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USS Wainwright (DLG-28)
Encyclopedia
USS Wainwright (DLG/CG-28), a , was the third ship 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...
to be named for members of the Wainwright family; specifically, Commander Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, his son, Master Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, Jr.
Jonathan Wainwright, Jr.
Master Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, Jr. , son of Commander Jonathan Wainwright, was an officer in the United States Navy....
, and his cousin, Commander Richard Wainwright, as well as Rear Admiral Richard Wainwright, the son of Commander Richard Wainwright, and Commander Richard Wainwright, the son of Admiral Wainwright. Her keel was laid down on 2 July 1962 at Bath, Maine
Bath, Maine
Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 9,266. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County. Located on the Kennebec River, Bath is a port of entry with a good harbor. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its...
, by the Bath Iron Works
Bath Iron Works
Bath Iron Works is a major American shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, United States. Since its founding in 1884 , BIW has built private, commercial and military vessels, most of which have been ordered by the United States Navy...
Corporation. She 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 25 April 1965 sponsored by Mrs. Richard W. Wainwright; 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 January 1966 at the Boston Naval Shipyard with Captain Robert P. Foreman in command.
Shakedown
Between January and May, the guided missile frigate completed her outfitting at Boston, Massachusetts. On 21 May, she departed Boston, initially to test the Navy's newest sonarSonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
equipment and then to proceed to her home port, Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
. During the months of June, July, and early August, she operated out of that port along the eastern seaboard and in the West Indies. During this period, she made six highly successful missile firings on the Atlantic Fleet weapon range and conducted a three-day search for an unidentified submarine contact. Though no positive identification of the submarine could be made, Wainwright did establish contact with her new long-range sonar and then tracked the vessel for a time.
On 13 August, the ship returned to Charleston for 15 days of upkeep in preparation for shakedown training, upon which she embarked on 28 August. At the conclusion of shakedown, she proceeded to Culebra Island for both gun and Terrier missile shoots. She returned to Charleston in October to prepare for the annual Atlantic Fleet exercise. On 28 November, the guided missile frigate stood out of Charleston for 17 days of drills, including replenishment exercises, weapon coordination drills, and formation steaming maneuvers and tactics. She returned home on 16 December and ended the year in a leave and upkeep status.
Vietnam War
On 6 January 1967, Wainwright got underway for Boston and post-shakedown availability. She concluded that repair period and headed back to Charleston on 15 March. Following local operations there, the guided missile frigate embarked upon her first deployment to the western Pacific on 10 April. She transited the Panama CanalPanama 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 week later and arrived in San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, on 23 April. For almost a month, she conducted exercises off the coast of southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
before heading west on 15 May. After brief stops at 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 Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, Wainwright entered 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...
on 3 June.
Three days later, she arrived on station in the Tonkin Gulf and, on 8 June, took over positive identification radar advisory zone (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...
) duties from . In that capacity, Wainwright maintained constant radar and visual surveillance of the gulf and adjoining coasts for the purpose of identifying all aircraft in the zone and vectoring defensive forces to the interception of any possible airborne enemy intruders. Because of the relative immobility necessary to those duties, she also served as a reference point to guide American strike aircraft to their targets ashore. Since her duties afforded her a continual picture of the events occurring in the air over the zone, she also served as a base for search and rescue
Search and rescue
Search and rescue is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger.The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, mostly based upon terrain considerations...
(SAR) helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
s. During that first line period, one SAR helicopter crashed Wainwrights flight deck area; but the damage proved to be minimal, and the frigate was able to resume full-scale flight operations the following day.
After a three-week upkeep period at Sasebo
Sasebo, Nagasaki
is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. As of 2011, the city has an estimated population of 259,800 and the density of 609 persons per km². The total area is 426.47 km². The locality is famed for its scenic beauty. The city includes a part of Saikai National Park...
, 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 Terrier missile shoot at Okinawa, the warship resumed 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 on 12 August. Her 27 days on station ended on 8 September when she cleared the gulf for a five-day visit to 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 15 September, she stood out of the British colony to return to Vietnamese waters. During that third and final tour, she served as a screen commander for two of the attack aircraft carriers operating 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...
" located in the southern reaches of the Tonkin Gulf as well as antiaircraft warfare command ship for all of Task Force (TF) 77. On 28 September, Wainwright completed her final assignment in the combat zone and departed the Tonkin Gulf. En route home, she visited Subic Bay; Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, 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...
