conducted operations similar to those of her most recent deployment. Attached to the Midway
USS Midway (CV-41)
USS Midway was an aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, the lead ship of her class, and the first to be commissioned after the end of World War II...
(CV-41) task group, she provided screen services to the carrier as the task group cruised as far south as Pattaya
Pattaya
Pattaya is a city in Thailand, located on the east coast of the Gulf of Thailand, about 165 km southeast of Bangkok located within but not part of Amphoe Bang Lamung in the province of Chonburi....
, Thailand, and as far north as Kyūshū
Kyushu
is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....
, Japan. After arriving at the latter place on 22 December, she ended the year moored at the Naval Ordnance Facility, Sasebo.
Shifting to Yokosuka on 7 January 1979, the warship received four weeks of repairs there at the Naval Ship Repair Facility. Benjamin Stoddert then steamed to Okinawa on 10 February to participate in an antiair warfare exercise called "BuzzardEx 1-79." Moving on to Subic Bay, the guided-missile destroyer provided planeguard services for Constellation
USS Constellation (CV-64)
USS Constellation , a Kitty Hawk-class supercarrier, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the "new constellation of stars" on the flag of the United States and the only naval vessel ever authorized to display red, white, and blue designation numbers...
(CV-64) through the end of the month. Departing Philippine waters on 7 March, the warship returned to Pearl Harbor on the 19th to begin a seven-week maintenance availability.
1980s
Continued boiler trouble kept the guided-missile destroyer in port, save for a few local operations, for the remainder of the year. Then, following a series of tests and inspections, Benjamin Stoddert commenced a major overhaul at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard on 3 January 1980. After five months in drydock, she moved to a berth for continued industrial work; and it was not until 30 November that the guided-missile destroyer got underway for her first sea trials. The crew spent the next five months putting the warship through full power exams, sonar tests, and weapons system acceptance trials. During the latter, on 31 March 1981, she successfully fired six Standard missileRIM-66 Standard
The RIM-66 Standard MR is a medium range surface-to-air missile originally developed for the United States Navy . The SM-1 was developed as a replacement for the RIM-2 Terrier and RIM-24 Tartar that were deployed in the 1950s on a variety of USN ships...
s on the Pacific missile range. The warship then conducted training and other local operations out of Pearl Harbor through the summer and into the fall. On 19 October, she set out for San Francisco, arriving there on the 29th. After a week of liberty, the guided-missile destroyer cruised south to San Diego, mooring at the naval station on 6 November. Benjamin Stoddert then participated in Exercise "ReadiEx 1-82", the highlight of which was a missile firing exercise held on 23 November. Steaming to Hawaii the next day, she moored alongside Jason
USS Jason (AR-8)
USS Jason was a repair ship of the United States Navy in service from 1944 to 1995, serving in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf War...
(AR-8) in Pearl Harbor on 1 December for voyage repairs.
On 22 February 1982, Benjamin Stoddert departed Hawaii for her ninth western Pacific cruise. After a brief stop at Guam on 6 March, she proceeded on to the Philippines. While enroute to Subic Bay, the warship conducted both antisubmarine and antiair warfare exercises, an underway routine she would continue throughout this deployment. Following a week in Subic Bay, the guided-missile destroyer steamed to Korea and, between 28 and 30 March, participated in amphibious Exercise "Team Spirit 82." She then sailed between Hong Kong, Subic Bay, and Yokosuka before anchoring in Shimoda-ko, Japan, on 15 May. In the latter port, she took part in the Black Ship Festival, commemorating Commodore Matthew C. Perry's opening of Japan to foreign trade in 1854. Benjamin Stoddert returned to Subic Bay on the 24th.
Leaving the Philippines on 2 June, the guided-missile destroyer sailed to Sattahip, Thailand, anchoring there on the 6th. That same day, tension between the Soviet Union and the West increased after Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
invaded Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
. International friction notwithstanding, the warship joined the previously scheduled exercise "Cobra Gold 82" in the Gulf of Thailand on the 7th. Her participation included naval gunfire support for an amphibious landing exercise and ASW operations with three Royal Thai Navy warships. Still, heightened Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
tension intruded when, just before midnight on 8 June, Aneroid — a Soviet intelligence gathering trawler — fired an illumination flare over Thai ship HTMS Khirirat.
