USS Robert H. McCard (DD-822) was a of 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...

, named for United States Marine Corps

United States Marine Corps

The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...

 Gunnery Sergeant

Gunnery Sergeant

Gunnery Sergeant is the seventh enlisted rank in the United States Marine Corps, just above Staff Sergeant and below Master Sergeant and First Sergeant, and is a staff non-commissioned officer...

 Robert H. McCard (1918–1944), who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor

The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...

 for conspicuous gallantry during the Battle of Saipan

Battle of Saipan

The Battle of Saipan was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands from 15 June-9 July 1944. The Allied invasion fleet embarking the expeditionary forces left Pearl Harbor on 5 June 1944, the day before Operation Overlord in Europe was...

.

Construction

Robert H. McCard was laid down by Consolidated Steel Corporation

Consolidated Steel Corporation

Consolidated Steel Corporation was an American steel and shipbuilding business. Consolidated built ships during World War II in two locations: Wilmington, California and Orange, Texas...

, Orange, Texas

Orange, Texas

Orange is a city in Orange County, Texas, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 18,643. It is the county seat of Orange County, and is the easternmost city in Texas. Located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, it is part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur...

, on 20 June 1945; launched

Ship naming and launching

The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...

 on 9 November 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Robert H. McCard; and commissioned

Ship commissioning

Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...

 on 23 October 1946, Commander E. A. Michael, Jr., in command.

1946–1958

Following shakedown off Guantanamo Bay

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located on of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased for use as a coaling station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas...

, Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

, Robert H. McCard joined Destroyer Squadron 10 (Desron 10) and was homeported in Newport, Rhode Island

Naval Station Newport

The Naval Station Newport is a United States Navy base located in the towns of Newport and Middletown, Rhode Island. Naval Station Newport is home to the Naval War College and the Naval Justice School...

. She operated out of Newport until 1955 on the standard employment schedule for destroyers in the Atlantic Fleet. McCard was a unit of the 6th Fleet on eight tours of duty in the Mediterranean and also participated in two midshipman cruises, visiting Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

, Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, and Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 ports. Between deployments, the ship had four overhauls in the Boston Naval Shipyard, each being followed by a refresher training period under the supervision of the Fleet Training Group, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In December 1955, Robert H. McCard became a unit of Destroyer Squadron 4, with her homeport in Norfolk, Virginia

Naval Station Norfolk

Naval Station Norfolk, in Norfolk, Virginia, is a base of the United States Navy, supporting naval forces in the United States Fleet Forces Command, those operating in the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Indian Ocean...

. Making a ninth and tenth tour of duty

Tour of duty

In the Navy, a tour of duty is a period of time spent performing operational duties at sea, including combat, performing patrol or fleet duties, or assigned to service in a foreign country....

 with the 6th Fleet, she operated as a unit of the Middle East Force in the Persian Gulf

Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...

 for a month during the ninth tour. Following plane guard

Plane guard

A plane guard is a warship or helicopter tasked to recover the aircrew of planes or helicopters which ditch or crash in the water during aircraft carrier flight operations.-Ships:...

 duties and type training exercises off the Atlantic Coast, McCard participated in a midshipman cruise in June and July 1958, calling at Portuguese, Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 and Belgian ports.

1959–1966

Returning to type training exercises, an Atlantic Fleet exercise in the Caribbean, Fleet Sonar School

Fleet Sonar School

The Fleet Sonar School was a United States Navy facility in Key West, Florida for the training of Service personnel in Sonar techniques and equipment, and Anti-submarine warfare....

 duty, and an overhaul, Robert H. McCards homeport was then changed to Charleston, South Carolina. She operated out of Charleston until departing on 6 September 1960 for a NATO exercise, followed by other exercises. From 29 January 1961 to 3 February, she participated in recovery operations for Project Mercury

Project Mercury

In January 1960 NASA awarded Western Electric Company a contract for the Mercury tracking network. The value of the contract was over $33 million. Also in January, McDonnell delivered the first production-type Mercury spacecraft, less than a year after award of the formal contract. On February 12,...

