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USS Sterett (CG-31)
Encyclopedia
USS Sterett (DLG/CG-31) was a Belknap-class destroyer leader / cruiser
Belknap class cruiser
The Belknap class cruiser was a class of single-ended guided missile cruisers built for the United States Navy during the 1960s...
. She was the third ship to be named for Master Commandant
Master Commandant
Master commandant was a rank within the early United States Navy. The rank of master commandant was slightly higher than lieutenant, and a master commandant would often command warships too small to justify the command of a full captain. In the United States Navy, the rank was shortened to...
Andrew Sterett
Andrew Sterett
Andrew Sterett was an officer in the United States Navy during the nation's early days. He saw combat during the Quasi-War with France and in the Barbary Wars, commanding the schooner USS Enterprise in both conflicts.Born in Baltimore, Maryland, he was the son of John Sterett, a former...
(1778-1807), who served during the Quasi-War
Quasi-War
The Quasi-War was an undeclared war fought mostly at sea between the United States and French Republic from 1798 to 1800. In the United States, the conflict was sometimes also referred to as the Franco-American War, the Pirate Wars, or the Half-War.-Background:The Kingdom of France had been a...
with France and the Barbary Wars
Barbary Wars
The Barbary Wars were a series of wars between the United States of America and the Barbary States of North Africa in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. At issue was the Barbary pirates' demand of tribute from American merchant vessels in the Mediterranean Sea. If ships failed to pay, pirates...
. She was launched as DLG-31, a frigate, and reclassified
United States Navy 1975 ship reclassification
The United States Navy reclassified many of its surface vessels in 1975, changing terminology and hull classification symbols for cruisers, frigates, and ocean escorts.- Classification prior to 1975 :...
Cruiser (CG) on 30 June 1975.
The contract to construct Sterett was awarded on 20 September 1961. Her keel was laid down at 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 25 September 1962. Launched 30 June 1964 and sponsored by Mrs. Phyllis Nitze, wife of Secretary of the Navy, Paul H. Nitze
Paul Nitze
Paul Henry Nitze was a high-ranking United States government official who helped shape Cold War defense policy over the course of numerous presidential administrations.-Early life, education, and family:...
. Delivered 16 June 1967 and commissioned on 8 April 1967.
Sterett earned nine battle stars for her service along the coast of 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 –...
.http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s18/sterett-iii.htm
1967-1975
The third Sterett (DLG-31) is a member of a distinguished line of US Naval ships. The fourth Sterett (DDG-104)USS Sterett (DDG-104)
USS Sterett , an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, is the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of Andrew Sterett, a naval officer who served during the Quasi-War and the Barbary Wars....
was christened on May 19, 2007 with commissioning scheduled for Commissioning in Baltimore - August 9, 2008.
The third Sterett spent 1967 operating off the west coast undergoing various post-acceptance tests and trials after commissioning, participating in shakedown training, and generally preparing for her final acceptance trials. Arriving in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard again she underwent post-shakedown availability. With the exception of two short excursions, one for nuclear capable certification and the other for COMTUEX 8-68, Sterett remained in home port until 19 June, when she departed San Pedro Bay for her first WestPac tour. After stops at Pearl Harbor and Midway, she arrived in Yokosuka, Japan, on 5 July and began preparations for her first line period in the Tonkin Gulf.
On the last day of July 1968, Sterett relieved guided missile frigate USS Horne
USS Horne (CG-30)
USS Horne was a Belknap-class destroyer leader / cruiser. Named for Admiral Frederick J. Horne, 1880-1959. She was launched as DLG-30, a frigate, and reclassified Cruiser on 30 June 1975....
(DLG-30) as PIRAZ
PIRAZ
PIRAZ is a United States Navy acronym for Positive Identification RADAR Advisory Zone. The zone is defined by the air search RADAR coverage of a ship patrolling a designated PIRAZ station...
unit. With destroyer USS Rich
USS Rich (DD-820)
USS Rich was a Gearing-class destroyer in the United States Navy during the Korean War and the Vietnam War. She was the second ship named in honor of Lieutenant Ralph McMaster Rich , who was awarded the Navy Cross for his leadership as a fighter pilot off the USS Enterprise during the Battle of...