Departing Pattaya, Thailand, on 19 June, Benjamin Stoddert, guided-missile cruiser Sterett
USS Sterett (CG-31)
USS Sterett was a Belknap-class destroyer leader / cruiser. She was the third ship to be named for Master Commandant Andrew Sterett , who served during the Quasi-War with France and the Barbary Wars...
(CG-31), and two other destroyers passed into the South China Sea on their way to Subic Bay. The next evening, Soviet aircraft — presumably from bases in Vietnam — began shadowing the American warships. At around 22:00, a Soviet aircraft dropped 16 flares over Turner Joy
USS Turner Joy (DD-951)
USS Turner Joy was one of 18 s of the United States Navy. She was named for Admiral Charles Turner Joy USN . Commissioned in 1959, she spent her entire career in the Pacific...
(DD-951). A few minutes later, Lynde McCormick
USS Lynde McCormick (DDG-8)
USS Lynde McCormick was a Charles F. Adams-class destroyer in the United States Navy.Lynde McCormick was laid down 4 April 1958 by Defoe Shipbuilding Company, Bay City, Michigan; launched 28 July 1959; sponsored by Mrs. Lillian McCormick, wife of Admiral McCormick; and commissioned at Boston 3...
(DDG-8) received .30-caliber machinegun fire from an unidentified ship in the vicinity. The warship responded in kind, deliberately aiming high; and the foreign ship ceased fire. Although tension remained high the rest of the night, no other incidents occurred; and the warships arrived at Subic Bay on 23 June. After that, however, Stoddert passed her remaining five weeks in the western Pacific without incident; and, following two "war-at-sea" exercises in the waters off Japan, she steamed for home on 6 August.
Mooring at Pearl Harbor on 12 August, the warship spent the rest of the year doing maintenance work on her boilers and standing several regular safety and readiness inspections. During the first three weeks of 1983, Benjamin Stoddert prepared for a joint Navy-Air Force exercise in the Hawaiian Islands. This refresher training included helicopter operations, naval gunfire support, damage control drills, and antisubmarine systems' tests. The highlight of Exercise "MidPacTraEx," held between 31 January and 3 February, was a defensive ASW operation with Harold E. Holt
USS Harold E. Holt (FF-1074)
USS Harold E. Holt was a Knox class frigate of the US Navy named after the Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt.Harold E. Holt was built by Todd Pacific Shipyards, Los Angeles Division in San Pedro, California, laid down May 11, 1968, launched May 3, 1969 and delivered March 19, 1971. Harold E...
(FF-1074) and Willamette
USS Willamette (AO-180)
The USS Willamette was the fourth ship in the Cimarron-class of fleet replenishment oilers for the United States Navy in service from 1981 to 1999.-Commissioning:...
(AO-180). Later that month, she served as "surface deep dive safety ship" for Sargo
USS Sargo (SSN-583)
USS Sargo , a Skate-class nuclear-powered submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the sargo, a food and game fish of the porgy family, inhabiting coastal waters of the southern United States....
(SSN-583).
In a scenery shift from her familiar operational zone, the guided-missile destroyer sailed from Pearl Harbor to the southern California operating area on 31 March. There, she conducted a "war at sea" exercise with DesRon 17 in early April. The warship then joined Ranger
USS Ranger (CV-61)
The seventh USS Ranger is one of four Forrestal-class supercarriers built for the US Navy in the 1950s. Commissioned in 1957, she served extensively in the Pacific, especially the Vietnam War, for which she earned 13 battle stars. Near the end of her career she also served in the Indian Ocean and...
(CV-61) and operated with her battle group along the west coasts of California and Central America for the next four weeks. These evolutions were intended, in part, to demonstrate American resolve in checking the spread of communism in Central America.
Returning to Pearl Harbor on 25 May, the guided-missile destroyer remained in port for the next eight weeks. Between 21 and 24 July, the warship took part in a joint ASW exercise with Sample
USS Sample (FF-1048)
USS Sample was a frigate in the US Navy and the eighth in its class. It was laid down in 1963 and decommissioned in 1988, then transferred to Brazil in 1989.-History:...
