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USS Albert David (FF-1050)
Encyclopedia
USS Albert David (FF-1050) was a Garcia-class
destroyer escort
, later reclassified as a frigate
, in the United States Navy
. She was named for Lieutenant Albert David
, a Medal of Honor
recipient.
on 19 October 1968, Comdr. Roy S. Reynolds in command.
, and conducted post-commissioning trials and tests. Those examinations continued into 1969. A voyage to Hawaii
followed in March. Early in April, the ocean escort began five weeks of refresher training out of San Diego. On 1 May 1969, she was assigned to Long Beach, Calif., as her home port. She concluded refresher training eight days later and arrived in Long Beach on the 10th. On the 12th, however, Albert David headed back to Bremerton for an eight-week, post-shakedown availability at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The warship returned to sea on 7 July, bound for the coast of southern California and several days of operations out of San Diego. She returned to Long Beach on the 18th.
Albert David carried out normal operations from the base at Long Beach until the beginning of the second week in October. On 8 October, she stood out of Long Beach on her first deployment to the western Pacific. After steaming via Pearl Harbor
and Midway Island, the warship arrived in Yokosuka, Japan
, on 31 October. Albert David then served two weeks on the Taiwan Strait
patrol and visited Subic Bay
in the Philippines
before reporting at Danang, South Vietnam
, on 24 November to begin gunfire support duty. That assignment lasted until 10 December when, after a brief stop at Danang, the ocean escort headed for the Gulf of Tonkin
. From the llth to the 18th, she operated on the south air-sea rescue
(ASR) station in the gulf. On 16 December, Albert David joined company with for two days of plane guard duty. The warship left station in the Gulf of Tonkin on 18 December and headed for Bangkok, Thailand, where her crew enjoyed a five-day port visit. On 30 December, she rendezvoused with and began five weeks of plane guard duty with the carriers of Task Force (TF) 77.
. On her way back to Vietnamese waters, Albert David visited Okinawa and, during that visit, put to sea to investigate a Soviet trawler loitering in the area. She returned to Vietnam at Danang on 27 February to resume gunfire support missions for the troops fighting ashore. At the beginning of the second week in March, the ocean escort left the gunline to rejoin the carriers of TF 77 in the Gulf of Tonkin. Eight days later, she pulled into Subic Bay to make preparations for the voyage back to the United States. On 21 March, Albert David stood out of Subic Bay on her way home.
The warship made stops at Guam, Midway, and Pearl Harbor before arriving in Long Beach, Calif., on 9 April. Following post-deployment standdown, Albert David settled into the normal schedule of training operations carried out by warships between overseas deployments. Those evolutions occupied her time until the beginning of November when she entered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard. Albert David's first regular overhaul lasted more than eight months.
On 1 July 1971, she put to sea for post-overhaul trials and drills, and she remained so occupied for the remainder of the month. August brought refresher training out of San Diego, and September saw her resume normal 1st Fleet operations out of Long Beach.
On 12 November 1971, Albert David departed Long Beach on her second deployment to the Far East. En route, she spent more than a week in the Hawaiian Islands before continuing on to the Philippines. The ocean escort arrived in Subic Bay on 9 December and remained there almost a week. On the 15th, she put to sea bound for the Gulf of Tonkin, arriving on station two days later. Albert David spent the following six weeks on gunfire support station off the coast of Vietnam. At the end of January 1972, she headed back to Subic Bay to rest, rearm, and reprovision. The warship returned to the combat zone this time in the Gulf of Siam off the shores of South Vietnam's Military Region IVon 6 February and resumed duty as a seaborne heavy artillery battery supporting ground forces ashore.
Albert David left the Gulf of Siam on 24 February bound for the Gulf of Tonkin. She rendezvoused with on 29 February and served as the carrier's escort for two days of operations in the Gulf of Tonkin as well as during the voyage to Subic Bay. After 10 days of upkeep and repairs at Subic Bay, the ocean escort departed the Philippines for Hong Kong on 14 March. The port visit at Hong Kong lasted from 16 to 22 March. On the latter day, the warship laid in a course that took her via Okinawa to the Sea of Japan
. She conducted antisubmarine warfare (ASW) exercises between 26 and 29 March and made a port call at Yokosuka, Japan, from 30 March to 5 April.
