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USS Stoddard (DD-566)
Encyclopedia
USS Stoddard (DD-566) was a Fletcher-class
destroyer
of the United States Navy
, named for Master's Mate
James Stoddard
, who was decorated for heroism during the Civil War
. She was the last Fletcher to be stricken from the U.S. Navy, in 1975.
Stoddard was laid down at Seattle, Wash., by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp. on 10 March 1943; launched
on 19 November 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Mildred Gould Holcomb; and commissioned
on 15 April 1944, Commander Horace Meyers in command.
and an availability at Seattle, Stoddard screened a convoy
to Pearl Harbor
, departing the west coast on 16 July and reaching Hawaii
on the 29th. She entered another brief availability period at Pearl Harbor, then headed north. On 8 August, she arrived in Adak, Alaska
, and joined Task Force 94 (TF 94), made up of light cruiser
s Trenton
(CL-11), Concord
(CL-10), Richmond
(CL-9), and the destroyers of Destroyer Division 57 (DesDiv 57).
, located to the northeast of Japan proper and west of the Aleutian Islands. On 14 August 1944, Stoddard sailed with the task force to make her first offensive sweep of those forward enemy positions. Poor weather conditions forced the ships to abandon the mission. Task Force 94 was redesignated TF 92 between that first abortive mission and the second one, begun on 26 August. Foul weather again foiled the American attack, and the task force put into Attu
. The storms were so bad and came so often that TF 92 did not pull off a raid until late November.
During the evening hours of 21 November, the cruisers and destroyers pounded the Japanese installations at Matsuwa, damaging the airfields and other installations heavily. Heavy winds and seas slowed TF 92's retirement to nine knots, but, at the same time, stopped enemy air pursuit. The warships returned safely to Attu on the 25th.
From Adak, DesDiv 113, including Stoddard, was routed to the submarine base at Dutch Harbor. After spending the first two weeks in December at Dutch Harbor, the destroyers put to sea on the 13th and rejoined TF 92. On 3 January 1945, the task force embarked upon another sweep of Japan's Kuril defenses. Two days later, under the cover of snow squalls but with calm seas, the task force bombarded the Surabachi Wan area of Paramushiro, severely damaging canning installations and airfields. TF 92 retired to Attu at high speed and returned to Dutch Harbor on the 13th for a ten-day recreation period.
On 16 January, Stoddard and Rowe
(DD-564) headed south for operational training in the Hawaiian Islands. They arrived at Pearl Harbor on the 22d and departed on 7 February to return to Attu. They reached Massacre Bay
on 13 February, just in time to join the group headed for the bombardment of Kuabu Zaki. The ships put to sea on 16 February and arrived off Paramushiro just after sunset on the 18th. They bombarded the island until midnight and then retired to Attu, where they arrived on the 20th. Three days later, they shifted to Adak for supplies and repairs. They returned to Attu on 8 March. On 15 March, they hit Matsuwa again. From 1 to 17 April, Stoddard joined the task force in exercises in the vicinity of Adak. On the 18th, she and the rest of DesDiv 13 bade farewell to the cold winds and waters of the Aleutians chain.
. Stoddard sailed from Pearl Harbor on 11 May, in the screen of Ticonderoga
(CV-14), bound for Ulithi
. Along the way, Ticonderogas air group got in a little live-ammunition practice on 17 May, when they struck the Japanese forces isolated on Taroa
and the other islets of Maleolap Atoll
. The task group reached the lagoon at Ulithi on 22 May. A week later, Stoddard departed the atoll to take up station off Okinawa.
On 2 June, she arrived off Okinawa and took up radar picket
station. Though the Okinawa campaign
was rapidly nearing its conclusion, the proximity of airfields in Japan and on Formosa
allowed enemy air power to continue to make life unpleasant for the ships around the island. True, the deluge of kamikaze
s had abated, but the skies continued to shower significant numbers of suicide planes. Stoddard covered the withdrawal of several cargo ships on 4 June during a typhoon-evasion maneuver; then returned to her station. At sunset on 7 June, two planes attacked, but both were sent hurtling into the sea before they could reach the ships. During her tour of duty on the picket line, Stoddard claimed two Japanese planes for herself, two assists, and one probable kill.