(DD-820) riding shotgun for her, she plied the waters off North Vietnam until relieved on 5 August. She moved on to duty as sea air rescue (SAR) ship and strike support ship (SSS), which she performed until 4 September. During her first crack at SAR, Sterett directed two successful rescues of pilots. The guided missile frigate continued alternating between PIRAZ
PIRAZ
PIRAZ is a United States Navy acronym for Positive Identification RADAR Advisory Zone. The zone is defined by the air search RADAR coverage of a ship patrolling a designated PIRAZ station...
, SAR, SSS, and in-port periods until mid-March 1969.
In the results of the CRUDESPAC Battle Efficiency Competition announced in March, Sterett won the Green "E" for Operations, the White "E" for Missiles, the Red "E" for Engineering, and the Blue "E" for Supply. Congratulatory messages were received from COMSEVENTHFLT and COMCRUDESFLOT ELEVEN.
The next at sea period began with ten days on the Sea of Japan PARPRO picket station. During this line period USAF 314th Air Division F-106 interceptors from Osan Air Base under Sterett positive control intercepted six Soviet Badger aircraft and one Soviet Mail
Beriev Be-12
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Yefim Gordon, Andrey Sal'nikov and Aleksandr Zablotskiy Beriev's Jet Flying Boats. Hinckley, UK: Midland Publishing. ISBN 1-85780-236-5...
seaplane on ASW patrol. When Sterett was relieved by USS Richmond K. Turner
USS Richmond K. Turner (CG-20)
USS Richmond K. Turner was a Leahy class destroyer leader in the United States Navy. The ship was named for Admiral Richmond K. Turner, who served during World War II....
(CG-20) on 10 March, the turnover was shadowed by a Soviet Petya class
Petya class frigate
The Petya Class was the NATO reporting name for a class of light frigates built for the Soviet Navy in the 1960s. The Soviet Designation was Storozhevoi Korabl Project 159.-Design:...
PCE, hull number 857. The Petya had been on patrol at the Soviet Korean Straits station and followed the Turner to TU 71.0.4.
The next day Sterett, en route to the Gulf of Tonkin, sighted a fishing boat north of Taiwan flying the Republic of Korea ensign. The boat, later identified as BT 22210, was adrift with its engine inoperative and making frantic visual signals for assistance. Despite the heavy seas of a tropical storm Sterett immediately transferred food and fuel to the distressed craft, a vessel of some fifty feet with a crew of seven. Sterett sent urgent message requests for additional assistance to COMNAVFORKOREA, who eventually arranged a commercial tow for the crippled fishing vessel. Having rendered all appropriate assistance, Sterett proceeded through the Taiwan Straits to the Tonkin Gulf.
The Gulf of Tonkin DLG AAW pickets normally operate with a DD escort but during April, 1970 Sterett operated at a modified PIRAZ
PIRAZ
PIRAZ is a United States Navy acronym for Positive Identification RADAR Advisory Zone. The zone is defined by the air search RADAR coverage of a ship patrolling a designated PIRAZ station...
station 20NM from the North Vietnamese coast with the USS 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), COMSEVENTHFLT embarked, as her escort. This was a plot to lure out a MiG from the airbase at the Bai Thuong Airfield, which at that time was the base for three MiG-21 and three MiG-19 fighters. Oklahoma City had EMCON (EMission CONdition) set to simulate the normal DD escort and Sterett passed track information on hostile aircraft over North Vietnam to the Talos
RIM-8 Talos
The Bendix RIM-8 Talos was a long-range naval surface-to-air missile, and was among the earliest surface-to-air missiles to equip United States Navy ships. The Talos used radar beam riding for guidance to the vicinity of its target, and semiactive radar homing for terminal guidance...
ship via the Navy RED secure voice (KY-8) net and the NTDS Link 14 teletype. Although this missile trap was well-conceived, there was no MiG activity over Bai Thuong during this period.