(FF-1048), Cochrane
USS Cochrane (DDG-21)
USS Cochrane , named for Vice Admiral Edward L. Cochrane, USN, was a Charles F. Adams-class guided missile armed destroyer.The Cochrane was laid down by the Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company at Seattle, Washington on 31 July 1961, launched on 18 July 1962 and commissioned on 21 March 1964.In...
(DDG-21), Harold E. Holt, and three Japanese warships before getting ready to deploy overseas once more. On 26 August, Benjamin Stoddert put to sea with Ranger’s battle group and steered for the Philippines, arriving in Subic Bay on 14 September. Earlier in the year, and partly in response to the outbreak of the Iran–Iraq War in 1980, the United States had established Central Command
United States Central Command
The United States Central Command is a theater-level Unified Combatant Command unit of the U.S. armed forces, established in 1983 under the operational control of the U.S. Secretary of Defense...
(CentCom) in the western reaches of the Indian Ocean to protect American security interests in the Middle East; and Ranger’s group received orders to patrol the northern portion of the Arabian Sea
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...
in support of CentCom's mission.
Departing Subic Bay on 26 September, the battle group set course for the Strait of Malacca
Strait of Malacca
The Strait of Malacca is a narrow, stretch of water between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is named after the Malacca Sultanate that ruled over the archipelago between 1414 to 1511.-Extent:...
. The unit's transit of the South China Sea was interrupted on the 30th, however, when Benjamin Stoddert rescued 39 Vietnamese refugees from their sinking boat, an act that later brought her the Humanitarian Service Medal
Humanitarian Service Medal
The Humanitarian Service Medal is a military service medal of the United States armed forces which was created on January 19, 1977 by President Gerald Ford under...
. Once the refugees had been passed along, the group continued on south and west, passing through the Strait of Malacca and entering the Indian Ocean on 4 October. Linking up with a British force built around , the warships sailed northwest and arrived on station in the Arabian Sea on 12 October. Stoddert remained in the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf through the end of the year, helping to assure Western access to oil and countering the spread of Soviet influence in the region. During this period, she paid two visits to El Masirah, Oman
Oman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
, and called at Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
, Pakistan.
On 15 January 1984, the American task group turned east for the long voyage back to Hawaii. After stops in Singapore and Subic Bay, Benjamin Stoddert moored in Pearl Harbor on 22 February. Six days later, she entered the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for a major equipment overhaul. During the ensuing 15-month shipyard period, the guided-missile destroyer received new radar and fire-control systems, the navy tactical data system
Naval Tactical Data System
Naval Tactical Data System, commonly NTDS, refers to a computerized information processing system developed by the United States Navy in the 1950s and first deployed in the early 1960s for use in combat ships.- Reason for development :...
(NTDS), the integrated automatic detection and tracking system (IADTS) and a modernized steam engineering plant. In addition to her combat systems' overhaul, she had her antiship capabilities enhanced by the installation of Harpoon missile launchers. Completing the overhaul on 9 July 1985, Stoddert occupied the rest of the year with a series of local operations and inspections. These ranged from a joint ASW exercise with Australian and New Zealand warships at sea to the more mundane propulsion plant and ordnance safety inspections while in port.
The warship's first exercise in the new year took place between 23 and 28 January 1986. Benjamin Stoddert operated as part of an "enemy" surface and submarine force that "attacked" the Enterprise battle group. Two more individual ship exercises followed in February. Then, after a command inspection in late March and a nuclear weapons certification inspection in early April, Stoddert got underway for "RimPac 86", an international naval exercise held in Hawaiian waters between 21 May and 12 June. As a unit of the "Blue Force," she served as communications link ship with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force warships involved in the maneuvers. The guided-missile destroyer also covered a SEAL
United States Navy SEALs
The United States Navy's Sea, Air and Land Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's principal special operations force and a part of the Naval Special Warfare Command as well as the maritime component of the United States Special Operations Command.The acronym is derived from their...
team insertion and extraction mission during the exercise.