; Wellington, New Zealand; and Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
. The warship retransited the Panama Canal on 12 November and reentered Charleston four days later.
The guided missile frigate ended 1967 and began 1968 at Charleston. On 19 January 1968, she exited her home port and headed for Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
, where she served as school ship for the Destroyer School from 21 January to 3 February before returning to Charleston on 5 February. Her operations from her home port, including Operation "Rugby Match" exercises in the West Indies, lasted until she sailed for the western Pacific on 24 June. The warship transited the Panama Canal on 29 June, stopped briefly at Pearl Harbor from 11 July to 15 July and at Guam on 21 July, and arrived at Subic Bay on 26 July. Four days later, she embarked upon the first tour of combat duty of her 1968 deployment. She stopped at Da Nang
Da Nang
Đà Nẵng , occasionally Danang, is a major port city in the South Central Coast of Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea at the mouth of the Han River. It is the commercial and educational center of Central Vietnam; its well-sheltered, easily accessible port and its location on the path of...
for briefings on 2 August and then relieved 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 on 4 August. During the following 41 days, she left her station only once — to evade a typhoon — and returned immediately after the storm passed. On 14 September, she turned 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...
duties back over to Sterett and steamed off for a month of port visits which included a brief upkeep period at Subic Bay followed by calls at Hong Kong and Yokosuka. On 13 October, she headed from Japan directly to the 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 and relieved Sterett once more. The 27 days of her second line period passed even more routinely than those of the first, and she cleared the Tonkin Gulf on 15 November for a four-day upkeep in Sasebo from 19 November to 23 November. Back on station on 28 November, Wainwright concluded the year as the Navy's air coordinator in the northern portion of the Tonkin Gulf.
The warship spent the first three days of 1969 winding up her third and final tour of duty 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...
ship and then set a course for the Philippines, the first pause on her way home. After stopping at Subic Bay from 5 January to 9 January, she continued her roundabout voyage to Charleston, stopping along the way at Sydney, Australia; Auckland, New Zealand; and Papeete
Papeete
-Sights:* Interactive Google map of Papeete, to discover the 30 major tourist attractions in Papeete downtown.*The waterfront esplanade*Bougainville Park -Sights:* Interactive Google map of Papeete, to discover the 30 major tourist attractions in Papeete downtown.*The waterfront...
, Tahiti. She passed back through the Panama Canal on 11 February, stopped at St. Thomas
Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Thomas is an island in the Caribbean Sea and with the islands of Saint John, Saint Croix, and Water Island a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of...
for a two-day visit on 15 February, and reached Charleston on 21 February.
Following a month of leave and upkeep, Wainwright underwent a whole series of inspections at Charleston that spring. During the middle of May, she steamed north to Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, where she participated in the Presidential Seapower Demonstration conducted in the Virginia Capes operating area. At the conclusion of that event on 19 May, she headed south for the multifaceted combat exercise, "Exotic Dancer." For the first two weeks of June, Wainwright remained in the West Indies and participated in the NATO antisubmarine warfare exercise, "Spark Plug", along with ships of the navies of 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...
, Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. That exercise ended on 11 June, and the frigate proceeded to Newport where she disembarked the Commander, Cruiser-Destroyer Flotilla 2. She returned to Charleston on 16 June and spent all but two days of the next two months in port. On 18 August, Wainwright entered the Charleston Naval Shipyard
Charleston Naval Shipyard
Charleston Naval Shipyard was a U.S. Navy ship building and repair facility located along the west bank of the Cooper River, in North Charleston, South Carolina and part of Naval Base Charleston...
for her first regular overhaul.
On 16 February 1970, the ship returned to operational status. Training off the Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
coast followed by more of the same off the Virginia Capes occupied her until mid-March. After three days in Charleston, Wainwright got underway for gunnery and missile shoots on the Atlantic Fleet weapons range near Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
. Refresher training out of 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...
followed in April, but it was interrupted by two special assignments. On 26 April, she received orders to intercept three Haitian Coast Guard
Haitian Coast Guard
The Haitian Coast Guard, officially the Coast Guard Commission , is an operational unit of the Haitian National Police. It is one of the few law enforcement organisations in the world to combine water policing and coast guard duties while remaining as a policing unit...
vessels fleeing that country in the wake of an unsuccessful coup. The ship encountered one near the entrance to Guantanamo Bay; but, observing American port officials boarding the ship peacefully, she continued on her way. Later, Wainwright found the other two ships and escorted them back to Guantanamo Bay for temporary asylum. Later, on 10 May, she put to sea to intercept quite a different force — a Soviet task group. That night, she came upon two of the Russian ships, a guided missile cruiser and a guided missile destroyer
Guided missile destroyer
A guided missile destroyer is a destroyer designed to launch guided missiles. Many are also equipped to carry out anti-submarine, anti-air, and anti-surface operations. In the U.S...