The guided missile frigate continued to shuttle back and forth between Yokosuka and the Tonkin Gulf for the first seven months of 1970. She alternated between PIRAZ
PIRAZ
PIRAZ is a United States Navy acronym for Positive Identification RADAR Advisory Zone. The zone is defined by the air search RADAR coverage of a ship patrolling a designated PIRAZ station...
duty and SAR/SSS duty, taking time out for a six-day stay at Hong Kong, an overnight layover in Keelung, Taiwan, and a two-day visit to EXPO '70 at Kobe, Japan. On 29 July, 1971 Sterett set sail from Yokosuka to return to the United States.
After two years Sterett returned to CONUS and entered via San Diego Bay. Sterett spent all of 1971 either in port on, or operating off, the west coast.
On 7 January 1972, Sterett traveled on her second tour of duty off the Vietnamese coast. She departed for the Tonkin Gulf and remained on PIRAZ
PIRAZ
PIRAZ is a United States Navy acronym for Positive Identification RADAR Advisory Zone. The zone is defined by the air search RADAR coverage of a ship patrolling a designated PIRAZ station...
station when on 21 February, 1972 became the first Navy ship to direct the downing of a MiG-21 by Air Force CAP. During her second line period of the deployment, Sterett participated in the downing of two more MiGs (30 March) and brought down another with a salvo of Terrier
RIM-2 Terrier
The Convair RIM-2 Terrier was a two-stage medium-range naval surface-to-air missile , and was among the earliest surface-to-air missiles to equip United States Navy ships. Originally, the Terrier had a launch thrust of 23 kN , and weight of 1392 kg...
missiles during the Dong Hoi engagement on 19 April. Later on that day, she launched a second salvo of Terriers at an unidentified target, probably a Styx
P-15 Termit
The P-15 Termit is an anti-ship missile developed by the Soviet Union's Raduga design bureau in the 1950s. Its GRAU designation was 4K40, its NATO reporting name was Styx or SS-N-2. In Russian service today it also seems to be called the Rubezh...
surface-to-surface missile, destroying it in midair. After adding two more successful pilot rescues to her tally, she returned to Subic Bay on 22 May.
Four months later she returned to San Diego and operated off the west coast for the rest of 1972.
On 25 March, 1973 during transit, Steretts LAMPS helicopter
SH-2 Seasprite
The Kaman SH-2 Seasprite is a ship-based helicopter with anti-submarine, anti-surface threat capability, including over-the-horizon targeting. This aircraft extends and increases shipboard sensor and weapon capabilities against several types of enemy threats, including submarines of all types,...
crashed while ferrying the chaplain between ships for divine services. Fortunately, all crewmen survived.
Sterett participated in one last tour of duty, after the cease fire negotiations, in Vietnam in 1973 that was uneventful. She ended 1973 by docking in San Diego in preparations for regular overhaul to begin in February, 1974.
Sterett was reclassified as guided missile cruiser CG-31 on 30 June 1975. http://sterett.net/public/dlg-31hist.htm
1983
Sterett was involved in the search for the wreckage of Korean Air Lines Flight 007 in late 1983; along with the United States Coast Guard Cutter Munro. Arriving on station September 14th, the Sterett became Flagship of the US Search and Rescue/Salvage Task Force 71 which operated until the beginning of November.1984-1986
In the winter of 1985 Sterett departed her tropical homeport and transited once again to the North Pacific ocean to conduct surveillance on the newest soviet aircraft carrier upon its departure from Vladivostok, Russia. In February 1986 Sterett set sail for Manila Harbor from Subic Bay Naval Base for the possible evacuation of the Philippine presidential family during the People Power Revolution. They were eventually evacuated by the Air Force. Steretts homeport was Subic Bay Naval Station in the Philippines and was the only combatant home ported there.In 1991, Sterett received a comprehensive overhaul including New Threat Upgrade
New Threat Upgrade
-The Program:New Threat Upgrade was a program to improve the anti-aircraft capability of Terrier and Tartar ships. It allowed the full use of newer Standard missiles and improved the interoperability of the radar and computer systems aboard the ships...
(NTU), a major anti-aircraft warfare systems improvement.http://sterett.net/Public/31Ship_tour/cic.htm
After 27 years of service, Sterett was decommissioned on 24 March 1994. She was struck the same day to be scrapped. 29 July 2005, International Shipbreaking Limited of 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...
was contracted to dismantle and recycle ex-Sterett.