After a false start for home on the 5th and a return to Japan to reload necessary equipment, Albert David headed back to Vietnamese waters that same day. Reporting for gunfire support duty off the DMZ between North Vietnam and South Vietnam on 10 April she performed a variety of other tasks as well. On 11 April and 12 April the USS Albert David participated in action while encountering enemy hostile fire. The men of DE-1050 received the Combat Action Ribbon. After four days of gunfire support missions, the warship joined for 10 days of escort duty on picket station. From 28 April to 12 May, she again provided gunfire support. Albert David concluded that tour of duty in the combat zone with four days of service with on the notification line established to warn merchant ships about mines in North Vietnamese harbors.
On 17 May, the ocean escort set out for Subic Bay in company with Constellation. The two warships visited Subic Bay from 19 to 22 May and then got underway for Singapore. After a four-day port call at Singapore, they returned to sea on 30 May on their way back to the waters surrounding Vietnam. Albert David parted company with Constellation on 2 June to render gunfire support to troops in Military Regions I and II in South Vietnam. At the end of 10 days on the gunline, she formed up with Constellation again on the 12th. The two warships stopped at Subic Bay on the 15th and returned to sea almost immediately. On 20 June, they arrived in Yokosuka for a two-day port call before beginning the voyage across the Pacific. Albert David and Constellation cleared Yokosuka on 22 June bound for the United States. Albert David escorted the carrier until 30 June when she received orders to proceed independently. The ocean escort entered Long Beach the following morning.
Following a month-long post-deployment leave and upkeep period, the ocean escort began normal 1st Fleet operations on 3 August with plane guard services for in the southern California operating area. On 26 August, she put to sea from Long Beach to participate in Operation "RimPac-72," conducted in the Hawaiian Islands with units of the navies of Australia
, Canada
, and New Zealand
. Albert David returned to Long Beach from that exercise on 19 September and remained in port for three weeks. At that time, she resumed normal operations along the California coast.
The warship performed training duties out of Long Beach until near the end of the first week in January 1973. On the 5th, she stood out to sea on her way back to the Far East. Steaming in company with Constellation, Albert David completed the transit of the Pacific at Subic Bay on 22 January. Four days later, she embarked upon the voyage to the Gulf of Tonkin, again escorting Constellation. For the next three weeks, she provided plane guard services and antisubmarine protection for the carriers of TF 77 during what proved to be her last tour of duty in the gulf before the United States pulled out of the Vietnam War
. Albert David returned to Subic Bay on 14 February and spent the next three weeks undergoing minor repairs and conducting training in the Philippines.
On 6 March, Albert David departed Iloilo
on the island of Panay
to return to Vietnamese waters. This time, however, her mission was a peaceful one. She was part of Operation "End-sweep," the removal of minefields from the waters adjacent to North Vietnam. Her participation in that effort punctuated by port visits to Sasebo in Japan, Subic Bay in the Philippines, and Hong Kong lasted until the second week in June. The warship cleared Vietnamese waters on 9 June, visited Keelung
on Taiwan on the 12th and 13th, and arrived in Yokosuka on the 17th. Two days later, the ocean escort returned to sea for the voyage back to the United States. She made brief stops for fuel at Midway Island and Pearl Harbor before reaching Long Beach on 3 July.
Post-deployment standdown followed by a lengthy restricted availability at the Todd Shipyard in San Pedro
occupied her time until late November. She returned to Long Beach on 21 November but remained there only long enough to make preparations to move to San Diego, the new home port to which she had been assigned on 20 August. Albert David made the home port shift on 1 December and commenced local operations out of San Diego six days later. The warship continued that employment through the end of 1973 and during the first four months of 1974. On 23 April 1974, she left San Diego in company with and bound for the western Pacific. Albert David and her travelling companions made fuel stops at Pearl Harbor and Midway Island before arriving in Yokosuka on 14 May. On 25 May, the ocean escort put to sea in a task group built around to conduct operations off the island of Honshū
. Thus she began her first period of service with the 7th Fleet in which combat duty off the Vietnamese coast played no role. The warship alternated between periods of training at sea and port calls at such places as Yokosuka, Hong Kong, Guam, and Subic Bay.