. The following day, two submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s, an oiler, and a submarine tender
Submarine tender
A submarine tender is a type of ship that supplies and supports submarines.Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally do not have the ability to carry large amounts of food, fuel, torpedoes, and other supplies, nor to carry a full array of maintenance equipment and...
rendezvoused with the first two ships; and all six entered port at Cienfuegos, Cuba, on 14 May. The next day, Wainwright returned to Guantanamo Bay to resume refresher training. Less than a month later, on 12 June, she moored at Charleston for two months of upkeep and training in preparation for her forthcoming deployment to the Far East.
On 25 August, the guided missile frigate stood out of Charleston, bound for her third and final deployment to the western Pacific in conjunction with 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...
. Steaming via the Panama Canal and Pearl Harbor, she arrived in Yokosuka, Japan, on 21 September. For almost two months, she conducted operations in Japanese waters, primarily bilateral ASW exercises in 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...
with units of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force. Periodically, the warship put into Yokosuka and Sasebo for upkeep and liberty.
Wainwright departed Japan on 14 November and headed via 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...
for the Tonkin Gulf. On 20 November, she relieved 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 and took up familiar duty as the American air coordinator in the northern part of the gulf. That assignment proved very brief for, on the following day, relieved Wainwright; and the guided missile frigate moved on to new duties as the coordinator ship assigned to the north SAR station. For almost a month, she alternated between north and south SAR stations, taking time briefly in mid-December to participate in Operation "Beacon Tower", a three-day exercise to test the readiness of American warships in the Tonkin Gulf to meet and deal with air and surface attacks. On 16 December, Wainwright left the combat zone, bound for Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, where she remained from 19 December to 26 December. From there, she set a course for the Philippines and arrived in Subic Bay on 29 December.
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...
duties and assignments as the northern SAR ship.
After a final two-day stop at Subic Bay, Wainwright began the long voyage back to Charleston which took her through the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
, around the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
, and across the southern Atlantic to complete her first circumnavigation of the globe. Along the way, she made a series of calls at African and South American ports, beginning with Djibouti
Djibouti
Djibouti , officially the Republic of Djibouti , is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the east...
in French Somaliland
French Somaliland
French Somaliland was a French colony in the Horn of Africa. Established after the French signed various treaties between 1883 and 1887 with the then ruling Somali Sultans, the colony lasted from 1896 until 1946, when it became an overseas territory of France....
. From there, she headed for Massawa
Massawa
Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa (Ge'ez ምጽዋዕ , formerly ባጽዕ is a city on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. An important port for many centuries, it was ruled by a succession of polities, including the Axumite Empire, the Umayyad Caliphate,...
, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, where she participated in the celebration of the Ethiopian Navy Day, during which she joined ships of other nations in observing the graduation of midshipmen from the Ethiopian Naval Academy and hosted then-Emperor Haile Selassie I on board. She rounded out her African itinerary with calls at Diego Suarez
Antsiranana
Antsiranana , named Diego-Suarez prior to 1975, is a city at the northern tip of Madagascar.Antsiranana is the capital of Diana Region.-Transports:...
, Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, and at Lourenço Marques
Maputo
Maputo, also known as Lourenço Marques, is the capital and largest city of Mozambique. It is known as the City of Acacias in reference to acacia trees commonly found along its avenues and the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. It was famous for the inscription "This is Portugal" on the walkway of its...
, Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
, before rounding the cape and heading across the Atlantic toward Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. Visits 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...
and Recife
Recife
Recife is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Brazil with 4,136,506 inhabitants, the largest metropolitan area of the North/Northeast Regions, the 5th-largest metropolitan influence area in Brazil, and the capital and largest city of the state of Pernambuco. The population of the city proper...
in Brazil and at St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
preceded gunfire support training and a missile shoot at Culebra Island. On 2 April, Wainwright steamed into Charleston and began an extended standdown period.
Wainwright received four 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...
.