She cleared Okinawa on 17 June in the screen of Mississippi
(BB-41). Three days later, she passed through Surigao Strait
into Leyte Gulf
. For the remainder of the month, she underwent repairs and took on provisions at San Pedro Bay
. She put to sea again on 1 July, this time in the screen of TF 38, the Fast Carrier Task Force. For the next 45 days, she guarded the carriers as their planes made repeated strikes on the Japanese home islands. Stoddard was detached once during that period of time, on 23 July, to join DesDiv 113 in a bombardment of Chi Chi Jima
in the Bonins. After the cessation of hostilities on 15 August, she continued to cruise the waters near Japan with TF 38 to cover the occupation forces. She cleared Japanese waters from 21 September until 7 October, while she underwent availability at Eniwetok, then returned for training exercises until November.
On 18 November, she departed Japan for the United States. She transited the Panama Canal
a month later and arrived at Philadelphia Navy Yard two days before Christmas. Stoddard went through a yard overhaul until late March 1946, then ferried personnel to Charleston, S.C., in April. She began inactivation overhaul at Charleston Navy Yard on 8 July and was placed out of commission in January 1947.
, and then conducted shakedown cruises at Newport and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
. Stoddard alternated deployments with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea
with overhauls at Philadelphia and operations along the Atlantic seaboard of the United States until December 1954, when she transited the Panama Canal and joined the Pacific Fleet.
In January 1955, she embarked upon her first deployment to the western Pacific since World War II
. Soon after her arrival, she participated in the evacuation of Chinese Nationalist
s from the Tachen Islands. Following that operation, she served on the Taiwan Strait
patrol. Stoddard followed a schedule of deployments to the Far East alternated with west coast operations throughout the remainder of her career. However, during the first 10 years, she concentrated on the South China Sea
-Taiwan Strait area because that was the major trouble spot for the United States in the western Pacific. Although in 1961, the Laotian crisis brought her to the southeast Asia
area, where she would soon concentrate all her efforts.
, principally in the dangerous area, giving gunfire support to American and South Vietnamese troops
operating ashore against the forces of the Viet Cong insurgents and their allies, the North Vietnamese regulars. After upkeep in Japan
and a rest and relaxation period in Hong Kong
, the destroyer joined Independence (CVA-61) on Yankee Station
to serve as plane-guard for the pilots flying missions inland and as screening unit for the carrier herself. By early November, she was back in Japan, preparing to return to America. She departed Sasebo on the 5th and reached San Diego on the 24th.
Stoddard spent the next twelve months operating with the 1st Fleet in the waters off the western coast of the United States. Her primary mission was to maintain operational readiness through training, which ran the gamut from antisubmarine warfare exercises to bombardment drills. On 5 November 1966, the destroyer stood out of San Diego for Pearl Harbor and the western Pacific. She spent two days, 10 and 11 November, in port at Pearl Harbor before continuing on to Japan. She reached Yokosuka on 20 November and remained there until the 26th, when she got underway for Subic Bay
in the Philippines
.
Like the previous one, this deployment was given over entirely to naval support for the American and South Vietnamese forces struggling against Viet Cong and North Vietnamese communists. Stoddard did three tours of duty off Vietnam during this deployment. The first lasted from 2 December 1966 to 4 January 1967 and consisted entirely of plane guard duty with Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) in the Gulf of Tonkin
. After repairs and upkeep at Subic Bay, Stoddard returned to Yankee Station on 17 January. For almost a month, she cruised on Tết Holiday
patrol and participated in Operation Sea Dragon
, the interdiction of enemy waterborne and coastal logistics operations. During that month, she sank 26 small waterborne logistics craft and duelled with shore batteries a number of times.
On 16 February 1967, she returned to Subic Bay for upkeep and, after four days, got underway for a rest and relaxation period at Hong Kong. The destroyer returned to Yankee Station on 3 March for her third and final line period of this deployment. Following five days of plane-guard duty for Kitty Hawk, Stoddard resumed “Sea Dragon” operations. This line period brought about a change in the focus of Operation “Sea Dragon”. Not only did it become more important to the war effort, but a subtle shift in target emphasis required an ever-increasing amount of shore bombardment and counterbattery fire. Stoddard destroyed radar installations and ammunition dumps, pounded staging areas, and silenced shore batteries. The latter, however, scored some minor success on 17 March, when Stoddard assisted in the rescue of a downed American near the mouth of the Song Giap River. She came under intense fire from a battery ashore and sustained one direct hit. She spent the last five days of this line period plane guarding for Hancock (CVA-19).