When she returned to San Diego on 22 October 1974, Albert David embarked upon a period of almost 42 months without a deployment to the Far East. She spent most of the remainder of 1974 in port, initially engaged in post-deployment standdown and later in holiday routine. The ocean escort conducted a number of exercises in 1975. Late March and early April brought a voyage to Hawaii for Operation "RIMPAC
" 1-75, a multinational exercise conducted in cooperation with the navies of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. In mid-April, she returned to the west coast and resumed local operations. On 30 June 1975, Albert David was reclassified a frigate and redesignated FF-1050. In September, she made another cruise to the Hawaiian Islands where she spent four weeks engaged in exercises before returning to San Diego early in November. Local operations again occupied her time until the spring of 1976. Late in April 1976, the frigate sailed to Long Beach where she began an 11-month regular overhaul on the 22d. Albert David concluded her repairs at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard on St. Patrick's Day 1977 and returned to San Diego nine days later. She operated on a normal training schedule out of her home port until the beginning of August when she voyaged to Hawaii again for training purposes. Returning to San Diego on 29 August, the frigate settled into a normal west coast training schedule once more.
The hiatus in Far Eastern deployments came to an end in the spring of 1978. Albert David stood out of San Diego on 4 April and set a course for Hawaii. En route there, she participated in "RIMPAC" 1-78. After a stop at Pearl Harbor on the 23d and the 24th, the frigate continued her voyage west on the 25th. She arrived in Subic Bay on 16 May. During the ensuing five months, Albert David conducted exercises with units of the 7th Fleet and participated in the binational Exercise "Sharkhunt XXVII" with elements of the Republic of China Navy
. She also visited ports in Japan
, South Korea
, and Taiwan
. The frigate concluded that tour of duty in the Far East with a readiness exercise and a series of special operations. After a visit to Guam between 11 and 14 October, Albert David embarked upon the voyage back to the United States. She reentered San Diego on 29 October and, except for a two-day period underway locally, spent the remainder of 1978 in port.
Twelve days into 1979, the warship began the usual schedule of training operations, trials and inspections. That employment occupied her time through the first 10 months of the year. On 13 November 1979, she left San Diego to return to the western Pacific. Albert David made a very brief stop at Pearl Harbor on 21 November resuming her voyage west that same day. She arrived at Subic Bay on 9 December and spent the remainder of the year in port.
After an antisubmarine warfare exercise and another stop at Buckner Bay, Albert, David set a course for Pusan, Korea, on 23 March. The warship spent the last week of the month indulging in liberty at Pusan. From there, she moved on to Sasebo, Japan, for a repair and upkeep period preparatory to her return to the United States. On 9 April 1980, the frigate departed Sasebo and embarked upon the voyage home by way of Guam, Kwajalein, and Pearl Harbor. She reentered San Diego on 2 May. Post deployment standdown occupied the remainder of May while June and July brought a resumption of local operations. Early in August, she visited Alaskan waters before beginning regular overhaul at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at mid-month.
Those repairs occupied the frigate for the rest of 1980 and for the first nine months of 1981. Early in October 1981, Albert David resumed local operations out of San Diego. That duty kept her busy until near the end of May 1982. On the 29th, she got underway for the western Pacific via Pearl Harbor. The frigate arrived in Subic Bay on 2 July. After almost three weeks at that base in the Philippines, Albert David moved north to Sasebo, Japan, where she stayed from 26 July until 12 August. The warship arrived back in Subic Bay on 17 August but set sail again four days later on the 21st in company with and bound for the Arabian Sea and a tour of duty with the Middle East Force. She performed surveillance chores in the Arabian Sea from 7 September to 18 October. On 19 October, Albert David started out on the long voyage back to the United States. She entered San Diego on 30 November and spent the remainder of 1982 engaged in post-deployment leave and upkeep.
