US Navy Vietnam

[sn-e3]

I thought I would share what it was like to be on a destroyer during the Vietnam War. First I have to give a little back ground on my ship. The USS Black DD 666 was a ww2 fletcher class Destroyer. It was very fast for her age 38 plus knots. Some folks called us the grayhounds of the fleet. We weren't very big a little over 300 feet long and very narrow. some might even call it sleek. we had 4 5"- 38 gun mounts and 3 3" -50 gun mounts, our effective range was twelve miles.. The ship was commissioned in 1943 and fought in WW2 , Korea, and Vietnam. our ship was attached to the seventh fleet and our home port was San Diego, I reported aboard her in march 1966 and sailed for Vietnam the first time in May 1966. We stopped in Hawaii on the was over then at Midway for topping off our oil. then we went to Subic bay P.I. for resupplies and more fuel then over to cubi point for Ammo. And let my say the ship can hold alot of Ammo. all 300 plus crew members working around 10 hours to load all of our magazines. the next morning we left for the gulf of tonkin. It wasn't a very long trip seems like a day and a half or two days. We arrive off the viet coast and are told to pull into Cam Rahn Bay and the place is packed with cargo ships of every shape and size. Remember this is before cargo containers. We patrol in and out of all the ship so no one can try and damage one. we have duty there for about three days and then we get a call to head north for a fire mission. we go to GQ when the Army Bird-dog aircraft flys out to meet us and relay map cordanates. we fire about 40 5 inch shells and the Bird-dog tells us to stop and flys back to access the damage. We get a well done and head back south. this time Its up the Siagon River a few miles and we Anchor and stay put for three or four days, But every Night we have fire missions we shoot alot of star shell's to aluminate the night. we can see them way off but can't hear them or anything really. The rivers are spooky, they have alot of phosphorus in the water and it make for some jumpy sailors . weare sure its VC UDT men so we throw cuncussion Granades over the side this really piss's off the old man. and we are told not to throw anymore untill we are told too. which turns out to be about every fifteen to twenty minutes all night long. they would stagger these around the ship randomly. anyway after escorting a couple of covoys of murchent ship up to siagon we get orders to meet up with a carrier group up on Yankee station which is Northern Tonkin Gulf. On our way we refuel and replenish food and ammo. We meet up with the carrier Oriskany and pull plane guard for a few days its sort of neat to watch them launch their planes and the a couple hours later the recover the planes. then its bordom again until our next mission. This went on for about 30 to 45 days at a time then we would pull into port for liberty call. The best part of the trips was seeing different lands and ports and MAIL Call was always welcome. I have to admit we had it pretty good 3 hot meals a day and our own bunks, But somethings weren't so good our ship could not make fresh water fast enough so when we showered it would be on deck ducking under a rain squall lathering up and then turning around and going back through to rince off. About 250 men on deck all at the same time the rest we on duty and had to take bird baths that night. A bird bath is one sinkfull of water to brush your teeth ,shave ,and bath. not very good. We did get movies every night when not at GQ but they were seen 2 or thee times before we exchanged them. It was very hot over in the Gulf but off shore it wasn'nt that humid, that got real bad when we were within five miles of shore even the breezes were humid. after six months we left to go back to San diego escorting the Oriskiny because the ship had a major fire aboard and two other destroyers and us escorted her back to san diego. on the way home we lost a good friend who fell over the side during rough weather. We tryed to save him but he sank before we could get to him. anyway thats what my first cruise was like, I know I left alot out but its hard to destiguish between the two cruises I went on. Hope this gives you an insight on what a Destroyer did over there.

[grunt66]

Thanks for your description of life on a destroyer. This old grunt always thought destroyers had a lot of class. We used to watch them from the deck of the Bexar.

[PHO127]

Was my dads last ship, I remember touring on her right after the Korean War. Looking forward to listening to lots of sea stories in August Chris.

[phuloi]

Thanks for the tour of your ship,Chris.I`d have joined the Navy,but I just could never see myself in bell-bottomed pants.My old man was a swabbie in WW11,and I think he pulled a short stint on a destroyer,but most of his time was aboard carriers fighting in the South Pacific.
Sid:Not only will the Old Salt tell sea stories come August,he`ll have us all out on the briny Salmon fishing again.Looking forward to it.

[DMZ-LT]

Thanks for sharing Chris. Sharks and the guys trapped on the sea floor did it for me. Figured I would like to hit dirt if hurt.

[Andy]

Chris I have four questions for you.

1. Could your ship sail all the way up to Saigon? I recall a couple of ships, South Vietnamese, that were always docked in the capitol but I thought they were a step down from a destroyer. Of course that was in ?69 not ?66.

2. Do you know what size weapon was needed to damage the ship? I?m sure a heavy machinegun wouldn?t do much to the hull but what would?

3. Did you ever know who you were supporting or was it always, ?We have a fire mission?? I?m sure some of us were close enough to say thanks.

4. Did the Coke machine get thrown off the ship during your first or second mission?

Stay healthy,
Andy
PS: If I?ve asked any of these questions before, please write it off to Old Timers Illness.

[sn-e3]

Answer to number 1 Yes but we would turn around just down river and the local boys would take over escort duty. number two small arms fire just harrasted us and thank god they didn't try rpg's I'm sure they would have punched a good size hole in us our sides weren't very thick at all. only one time we supported marines doing a helocopter assult on a patch of jungle about 3/4 mile long and 1/2 mile wide first air strikes then us then the marines there wasn't much left for the marines except count bodies and answer to question to number 4 first cruise Clark , Brock and someone you all know did the dasterdly deed but we did get a new one that worked most of the time and it wasn't cups of coke anymore we got cans with the old pull off rings

[39mto39g]

I road on a Navy boat one time, No thanks, An LSD USS Hermatige for 5 days. It gets very dark out in the ocean when that big light goes out. I guess I also noticed how quiet it gets and what the hell is with the fish, They fly? I seen this and thought something must be wrong hear, Birds fly-fish swim.
Life on a destroyer sounds interesting and challenging, But I like stuff under me that don't move.
Ron

[exlrrp]

The trouble with trying to fight a war on a boat is that you got nowhere to run but in circles
You guys carry some dirt, 'case you need to dig in? I like a foxhole that don't wobble around too much, just like Ron. I staggered around enough as it is

James

[exlrrp]

Originally posted by 39mto39g I But I like stuff under me that don't move.
Ron

Me neither but that dang woman keeps insisting I let her come up for air sometimes.

james