After stopping at Sasebo and Yokosuka, Stoddard got underway on 20 April to return to the United States. Heading via Midway Island and Pearl Harbor, she arrived at San Diego on 5 May. She spent the remainder of May and the month of June training U.S. Naval Academy
midshipmen; then resumed local operations until 22 September, when she entered Long Beach Naval Shipyard
for overhaul. She completed overhaul on 19 December 1967 and returned to local operations out of San Diego on the following day.
Stoddard served the Navy actively until September 1969. During the last 21 months of her active career, she made one more cruise to the western Pacific, from 10 June to 7 December 1968. She operated with the 1st Fleet along the west coast during the remainder. In September 1969, she was decommissioned and placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Mare Island, Calif.
Stoddard was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register
1 June 1975—the last of the Fletcher-class destroyers to be stricken. She continued to serve as a test platform for the Pacific Missile Range
until 1992, and finally was sunk by Navy SEALS NW of Hawaii 22 July 1997.
and three battle stars for the Vietnam War
.
Fletcher class destroyer
The Fletcher class were a class of destroyers built by the United States during World War II. The class was designed in 1939 as a result of dissatisfaction with the earlier destroyer leader types...
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...
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 Master's Mate
Master's mate
Master's mate is an obsolete rating which was used by the Royal Navy, United States Navy and merchant services in both countries for a senior petty officer who assisted the master...
James Stoddard
James Stoddard (sailor)
James Stoddard was a Union Navy sailor in the American Civil War and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during an engagement in Yazoo City, Mississippi....
, who was decorated for heroism during the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. She was the last Fletcher to be stricken from the U.S. Navy, in 1975.
Stoddard was laid down at Seattle, Wash., by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp. on 10 March 1943; 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 19 November 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Mildred Gould Holcomb; 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 15 April 1944, Commander Horace Meyers in command.
World War II
Following shakedown training out of San DiegoNaval Station San Diego
Naval Base San Diego is the largest base of the United States Navy on the west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. Naval Base San Diego is the principal homeport of the Pacific Fleet, consisting of 54 ships and over 120 tenant commands. The base is composed of 13 piers stretched...
and an availability at Seattle, Stoddard screened a convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
to 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...
, departing the west coast on 16 July and reaching 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...
on the 29th. She entered another brief availability period at Pearl Harbor, then headed north. On 8 August, she arrived in Adak, Alaska
Adak, Alaska
Adak , formerly Adak Station, is a city in the Aleutians West Census Area, Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 326. It is the westernmost municipality in the United States and the southernmost city in Alaska. The city is the former location of the Adak Army Base and Adak...
, and joined Task Force 94 (TF 94), made up of light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
s Trenton
USS Trenton (CL-11)
USS Trenton was an Omaha-class light cruiser of the United States Navy. She was the second Navy ship named for the city of Trenton, New Jersey....
(CL-11), Concord
USS Concord (CL-10)
USS Concord was an Omaha-class light cruiser of the United States Navy. She was the fourth Navy ship named for the town of Concord, Massachusetts, the site of the first battle of the American Revolution....
(CL-10), Richmond
USS Richmond (CL-9)
USS Richmond was an Omaha-class light cruiser of the United States Navy. She was the third Navy ship named for the city of Richmond, Virginia....
(CL-9), and the destroyers of Destroyer Division 57 (DesDiv 57).
North Pacific campaign
The mission of TF 94 was to harass Japanese outposts in the Kuril IslandsKuril Islands
The Kuril Islands , in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, form a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately northeast from Hokkaidō, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many more minor rocks. It consists of Greater...
, located to the northeast of Japan proper and west of the Aleutian Islands. On 14 August 1944, Stoddard sailed with the task force to make her first offensive sweep of those forward enemy positions. Poor weather conditions forced the ships to abandon the mission. Task Force 94 was redesignated TF 92 between that first abortive mission and the second one, begun on 26 August. Foul weather again foiled the American attack, and the task force put into Attu
Attu Island
Attu is the westernmost and largest island in the Near Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, making it the westernmost point of land relative to Alaska and the United States. It was the site of the only World War II land battle fought on the incorporated territory of the United States ,...
. The storms were so bad and came so often that TF 92 did not pull off a raid until late November.