Standdown carried over well into the third week of 1983. On 20 January, Albert. David took up local operations out of San Diego with a three-day readiness exercise. A variety of training evolutions conducted in the waters off the coast of southern California occupied her time during the nine months between January and October 1983. On 4 October, however, the frigate stood out to sea on her way to the Far East once more. She made a five-day stop at Pearl Harbor and conducted a battle problem in the Mariana Islands before steaming into Subic Bay at the beginning of the second week in November. At mid-month, Albert David put to sea again to participate in a series of bilateral exercises with units of the Royal Malaysian Navy
, the Royal Singapore Navy, and the Navy of the Republic of Korea. Interspersed among those exercises were goodwill and liberty calls at Lumut in Malaysia, Singapore, Chinhae in Korea, and at Hong Kong
. On 28 December, she returned to the Philippines at Manila where she ushered in the new year.
Albert David's western Pacific deployment continued until early April 1984. January brought a visit to Cebu City in the Philippines, a brief return to Subic Bay, and another bilateral exercise, this time with the Royal Thai Navy. Exercises with other units of the 7th Fleet followed. At the end of January, the frigate sailed north to Japan for upkeep and repairs at Yokosuka. At the beginning of the last week in February, the warship completed repairs and put to sea to conduct antisubmarine warfare exercises with elements of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force. The end of February and beginning of March brought visits to Sasebo and Fukuoka in Japan. During mid-March, she operated with South Korean Navy units again and then made port visits at Chinhae and Pusan, Korea, and at Sasebo, Japan. Albert David departed Sasebo on 3 April on her way back to the United States. En route, she lingered in the Marianas to participate in another battle problem and stopped at Pearl Harbor on 21 and 22 April. The warship pulled into San Diego on 30 April. Post-deployment standdown took up the month of May, and operations along the California coast occupied the summer and early fall of 1984. At the beginning of November, Albert David began restricted availability at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard.
That repair period carried her into 1985. Back in San Diego by 5 January, she resumed local operations by the end of the month. The frigate settled into a schedule of training exercises along the west coast, highlighted by port visits to Canadian and United States cities, that kept her busy throughout 1985 and nearly through 1986. On 29 September 1986, Albert David entered the yard of the National Steel & Shipbuilding Co. at San Diego to begin regular overhaul. The great ship participated in numerous ASW and detailed testing platform operations in the north Pacific, and mid Pacific Islands as a member of DESRON31 until on 18 September 1989 she was decommissioned.
leased the ship on 18 September 1989 and she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
on 24 January 2001. She was subsequently sold to Brazil and served as the destroyer
Pará (D 27) until 12 November 2008 when she was decommissioned. She now sits in reserve.
Albert David earned three battle stars for service in the Vietnam War
.
Garcia class frigate
Garcia class frigates were United States Navy warships. These frigates were originally ocean escorts bearing the hull classification DE or DEG until 1975...
destroyer escort
Destroyer escort
A destroyer escort is the classification for a smaller, lightly armed warship designed to be used to escort convoys of merchant marine ships, primarily of the United States Merchant Marine in World War II. It is employed primarily for anti-submarine warfare, but also provides some protection...
, later reclassified as a frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
, 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 named for Lieutenant Albert David
Albert David
Albert Leroy David was an officer in the United States Navy during World War II and a recipient of the Medal of Honor...
, a 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...
recipient.
Construction
Albert David was laid down on 28 April 1964 at Seattle, Washington, by the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Co.; launched on 19 December 1964; sponsored by Mrs. Lynda Mae David; and commissioned at the Puget Sound Naval ShipyardPuget 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 19 October 1968, Comdr. Roy S. Reynolds in command.
History
For the remainder of 1968, Albert David completed outfitting at Bremerton, WashingtonBremerton, Washington
Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 38,790 at the 2011 State Estimate, making it the largest city on the Olympic Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap...
, and conducted post-commissioning trials and tests. Those examinations continued into 1969. A voyage to 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...
followed in March. Early in April, the ocean escort began five weeks of refresher training out of San Diego. On 1 May 1969, she was assigned to Long Beach, Calif., as her home port. She concluded refresher training eight days later and arrived in Long Beach on the 10th. On the 12th, however, Albert David headed back to Bremerton for an eight-week, post-shakedown availability at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The warship returned to sea on 7 July, bound for the coast of southern California and several days of operations out of San Diego. She returned to Long Beach on the 18th.
Albert David carried out normal operations from the base at Long Beach until the beginning of the second week in October. On 8 October, she stood out of Long Beach on her first deployment to the western Pacific. After steaming via Pearl Harbor
Pearl 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...
and Midway Island, the warship arrived in Yokosuka, 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...