, then departed Charleston on 8 March to join the 6th Fleet. In July she proceeded through the Suez Canal

Suez Canal

The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...

 and reported to Commander, Middle East Force, for a six-week patrol of the Red Sea

Red Sea

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...

 and Persian Gulf area. She returned to Charleston via the Mediterranean on 4 October.

Following plane guard duties and type training exercises, Robert H. McCard underwent Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization

Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization

The Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization program of the United States Navy extended the lives of World War II-era destroyers by shifting their mission from a surface attack role to that of a submarine hunter...

 (FRAM I) overhaul at Boston. Returning to Charleston on 3 January 1963, for refresher training during which she searched for the hijacked

Piracy

Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...

 Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

n ship Anzoategui, the destroyer then served for two weeks as school ship for the Fleet Sonar School. She next participated in a joint Canadian-United States exercise. McCard was deployed with the 6th Fleet from 13 October 1963 to 5 March 1964 and deployed again on 5 January 1965. In February and March she operated under the Middle East Force, returning to Charleston via the Mediterranean on 7 June.

Following further operations off the Atlantic Coast and an overhaul period, Robert H. McCard underwent refresher training off Guantanamo Bay then conducted two midshipman cruises, the latter taking her to Wilhelmshaven

Wilhelmshaven

Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. From 29 September 1966 to 31 January 1967, McCard was deployed to the 6th Fleet.

1967–1972

Operating in the western Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

, and the Caribbean until 5 November, Robert H. McCard then transited the Panama Canal

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...

 and 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...

. At the end of 1967, she was serving on "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...

" 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...

. In January and February 1968, she was on plane guard duty for in the Tonkin Gulf, participating in an emergency search and rescue mission on the east coast of Hainan Island. In March she served as plane guard for and in the Tonkin Gulf. In April she provided naval gunfire support

Naval gunfire support

Naval gunfire support is the use of naval artillery to provide fire support for amphibious assault and other troops operating within their range. NGFS is one of a number of disciplines encompassed by the term Naval Fires...

 off 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...

, and on 10 May she departed Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 for return to the east coast of the United States.

Operating in NATO exercise "Silvertower" in the North Atlantic in September and October 1968, Robert H. McCard then put into port at Southampton

Southampton

Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...

. Following overhaul at Charleston from December to April 1969, she operated off the Atlantic Coast and in the Caribbean until deploying to the Mediterranean in September. She returned to Charleston from her six months with the 6th Fleet on 28 March 1970, and remained with the Atlantic Fleet for the duration of 1970 and four months of 1971. On 15 April 1971, she sailed eastward from Charleston for another six months' service in the Mediterranean, returning on 16 October. She stayed in Charleston for the remainder of 1971 and spent the first eight months of 1972 engaged in Atlantic and Caribbean operations.

Robert H. McCard entered Charleston on 6 September 1972 for a six-month overhaul, at the completion of which she returned to normal operations in the western Atlantic and Caribbean.

[1973–1980]

TCG Kiliçalipasa (D349)

Robert H. McCard was decommissioned on 5 June 1980 and transferred to the Republic of Turkey through the Security Assistance Program (SAP) that same day. She served with the Turkish Navy

Turkish Navy

The Turkish Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces.- Ottoman fleet after Mudros :Following the demise of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I, on November 3, 1918, the fleet commander of the Ottoman Navy, Liva Amiral Arif Pasha, ordered all flags to be...

 as TCG Kiliçalipasa (D349), named for Kiliç Ali Pasa, the grand admiral

Grand Admiral

Grand admiral is a historic naval rank, generally being the highest such rank present in any particular country. Its most notable use was in Germany — the German word is Großadmiral.-France:...

 of the Ottoman Navy

Ottoman Navy

The Ottoman Navy was established in the early 14th century. During its long existence it was involved in many conflicts; refer to list of Ottoman sieges and landings and list of Admirals in the Ottoman Empire for a brief chronology.- Pre-Ottoman:...

 (1571–1587). Removed from service in 1998, the ship was scrapped in 2000 at Aliağa

Aliaga

Aliaga can refer to:* Aliaga, Aragon, Spain* Aliağa, Turkey* the Filipino municipality of Aliaga, Nueva Ecija on Luzon* a family name, as in the case of the Peruvian writer Felipe Pardo y Aliaga...

, Turkey.