During the evening hours of 21 November, the cruisers and destroyers pounded the Japanese installations at Matsuwa, damaging the airfields and other installations heavily. Heavy winds and seas slowed TF 92's retirement to nine knots, but, at the same time, stopped enemy air pursuit. The warships returned safely to Attu on the 25th.
From Adak, DesDiv 113, including Stoddard, was routed to the submarine base at Dutch Harbor. After spending the first two weeks in December at Dutch Harbor, the destroyers put to sea on the 13th and rejoined TF 92. On 3 January 1945, the task force embarked upon another sweep of Japan's Kuril defenses. Two days later, under the cover of snow squalls but with calm seas, the task force bombarded the Surabachi Wan area of Paramushiro, severely damaging canning installations and airfields. TF 92 retired to Attu at high speed and returned to Dutch Harbor on the 13th for a ten-day recreation period.
On 16 January, Stoddard and Rowe
USS Rowe (DD-564)
USS Rowe was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy, named for Lieutenant John Rowe, who served with Lt. Stephen Decatur during the First Barbary War....
(DD-564) headed south for operational training in the Hawaiian Islands. They arrived at Pearl Harbor on the 22d and departed on 7 February to return to Attu. They reached Massacre Bay
Massacre Bay
Massacre Bay is an inlet on the southeast coast of the island of Attu in the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.Massacre Bay was among the landing sites of United States Army troops in the Battle of Attu in May 1943, which led to the recapture of the island from the Japanese during World War...
on 13 February, just in time to join the group headed for the bombardment of Kuabu Zaki. The ships put to sea on 16 February and arrived off Paramushiro just after sunset on the 18th. They bombarded the island until midnight and then retired to Attu, where they arrived on the 20th. Three days later, they shifted to Adak for supplies and repairs. They returned to Attu on 8 March. On 15 March, they hit Matsuwa again. From 1 to 17 April, Stoddard joined the task force in exercises in the vicinity of Adak. On the 18th, she and the rest of DesDiv 13 bade farewell to the cold winds and waters of the Aleutians chain.
Battle of Okinawa
Stoddard entered Pearl Harbor for the third time on 24 April 1945. For almost a month, her crew enjoyed recreation in the islands and conducted operational training in preparation for assignment to Okinawa and the Fast Carrier Task ForceFast Carrier Task Force
The Fast Carrier Task Force was the main striking force of the United States Navy in the Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II.The Fast Carrier Task Force was known under two designations. The Navy made use of two sets of upper command structures for planning the upcoming operations...
. Stoddard sailed from Pearl Harbor on 11 May, in the screen of Ticonderoga
USS Ticonderoga (CV-14)
USS Ticonderoga was one of 24 s built during World War II for the United States Navy. The ship was the fourth US Navy ship to bear the name, and was named for historic Fort Ticonderoga, which played a role in the American Revolutionary War...
(CV-14), bound for Ulithi
Ulithi
Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...
. Along the way, Ticonderogas air group got in a little live-ammunition practice on 17 May, when they struck the Japanese forces isolated on Taroa
Taroa
Taroa, also known as Tarawa, is an island in the east of Maloelap Atoll in the Marshall Islands. During World War II, it was the site of a major Japanese airfield...
and the other islets of Maleolap Atoll
Maloelap Atoll
The Maloelap Atoll is a coral atoll of 71 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its land area is only,. but that encloses a lagoon of . It is located north of the atoll of Aur...
. The task group reached the lagoon at Ulithi on 22 May. A week later, Stoddard departed the atoll to take up station off Okinawa.
On 2 June, she arrived off Okinawa and took up 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...
station. Though the Okinawa campaign
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945...
was rapidly nearing its conclusion, the proximity of airfields in Japan and on Formosa
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...
allowed enemy air power to continue to make life unpleasant for the ships around the island. True, the deluge of kamikaze
Kamikaze
The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
s had abated, but the skies continued to shower significant numbers of suicide planes. Stoddard covered the withdrawal of several cargo ships on 4 June during a typhoon-evasion maneuver; then returned to her station. At sunset on 7 June, two planes attacked, but both were sent hurtling into the sea before they could reach the ships. During her tour of duty on the picket line, Stoddard claimed two Japanese planes for herself, two assists, and one probable kill.
She cleared Okinawa on 17 June in the screen of Mississippi
USS Mississippi (BB-41)
USS Mississippi , a , was the third ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 20th state, and the second battleship to carry the name. Commissioned in 1917, too late to serve in World War I, she served extensively in the Pacific in World War II, for which she earned eight battle stars...