, on 31 October. Albert David then served two weeks on the Taiwan Strait
Taiwan Strait
The Taiwan Strait or Formosa Strait, formerly known as the Black Ditch, is a 180-km-wide strait separating Mainland China and Taiwan. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to East China Sea to the northeast...
patrol and visited Subic Bay
Subic Bay
Subic Bay is a bay forming part of Luzon Sea on the west coast of the island of Luzon in Zambales, Philippines, about 100 kilometers northwest of Manila Bay. Its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility named U.S...
in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
before reporting at Danang, 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...
, on 24 November to begin gunfire support duty. That assignment lasted until 10 December when, after a brief stop at Danang, the ocean escort headed for 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...
. From the llth to the 18th, she operated on the south air-sea rescue
Air-sea rescue
Air-sea rescue is the coordinated search and rescue of the survivors of emergency water landings as well as people who have survived the loss of their sea-going vessel. ASR can involve a wide variety of resources including seaplanes, helicopters, submarines, rescue boats and ships...
(ASR) station in the gulf. On 16 December, Albert David joined company with for two days of plane guard duty. The warship left station in the Gulf of Tonkin on 18 December and headed for Bangkok, Thailand, where her crew enjoyed a five-day port visit. On 30 December, she rendezvoused with and began five weeks of plane guard duty with the carriers of Task Force (TF) 77.
1970s
Early in February 1970, she left the Gulf of Tonkin to make port visits at Subic Bay and Hong KongHong 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...
. On her way back to Vietnamese waters, Albert David visited Okinawa and, during that visit, put to sea to investigate a Soviet trawler loitering in the area. She returned to Vietnam at Danang on 27 February to resume gunfire support missions for the troops fighting ashore. At the beginning of the second week in March, the ocean escort left the gunline to rejoin the carriers of TF 77 in the Gulf of Tonkin. Eight days later, she pulled into Subic Bay to make preparations for the voyage back to the United States. On 21 March, Albert David stood out of Subic Bay on her way home.
The warship made stops at Guam, Midway, and Pearl Harbor before arriving in Long Beach, Calif., on 9 April. Following post-deployment standdown, Albert David settled into the normal schedule of training operations carried out by warships between overseas deployments. Those evolutions occupied her time until the beginning of November when she entered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard. Albert David's first regular overhaul lasted more than eight months.
On 1 July 1971, she put to sea for post-overhaul trials and drills, and she remained so occupied for the remainder of the month. August brought refresher training out of San Diego, and September saw her resume normal 1st Fleet operations out of Long Beach.
On 12 November 1971, Albert David departed Long Beach on her second deployment to the Far East. En route, she spent more than a week in the Hawaiian Islands before continuing on to the Philippines. The ocean escort arrived in Subic Bay on 9 December and remained there almost a week. On the 15th, she put to sea bound for the Gulf of Tonkin, arriving on station two days later. Albert David spent the following six weeks on gunfire support station off the coast of Vietnam. At the end of January 1972, she headed back to Subic Bay to rest, rearm, and reprovision. The warship returned to the combat zone this time in the Gulf of Siam off the shores of South Vietnam's Military Region IVon 6 February and resumed duty as a seaborne heavy artillery battery supporting ground forces ashore.
Albert David left the Gulf of Siam on 24 February bound for the Gulf of Tonkin. She rendezvoused with on 29 February and served as the carrier's escort for two days of operations in the Gulf of Tonkin as well as during the voyage to Subic Bay. After 10 days of upkeep and repairs at Subic Bay, the ocean escort departed the Philippines for Hong Kong on 14 March. The port visit at Hong Kong lasted from 16 to 22 March. On the latter day, the warship laid in a course that took her via Okinawa to 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...
. She conducted antisubmarine warfare (ASW) exercises between 26 and 29 March and made a port call at Yokosuka, Japan, from 30 March to 5 April.
