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USS Eugene A. Greene (DD-711)
Encyclopedia
USS Eugene A. Greene (DD/DDR-711) 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 Ensign Eugene A. Greene
Eugene A. Greene
Eugene A. Greene was a United States Navy officer who received the Navy Cross posthumously for his actions in the Battle of Midway during World War II.-Biography:Greene was born in 21 November 1921 in Smithtown, New York...
(1921–1942), was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross
Navy Cross
The Navy Cross is the highest decoration that may be bestowed by the Department of the Navy and the second highest decoration given for valor. It is normally only awarded to members of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard, but can be awarded to all...
for his heroism in the Battle of Midway
Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...
.
Eugene A. Greene was 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 18 March 1945 by Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J.
Kearny, New Jersey
Kearny is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. It was named after Civil War general Philip Kearny. As of the United States 2010 Census, the town population was 40,684. The town is a suburb of the nearby city of Newark....
; sponsored by Mrs. Anita M. Greene, widow of Ensign Greene; 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 8 June 1945, Commander W. V. Pratt, III, in command.
US Navy, 1945–1972
Eugene A. Greene operated along the east coast and in the CaribbeanCaribbean
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...
on shakedown training, acting as 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:...
during the qualification of pilots in carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
operations, and training men for the crews of new destroyers. From her home port
Home port
A vessel's home port is the port at which it is based, which may not be the same as its port of registry shown on its registration documents and lettered on the stern of the ship's hull...
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...
, she sailed to 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...
for training early in 1947, and on 13 February sailed in a task group bound for Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, to participate in the festivities accompanying the inauguration of Uruguay's President Berres
Luis Batlle Berres
Luis Conrado Batlle y Berres was a Uruguayan political figure.-Background:Batlle Berres was a journalist and prominent member of the Uruguayan Colorado Party...
. The group also paid a good will visit to Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
before returning to Norfolk on 31 March.
On 10 November 1947 Eugene A. Greene sailed on the first of nine Mediterranean cruises made over the next thirteen years. During those years, she and her sisters of the U.S. 6th Fleet have guarded the interests of peace and order in that sea which was the cradle of democratic government. Voyages to northern Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
varied the routine of overseas deployment for Eugene A. Greene.
Eugene A. Greene was placed out of commission from 1 April 1952 to 1 December 1952, during which period she was being converted to a radar picket
Radar picket
A radar picket is a radar-equipped ship, submarine, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a force to protect it from surprise attack. Often several detached radar units encircle a force to provide increased cover in all directions.-World War II:Radar picket ships...
destroyer. She was redesignated DDR-711 on 18 July 1952.
Greene reverted to DD-711 on 15 March 1963.
On 18 June 1970 the Greene and the oiler were in a minor collision in the eastern Mediterranean during refueling operations.
Eugene A. Greene was decommissioned on 31 August 1972 at Norfolk, and, along with four other destroyers, was loaned to Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
Spanish Navy, 1972–1991
The ship was commissioned in the Spanish NavySpanish Navy
The Spanish Navy is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Armada is responsible for notable achievements in world history such as the discovery of Americas, the first world circumnavigation, and the discovery of a maritime path...
as Churruca (D61), named after Lieutenant General Cosme Damián de Churruca y Elorza
Cosme Damián de Churruca y Elorza
Cosme Damián de Churruca y Elorza was a Basque Spanish noble, an Admiral of the Royal Spanish Armada, a scientist and Major of Mutriku, who died at the Battle of Trafalgar while commanding the ship of the line San Juan Nepomuceno.He received his early years education in the Seminary of Burgos...
(1761–1805), who died during the Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
.
Churruca was decommissioned on 15 September 1989; she was sunk as a target on 12 December 1991.