(BB-41). Three days later, she passed through Surigao Strait
Surigao Strait
Surigao Strait is a body of water in the Philippines located between the islands of Mindanao and Leyte. This strait connects the Bohol Sea with Leyte Gulf and is regularly crossed by ferries that transport goods and people between Visayas and Mindanao...
into Leyte Gulf
Leyte Gulf
Leyte Gulf is a body of water immediately east of the island of Leyte in the Philippines, adjoining the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, at . The Gulf is bounded on the north by the island of Samar, which is separated from Leyte on the west by the narrow San Juanico Strait, and on the south by...
. For the remainder of the month, she underwent repairs and took on provisions at San Pedro Bay
San Pedro Bay (Philippines)
San Pedro Bay is a bay in the Philippines, at the northwest end of Leyte Gulf, about 15 km east-west and 20 km north-south. The bay is bounded on the north and east by Samar and on the east by Leyte Island. It is connected by San Juanico Strait to Carigara Bay of the Samar Sea. The...
. She put to sea again on 1 July, this time in the screen of TF 38, the Fast Carrier Task Force. For the next 45 days, she guarded the carriers as their planes made repeated strikes on the Japanese home islands. Stoddard was detached once during that period of time, on 23 July, to join DesDiv 113 in a bombardment of Chi Chi Jima
Chichi-jima
, formerly known as Peel Island and in the 19th century known to the English as part of the Bonin Islands, is the largest island in the Ogasawara archipelago. Chichi-jima is approximately 150 miles north of Iwo Jima. The island is within the political boundaries of Ogasawara Town, Ogasawara...
in the Bonins. After the cessation of hostilities on 15 August, she continued to cruise the waters near Japan with TF 38 to cover the occupation forces. She cleared Japanese waters from 21 September until 7 October, while she underwent availability at Eniwetok, then returned for training exercises until November.
On 18 November, she departed Japan for the United States. She 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...
a month later and arrived at Philadelphia Navy Yard two days before Christmas. Stoddard went through a yard overhaul until late March 1946, then ferried personnel to Charleston, S.C., in April. She began inactivation overhaul at Charleston Navy Yard on 8 July and was placed out of commission in January 1947.
1950 – 1965
Stoddard remained inactive, berthed with the Charleston Group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, until November 1950 when she was reactivated. Recommissioned on 9 March 1951 Commander Eli T. Reich, in command. She fitted out at Charleston and Newport, R.I.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...
, and then conducted shakedown cruises at Newport and Guantanamo Bay, 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...
. Stoddard alternated deployments with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
with overhauls at Philadelphia and operations along the Atlantic seaboard of the United States until December 1954, when she transited the Panama Canal and joined the Pacific Fleet.
In January 1955, she embarked upon her first deployment to the western Pacific since World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Soon after her arrival, she participated in the evacuation of Chinese Nationalist
Chinese nationalist
Chinese nationalist can refer to:* Chinese nationalism* Kuomintang - Chinese Nationalist Party in Taiwan....
s from the Tachen Islands. Following that operation, she served 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. Stoddard followed a schedule of deployments to the Far East alternated with west coast operations throughout the remainder of her career. However, during the first 10 years, she concentrated on the South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...
-Taiwan Strait area because that was the major trouble spot for the United States in the western Pacific. Although in 1961, the Laotian crisis brought her to the southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
area, where she would soon concentrate all her efforts.
Vietnam War, 1965 – 1968
On 4 June 1965, Stoddard departed from San Diego to begin her annual tour of duty in Asian waters; but this deployment was different. By mid-June, she was operating along the coast of VietnamVietnam
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 –...
, principally in the dangerous area, giving gunfire support to American and South Vietnamese troops
Army of the Republic of Vietnam
The Army of the Republic of Viet Nam , sometimes parsimoniously referred to as the South Vietnamese Army , was the land-based military forces of the Republic of Vietnam , which existed from October 26, 1955 until the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975...
operating ashore against the forces of the Viet Cong insurgents and their allies, the North Vietnamese regulars. After upkeep 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...
and a rest and relaxation period in 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...
, the destroyer joined Independence (CVA-61) 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...
to serve as plane-guard for the pilots flying missions inland and as screening unit for the carrier herself. By early November, she was back in Japan, preparing to return to America. She departed Sasebo on the 5th and reached San Diego on the 24th.