After a false start for home on the 5th and a return to Japan to reload necessary equipment, Albert David headed back to Vietnamese waters that same day. Reporting for gunfire support duty off the DMZ between North Vietnam and South Vietnam on 10 April she performed a variety of other tasks as well. On 11 April and 12 April the USS Albert David participated in action while encountering enemy hostile fire. The men of DE-1050 received the Combat Action Ribbon. After four days of gunfire support missions, the warship joined for 10 days of escort duty on picket station. From 28 April to 12 May, she again provided gunfire support. Albert David concluded that tour of duty in the combat zone with four days of service with on the notification line established to warn merchant ships about mines in North Vietnamese harbors.
On 17 May, the ocean escort set out for Subic Bay in company with Constellation. The two warships visited Subic Bay from 19 to 22 May and then got underway for Singapore. After a four-day port call at Singapore, they returned to sea on 30 May on their way back to the waters surrounding Vietnam. Albert David parted company with Constellation on 2 June to render gunfire support to troops in Military Regions I and II in South Vietnam. At the end of 10 days on the gunline, she formed up with Constellation again on the 12th. The two warships stopped at Subic Bay on the 15th and returned to sea almost immediately. On 20 June, they arrived in Yokosuka for a two-day port call before beginning the voyage across the Pacific. Albert David and Constellation cleared Yokosuka on 22 June bound for the United States. Albert David escorted the carrier until 30 June when she received orders to proceed independently. The ocean escort entered Long Beach the following morning.
Following a month-long post-deployment leave and upkeep period, the ocean escort began normal 1st Fleet operations on 3 August with plane guard services for in the southern California operating area. On 26 August, she put to sea from Long Beach to participate in Operation "RimPac-72," conducted in the Hawaiian Islands with units of the navies of 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...
, Canada
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...
, and 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...
. Albert David returned to Long Beach from that exercise on 19 September and remained in port for three weeks. At that time, she resumed normal operations along the California coast.
The warship performed training duties out of Long Beach until near the end of the first week in January 1973. On the 5th, she stood out to sea on her way back to the Far East. Steaming in company with Constellation, Albert David completed the transit of the Pacific at Subic Bay on 22 January. Four days later, she embarked upon the voyage to the Gulf of Tonkin, again escorting Constellation. For the next three weeks, she provided plane guard services and antisubmarine protection for the carriers of TF 77 during what proved to be her last tour of duty in the gulf before the United States pulled out of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Albert David returned to Subic Bay on 14 February and spent the next three weeks undergoing minor repairs and conducting training in the Philippines.
On 6 March, Albert David departed Iloilo
Iloilo
Iloilo is a province of the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Iloilo occupies the southeast portion of Panay Island and is bordered by Antique Province to the west and Capiz Province and the Jintotolo Channel to the north. Just off Iloilo's southeast coast is Guimaras Province,...
on the island of Panay
Panay
Panay may refer to*Panay Island*Panay *Panay, Capiz*Panay River*Panay Gulf* USS Panay *Panay incident...
to return to Vietnamese waters. This time, however, her mission was a peaceful one. She was part of Operation "End-sweep," the removal of minefields from the waters adjacent to North Vietnam. Her participation in that effort punctuated by port visits to Sasebo in Japan, Subic Bay in the Philippines, and Hong Kong lasted until the second week in June. The warship cleared Vietnamese waters on 9 June, visited Keelung
Keelung
Keelung City is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. It borders New Taipei and forms the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, along with the Taipei and New Taipei. Nicknamed the Rainy Port for its frequent rain and maritime role, the city is Taiwan's second largest seaport...
on Taiwan on the 12th and 13th, and arrived in Yokosuka on the 17th. Two days later, the ocean escort returned to sea for the voyage back to the United States. She made brief stops for fuel at Midway Island and Pearl Harbor before reaching Long Beach on 3 July.
Post-deployment standdown followed by a lengthy restricted availability at the Todd Shipyard in San Pedro
San Pedro, Los Angeles, California
San Pedro is a port district of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. It was annexed in 1909 and is a major seaport of the area...
occupied her time until late November. She returned to Long Beach on 21 November but remained there only long enough to make preparations to move to San Diego, the new home port to which she had been assigned on 20 August. Albert David made the home port shift on 1 December and commenced local operations out of San Diego six days later. The warship continued that employment through the end of 1973 and during the first four months of 1974. On 23 April 1974, she left San Diego in company with and bound for the western Pacific. Albert David and her travelling companions made fuel stops at Pearl Harbor and Midway Island before arriving in Yokosuka on 14 May. On 25 May, the ocean escort put to sea in a task group built around to conduct operations off the island of Honshū
Honshu
is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...