After five more months of local training operations and other preparatory tasks, Benjamin Stoddert finally got underway for another Middle East deployment on 28 November. Steaming in company with Hepburn
USS Hepburn (FF-1055)
The USS Hepburn was a United States Navy Knox class frigate named for Arthur Japy Hepburn. She was laid down 1 June 1966, by Todd Pacific Shipyards, Los Angeles Division, San Pedro, California; and launched 25 March 1967; sponsored by Mrs. Arthur J. Hepburn and Mrs. Lorraine Hepburn Barse. She was...
(FF-1055) and Mahlon S. Tisdale
USS Mahlon S. Tisdale (FFG-27)
USS Mahlon S. Tisdale , nineteenth ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry class of guided-missile frigates, was named for Vice Admiral Mahlon Street Tisdale . Ordered from Todd Shipyards, San Pedro, California, on 23 January 1978 as part of the FY78 program, Mahlon S...
(FFG-27), she first sailed to the Philippines. After a week of upkeep at Subic Bay, Stoddert set out south on 21 December, stopping at Singapore on the 25th before passing the Strait of Malacca on the 26th and ending the year with a fuel stop at Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. The guided-missile destroyer continued on to the Middle East in the new year and relieved Goldsborough on station in the Persian Gulf on 6 January. Although Iranian and Iraqi attacks on neutral tankers had begun to increase in early 1987, no firm American policy regarding this "tanker war" had yet been established. This limited Stoddert’s mission, therefore, to surveillance operations against Iranian forces, especially "Silkworm" missile
Silkworm missile
The Shang Yo or SY-series , and the Hai Ying or HY-series were early Chinese anti-ship missiles. They were derived from the Soviet P-15 Termit missile.The HY-1 and HY-2 received the NATO reporting name Silkworm...
sites in the Strait of Hormuz
Strait of Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow, strategically important waterway between the Gulf of Oman in the southeast and the Persian Gulf. On the north coast is Iran and on the south coast is the United Arab Emirates and Musandam, an exclave of Oman....
, and to the provision of communications and other data links to friendly aircraft in the region.
Relieved by Waddell
USS Waddell (DDG-24)
USS Waddell was a Charles F. Adams class guided missile armed destroyer in the United States Navy. She was named for Captain James Iredell Waddell CSN ....
(DDG-24) on 4 April after three months on station, the warship steamed toward home, passing into the Indian Ocean and stopping at Colombo on the 9th to refuel. Following port visits to Phuket
Phuket City
Phuket is a city located in the southeast of Phuket Island, Thailand. It is the capital of the Phuket Province, covering all of the island. As of 2007 the city has a population of 75,573 people...
, Thailand, between 13 and 16 April and at Hong Kong between 23 and 27 April, the guided-missile destroyer moored at Pearl Harbor on 9 May. After a four-week leave and upkeep standdown, Benjamin Stoddert resumed the familiar routine. This included various weapons and supply inspections, equipment alterations in the shipyard, and training ashore for crew members. In addition, the warship participated in a joint Navy-Coast Guard exercise in late June, took part in ASW drills in mid-August, and served as ready duty destroyer during the month of September. She then began a phased maintenance availability at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard on 26 October.
With the repairs and upgrades to her engineering plant finished on 9 February 1988, Benjamin Stoddert began preparing for an upcoming fleet exercise. The warship set out for San Diego on 15 March, completing a transit exercise — including service as the target for simulated attacks by two attack submarines — before mooring in San Diego harbor on the 31st. On 8 April, she put to sea for "FleetEx 88-2", a carrier battle group exercise held off southern California, in which Stoddert’s crew took "revenge" for the transit exercise by successfully engaging a target submarine with an exercise torpedo. Later, she joined the Carl Vinson
USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70)
The USS Carl Vinson is the third United States Navy Nimitz class supercarrier and is named after Carl Vinson, a Congressman from Georgia. Carl Vinson's callsign is "Gold Eagle". It played host to the first NCAA basketball game on an aircraft carrier on 11/11/11 between the University of North...
(CVN-70) battle group and, in simulated air attacks, shot down three target drones with as many Standard SM-1 missiles. After more than two weeks of intensive training, the warship sailed for home, arriving in Pearl Harbor on 30 April.