Stoddard spent the next twelve months operating with the 1st Fleet in the waters off the western coast of the United States. Her primary mission was to maintain operational readiness through training, which ran the gamut from antisubmarine warfare exercises to bombardment drills. On 5 November 1966, the destroyer stood out of San Diego for Pearl Harbor and the western Pacific. She spent two days, 10 and 11 November, in port at Pearl Harbor before continuing on to Japan. She reached Yokosuka on 20 November and remained there until the 26th, when she got underway for 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...
.
Like the previous one, this deployment was given over entirely to naval support for the American and South Vietnamese forces struggling against Viet Cong and North Vietnamese communists. Stoddard did three tours of duty off Vietnam during this deployment. The first lasted from 2 December 1966 to 4 January 1967 and consisted entirely of plane guard duty with Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) 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...
. After repairs and upkeep at Subic Bay, Stoddard returned to Yankee Station on 17 January. For almost a month, she cruised on Tết Holiday
Tet
Tet can mean:*Tết or Tết Nguyên Đán, the Vietnamese new year**Tet Offensive, a military campaign that began in 1968*Têt in Roussillon, France*Equal temperament, abbreviated as 12-TET, 19-TET and so on...
patrol and participated in Operation Sea Dragon
Operation Sea Dragon (Vietnam War)
Operation Sea Dragon occurred during the Vietnam War and was a series of American led naval operations beginning in 1966 to interdict sea lines of communications and supply going south from North Vietnam to South Vietnam, and to destroy land targets with naval gunfire, as well give CIA agents in...
, the interdiction of enemy waterborne and coastal logistics operations. During that month, she sank 26 small waterborne logistics craft and duelled with shore batteries a number of times.
On 16 February 1967, she returned to Subic Bay for upkeep and, after four days, got underway for a rest and relaxation period at Hong Kong. The destroyer returned to Yankee Station on 3 March for her third and final line period of this deployment. Following five days of plane-guard duty for Kitty Hawk, Stoddard resumed “Sea Dragon” operations. This line period brought about a change in the focus of Operation “Sea Dragon”. Not only did it become more important to the war effort, but a subtle shift in target emphasis required an ever-increasing amount of shore bombardment and counterbattery fire. Stoddard destroyed radar installations and ammunition dumps, pounded staging areas, and silenced shore batteries. The latter, however, scored some minor success on 17 March, when Stoddard assisted in the rescue of a downed American near the mouth of the Song Giap River. She came under intense fire from a battery ashore and sustained one direct hit. She spent the last five days of this line period plane guarding for Hancock (CVA-19).
After stopping at Sasebo and Yokosuka, Stoddard got underway on 20 April to return to the United States. Heading via Midway Island and Pearl Harbor, she arrived at San Diego on 5 May. She spent the remainder of May and the month of June training U.S. Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
midshipmen; then resumed local operations until 22 September, when she entered Long Beach Naval Shipyard
Long Beach Naval Shipyard
thumb|right|300px|Long Beach Naval Shipyard in 1993The Long Beach Naval Shipyard, which closed in 1997, was located at Terminal Island between the city of Long Beach and the San Pedro district of Los Angeles and approximately 23 miles south of the Los Angeles International Airport.The Long Beach...
for overhaul. She completed overhaul on 19 December 1967 and returned to local operations out of San Diego on the following day.
Stoddard served the Navy actively until September 1969. During the last 21 months of her active career, she made one more cruise to the western Pacific, from 10 June to 7 December 1968. She operated with the 1st Fleet along the west coast during the remainder. In September 1969, she was decommissioned and placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Mare Island, Calif.
Mare Island Naval Shipyard
The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates the peninsula shipyard from the main portion of the...
Stoddard was stricken 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...
1 June 1975—the last of the Fletcher-class destroyers to be stricken. She continued to serve as a test platform for the Pacific Missile Range
Pacific Missile Range
Pacific Missile Range may refer to:* The Western Range, a currently active missile range supporting launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base and elsewhere.* Western Launch and Test Range, a missile range active in the 1960s for tracking ballistic missiles....
until 1992, and finally was sunk by Navy SEALS NW of Hawaii 22 July 1997.
Honors
Stoddard earned three battle stars for World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and three battle stars for 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...
.