. Thus she began her first period of service with the 7th Fleet in which combat duty off the Vietnamese coast played no role. The warship alternated between periods of training at sea and port calls at such places as Yokosuka, Hong Kong, Guam, and Subic Bay.
When she returned to San Diego on 22 October 1974, Albert David embarked upon a period of almost 42 months without a deployment to the Far East. She spent most of the remainder of 1974 in port, initially engaged in post-deployment standdown and later in holiday routine. The ocean escort conducted a number of exercises in 1975. Late March and early April brought a voyage to Hawaii for Operation "RIMPAC
RIMPAC
RIMPAC, the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, is the world's largest international maritime exercise. Conducted biennially , it is hosted and administered by the United States Navy, with the United States Marine Corps, United States Coast Guard, and Hawaii National Guard forces under the leadership of...
" 1-75, a multinational exercise conducted in cooperation with the navies of Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. In mid-April, she returned to the west coast and resumed local operations. On 30 June 1975, Albert David was reclassified a frigate and redesignated FF-1050. In September, she made another cruise to the Hawaiian Islands where she spent four weeks engaged in exercises before returning to San Diego early in November. Local operations again occupied her time until the spring of 1976. Late in April 1976, the frigate sailed to Long Beach where she began an 11-month regular overhaul on the 22d. Albert David concluded her repairs at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard on St. Patrick's Day 1977 and returned to San Diego nine days later. She operated on a normal training schedule out of her home port until the beginning of August when she voyaged to Hawaii again for training purposes. Returning to San Diego on 29 August, the frigate settled into a normal west coast training schedule once more.
The hiatus in Far Eastern deployments came to an end in the spring of 1978. Albert David stood out of San Diego on 4 April and set a course for Hawaii. En route there, she participated in "RIMPAC" 1-78. After a stop at Pearl Harbor on the 23d and the 24th, the frigate continued her voyage west on the 25th. She arrived in Subic Bay on 16 May. During the ensuing five months, Albert David conducted exercises with units of the 7th Fleet and participated in the binational Exercise "Sharkhunt XXVII" with elements of the Republic of China Navy
Republic of China Navy
The Republic of China Navy is the maritime branch of the Armed forces of the Republic of China . The ROC Navy's primary mission is to defend ROC territories and the sea lanes that surround Taiwan against a blockade, attack, or possible invasion by forces of the People's Republic of China...
. She also visited ports in 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...
, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, and 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...
. The frigate concluded that tour of duty in the Far East with a readiness exercise and a series of special operations. After a visit to Guam between 11 and 14 October, Albert David embarked upon the voyage back to the United States. She reentered San Diego on 29 October and, except for a two-day period underway locally, spent the remainder of 1978 in port.
Twelve days into 1979, the warship began the usual schedule of training operations, trials and inspections. That employment occupied her time through the first 10 months of the year. On 13 November 1979, she left San Diego to return to the western Pacific. Albert David made a very brief stop at Pearl Harbor on 21 November resuming her voyage west that same day. She arrived at Subic Bay on 9 December and spent the remainder of the year in port.
1980s
The frigate operated locally out of Luzon ports until the second week in February 1980 when she embarked upon a voyage to Singapore in company with Long Beach (CGN-9), Worden (CG-18), and Bronstein (FF-1037). A main engine casualty, however, forced her return to Subic Bay under tow of Long Beach and, later, of USNS Ute (T-ATF-76). She remained in Subic Bay from 12 February through the end of the month. The warship returned to sea on 1 March for two weeks of exercises followed by a port visit at Buckner Bay, Okinawa.After an antisubmarine warfare exercise and another stop at Buckner Bay, Albert, David set a course for Pusan, Korea, on 23 March. The warship spent the last week of the month indulging in liberty at Pusan. From there, she moved on to Sasebo, Japan, for a repair and upkeep period preparatory to her return to the United States. On 9 April 1980, the frigate departed Sasebo and embarked upon the voyage home by way of Guam, Kwajalein, and Pearl Harbor. She reentered San Diego on 2 May. Post deployment standdown occupied the remainder of May while June and July brought a resumption of local operations. Early in August, she visited Alaskan waters before beginning regular overhaul at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at mid-month.