Although originally scheduled for an overseas deployment in June, the warship delayed her departure until September so she could join the Nimitz (CVN-68) battle group. Her crew spent the summer testing new maintenance procedures, passing safety inspections, and taking the warship to sea for exercises such as the combined American, Australian, Canadian, and Japanese "RimPac 88" battle problems held between 7 and 17 July. Finally embarking on her deployment on 20 September, the warship joined Waddell, Hepburn, Barbey
USS Barbey (FF-1088)
USS Barbey was a of the US Navy. Barbey was laid down on 5 February 1972 by Avondale Shipyards, Inc., Westwego, La.; launched on 4 December 1971; sponsored by Mrs. Daniel E. Barbey, widow of Vice Admiral Barbey; and placed in commission at Long Beach Naval Shipyard on 11 November 1972, Comdr....
(FF-1088), Kiska (AE-35), and Willamette
USS Willamette (AO-180)
The USS Willamette was the fourth ship in the Cimarron-class of fleet replenishment oilers for the United States Navy in service from 1981 to 1999.-Commissioning:...
(AO-180) in Battle Group "Bravo" for the voyage west to the Persian Gulf. After a stop at Subic Bay between 7 and 11 October, the group conducted a few days of gunnery practice at the Tabones range in the Philippines before sailing to Hong Kong for liberty. Departing the British Crown Colony on the 20th, the battle group headed south, navigated the Malacca Strait, and passed into the Indian Ocean. From there, the warships took up station in the northern part of the Arabian Sea on 30 October.
Although the "tanker war" in the Persian Gulf had ended on 20 August with the cease-fire between Iran and Iraq, American warships still patrolled the region, replacing tanker-escort duty with general "zone defense." Benjamin Stoddert remained in the Arabian Sea for the first 10 days of this mission before receiving a brief availability alongside Prairie at the Masirah anchorage between 10 and 16 November. From there, she moved to the Strait of Hormuz and relieved Antietam
USS Antietam (CG-54)
USS Antietam is a guided missile cruiser of the United States Navy. Antietam was named for the site of the 1862 Battle of Antietam, Maryland, between Confederate forces under General Robert E. Lee and Union forces under Major General George McClellan, during the American Civil War...
(CG-54) as patrol ship there. Turning over that patrol station to California
USS California (CGN-36)
USS California , the lead ship of the California-class of nuclear-powered guided missile cruisers, was the seventh warship of the United States Navy to be named for the State of California....
(CGN-36) on 2 December, the warship returned to the Arabian Sea for another 10 days with Battle Group "Bravo". After 56 days at sea, the crew displayed palpable relief when the guided-missile destroyer put into Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi , literally Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western...
for a three-day port visit on 14 December. While returning to her unit on the 18th, Stoddert provided medical assistance to three injured crew members of the British merchant vessel British Trident. Shortly thereafter, the group sailed east, passing through the Malacca Strait and anchoring at Singapore on 31 December.
Following a six-day port visit, the group steamed back into the Indian Ocean for a quick drop south of the equator on 9 January 1989 before returning through the Strait of Malacca on the 19th. The warships then steamed north into the South China Sea for four days of ASW exercises with units of the Royal Thai Navy
Royal Thai Navy
The Royal Thai Navy is the navy of Thailand and part of the Royal Thai Armed Forces, it was established in the late 19th century. Admiral Prince Abhakara Kiartiwongse is "The Father of Royal Thai Navy". Similar to the organizational structure of the United States, the Royal Thai Navy includes the...
, followed by a three-day visit to Pattaya Beach, Thailand. Benjamin Stoddert then sailed independently for Subic Bay, arriving there on 1 February to begin a week-long upkeep and maintenance availability dedicated to main propulsion plant repairs. Departing the Philippines on 8 February, Stoddert steamed across the Pacific and moored in Pearl Harbor on 21 February.
At the end of a four-week post-deployment standdown, the guided-missile destroyer began preparations for a series of engineering and general survey inspections set for late spring. Those inspections ended late in June, and July passed relatively slowly, marked by an overnight "tiger cruise
Tiger Cruise
Tiger Cruise is the 54th Disney Channel Original Movie. It stars Hayden Panettiere, Bill Pullman and Jansen Panettiere, Hayden's real-life younger brother...