Those repairs occupied the frigate for the rest of 1980 and for the first nine months of 1981. Early in October 1981, Albert David resumed local operations out of San Diego. That duty kept her busy until near the end of May 1982. On the 29th, she got underway for the western Pacific via Pearl Harbor. The frigate arrived in Subic Bay on 2 July. After almost three weeks at that base in the Philippines, Albert David moved north to Sasebo, Japan, where she stayed from 26 July until 12 August. The warship arrived back in Subic Bay on 17 August but set sail again four days later on the 21st in company with and bound for the Arabian Sea and a tour of duty with the Middle East Force. She performed surveillance chores in the Arabian Sea from 7 September to 18 October. On 19 October, Albert David started out on the long voyage back to the United States. She entered San Diego on 30 November and spent the remainder of 1982 engaged in post-deployment leave and upkeep.
Standdown carried over well into the third week of 1983. On 20 January, Albert. David took up local operations out of San Diego with a three-day readiness exercise. A variety of training evolutions conducted in the waters off the coast of southern California occupied her time during the nine months between January and October 1983. On 4 October, however, the frigate stood out to sea on her way to the Far East once more. She made a five-day stop at Pearl Harbor and conducted a battle problem in the Mariana Islands before steaming into Subic Bay at the beginning of the second week in November. At mid-month, Albert David put to sea again to participate in a series of bilateral exercises with units of the Royal Malaysian Navy
Royal Malaysian Navy
The Royal Malaysian Navy is the naval arm of Malaysian Armed Forces. All commissioned ships of the RMN have the prefix KD , which means Royal Ship.-Straits Settlement Naval Volunteer Reserve:...
, the Royal Singapore Navy, and the Navy of the Republic of Korea. Interspersed among those exercises were goodwill and liberty calls at Lumut in Malaysia, Singapore, Chinhae in Korea, and at 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...
. On 28 December, she returned to the Philippines at Manila where she ushered in the new year.
Albert David's western Pacific deployment continued until early April 1984. January brought a visit to Cebu City in the Philippines, a brief return to Subic Bay, and another bilateral exercise, this time with the Royal Thai Navy. Exercises with other units of the 7th Fleet followed. At the end of January, the frigate sailed north to Japan for upkeep and repairs at Yokosuka. At the beginning of the last week in February, the warship completed repairs and put to sea to conduct antisubmarine warfare exercises with elements of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force. The end of February and beginning of March brought visits to Sasebo and Fukuoka in Japan. During mid-March, she operated with South Korean Navy units again and then made port visits at Chinhae and Pusan, Korea, and at Sasebo, Japan. Albert David departed Sasebo on 3 April on her way back to the United States. En route, she lingered in the Marianas to participate in another battle problem and stopped at Pearl Harbor on 21 and 22 April. The warship pulled into San Diego on 30 April. Post-deployment standdown took up the month of May, and operations along the California coast occupied the summer and early fall of 1984. At the beginning of November, Albert David began restricted availability at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard.
That repair period carried her into 1985. Back in San Diego by 5 January, she resumed local operations by the end of the month. The frigate settled into a schedule of training exercises along the west coast, highlighted by port visits to Canadian and United States cities, that kept her busy throughout 1985 and nearly through 1986. On 29 September 1986, Albert David entered the yard of the National Steel & Shipbuilding Co. at San Diego to begin regular overhaul. The great ship participated in numerous ASW and detailed testing platform operations in the north Pacific, and mid Pacific Islands as a member of DESRON31 until on 18 September 1989 she was decommissioned.
Fate
The Brazilian NavyBrazilian Navy
The Brazilian Navy is a branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces responsible for conducting naval operations. It is the largest navy in Latin America...
leased the ship on 18 September 1989 and she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 24 January 2001. She was subsequently sold to Brazil and served as the 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...
Pará (D 27) until 12 November 2008 when she was decommissioned. She now sits in reserve.
Albert David earned three battle stars for service in the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
External links
- "Playing Chicken of the Sea" TIME Magazine, 28 March 1977 Accessed 22 August 2007