" for crew dependents on the 18th, and a port visit to Hilo, Hawaii, between 19 and 25 July. A week after that, Benjamin Stoddert departed Pearl Harbor for two weeks of law enforcement operations with the United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
. The warship used her surface search radars and other equipment to spot small craft, which were then boarded by Coast Guard detachments
Law Enforcement Detachments
Law Enforcement Detachments or LEDETs are specialized, deployable maritime law enforcement teams of the United States Coast Guard. First established in 1982, their primary mission is to deploy aboard U.S. and allied naval vessels to conduct and support law enforcement, interdiction, or security...
in search of drug smugglers. Back in port on 11 August, Stoddert spent the next week training submarine prospective commanding officers.
1990s
Toward the end of August, Benjamin Stoddert started preparing for a phased maintenance availability, which she began on 12 September in the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. During the ensuing five months, the warship received extensive equipment upgrades and regularly scheduled maintenance work on her propulsion plant. Pronounced ready for duty on 1 March, the warship conducted another Coast Guard law enforcement operation in Hawaiian waters. Then, on 16 April, she joined the familiar multinational exercise "RIMPAC 90". She conducted ASW and anti-surface ship exercises during this period, highlighted by a successful Standard missile shot in early May.Back in Pearl Harbor on 12 May, Benjamin Stoddert did not leave Hawaii until 18 June when she set out for Central America and another Coast Guard law enforcement deployment. The warship began patrol operations off Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...
on the 27th and remained there — save for a single port visit to San Diego — through 11 August. After rendezvousing with Badger
USS Badger (FF-1071)
USS Badger was a Knox-class destroyer escort, originally designated as DE-1071 and reclassified as a frigate in 1975 in the United States Navy. Her primary mission of ASW remained unchanged. This ship was not the first to bear the name. The first was named for Commodore Oscar C...
(FF-1071) and Kawishiwi (AO-146), the guided-missile destroyer sailed south for a drug interdiction patrol off Panama. These operations continued until 11 September, when the warship put into Rodman, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
— the first landfall for the crew after 47 days at sea. Departing Panama on the 14th, the guided-missile destroyer returned to her patrol station, remaining there until 29 September when she was relieved by Waddell. Instead of sailing northwest for home, however, Stoddert passed through the Panama Canal on 3 October, entered the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
— the first and only arm of the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
to wash her hull — and pulled into Willemstad
Willemstad, Netherlands Antilles
Willemstad is the capital city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Formerly the capital of the Netherlands Antilles prior to its dissolution in 2010, it has an estimated population of 140,000. The historic centre of...
, Curaçao
Curaçao
Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
, on the 6th. After a five-day port visit, she turned west for her transit home, arriving in Pearl Harbor on 29 October. The guided-missile destroyer spent the rest of the year in port undergoing routine inspections and maintenance.
Benjamin Stoddert began her last year in service with a surface warfare exercise in late January 1991, and her crew remained busy with training through the end of March. Departing Hawaii on 3 April, the warship cruised in southern California waters for the next five weeks, conducting antisubmarine warfare (ASW) drills and naval gunfire practice off San Clemente in addition to readiness training with the Abraham Lincoln
USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72)
USS Abraham Lincoln , is the fifth Nimitz-class supercarrier in the United States Navy. She is the second Navy ship named after former president Abraham Lincoln. Her home port is Everett, Washington.-Construction:...
(CVN-72) battle group. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 15 May.
Following a series of inspections in June, the warship remained in port — save for a few days of local operations — as the crew prepared her for inactivation. On 3 September, the guided-missile destroyer began pre-inactivation procedures and unloaded all her fuel and ammunition. Benjamin Stoddert was decommissioned at Pearl Harbor on 20 December 1991, and her name was struck from the Navy list on 20 November 1992. On 7 September 1995, she was transferred to the Maritime Administration and was berthed with its National Defense Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay
Suisun Bay
Suisun Bay is a shallow tidal estuary at in northern California, USA. It lies at the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, forming the entrance to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, an inverted river delta...
, Calif., to await disposal. On 3 February 2001, while under to tow to Brownsville, Texas
Brownsville, Texas
Brownsville is a city in the southernmost tip of the state of Texas, in the United States. It is located on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, directly north and across the border from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Brownsville is the 16th largest city in the state of Texas with a population of...
, for scrapping, the old guided missile destroyer took on water and sank in the Pacific.