Post Vietnam service
Upon completion of a 59-day post-deployment stand-down, Wainwright resumed operations early in June as a unit of the Atlantic Fleet Cruiser-Destroyer Force. She spent much of June in the Caribbean SeaCaribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
undergoing gunnery and missile training and returned to Charleston on 19 June. Four days later, work began on the installation of a Light Airborne Multipurpose System (LAMPS). Those modifications were completed by mid-July, and Wainwright occupied the following four months with operations along the eastern seaboard in conjunction with the initial evaluation of her LAMPS helicopter. A tender availability followed by the conversion of her propulsion plant to burn Navy distillate fuel brought the year to a close at Charleston. The warship completed the conversion on 11 January 1972 and had resumed operations at sea out of Charleston by 24 January. For the next nine months, she tested her new LAMPS installation, made port visits to Atlantic and gulf coast ports, and participated in the usual Second Fleet exercises. Those duties took her from the southeastern coast of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
to the West Indies and thence as far north as Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
. By late November, she was at Charleston preparing for her first tour of duty 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...
.
On 1 December, Wainwright stood out of Charleston and set a course for Rota, Spain
Rota, Spain
-External references:*, official website * On-line since 1999! News, premiere information, pictures, weather, etc. Into Spanish, English... ****- External links :...
, where she arrived on 10 December. After changing operational control from the Second Fleet to the Sixth Fleet, the guided missile frigate departed Rota on 11 December and entered the Mediterranean Sea. Conducting ASW and antiair warfare (AAW) exercises, the warship headed across the Mediterranean, stopping at Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
from 20 December to 26 December and arriving in Naples, Italy, on 30 December. She departed that port on 6 January 1973, and headed for the Ionian Sea
Ionian Sea
The Ionian Sea , is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea. It is bounded by southern Italy including Calabria, Sicily and the Salento peninsula to the west, southern Albania to the north, and a large number of Greek islands, including Corfu, Zante, Kephalonia, Ithaka, and...
. During ASW exercises in Greek waters, Wainwright contacted, tracked, and positively identified four Soviet submarines in spite of their strenuous efforts to evade.
Upon completing those exercises, she headed for the southern coast of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, arriving in Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
on 17 January for a two-day visit. More AAW exercises followed, as did port visits to Palma de Mallorca
Palma de Mallorca
Palma is the major city and port on the island of Majorca and capital city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. The names Ciutat de Mallorca and Ciutat were used before the War of the Spanish Succession and are still used by people in Majorca. However, the official name...
, Málaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
, and Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
. On 17 February, she departed Genoa in company with the Italian cruiser Vittorio Veneto
Italian cruiser Vittorio Veneto
Vittorio Veneto is a helicopter cruiser that served with the Italian Marina Militare, the Italian navy. Originally it was intended to be a class of two ships specifically designed for anti-submarine warfare , but only Vittorio Veneto entered into service in 1969, its sister ship Italia being...
to participate in National Week XV, a multinational naval exercise of broad scope conducted across the Central Mediterranean. In addition to the Americans and Italians, units of the Greek and Turkish navies also participated in drills and battle exercises extending westward from Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
to the Strait of Messina
Strait of Messina
The Strait of Messina is the narrow passage between the eastern tip of Sicily and the southern tip of Calabria in the south of Italy. It connects the Tyrrhenian Sea with the Ionian Sea, within the central Mediterranean...
between Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
and the toe of the Italian boot.
After National Week XV, Wainwright punctuated a series of Sixth Fleet ASW and AAW exercises with visits to many of the ports already mentioned as well as at Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Civitavecchia
Civitavecchia
Civitavecchia is a town and comune of the province of Rome in the central Italian region of Lazio. A sea port on the Tyrrhenian Sea, it is located 80 kilometers west-north-west of Rome, across the Mignone river. The harbor is formed by two piers and a breakwater, on which is a lighthouse...
, Livorno
Livorno
Livorno , traditionally Leghorn , is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 160,000 residents in 2009.- History :...
, and Golfe Juan. On 17 June, she steamed from Palma de Mallorca through the Strait of Gibraltar
Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain in Europe from Morocco in Africa. The name comes from Gibraltar, which in turn originates from the Arabic Jebel Tariq , albeit the Arab name for the Strait is Bab el-Zakat or...
to Rota on the Atlantic coast of Spain. There, she turned her duties over to
on 21 June.
That same day, she departed Rota for Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, where she joined and in preparation for a transatlantic exercise to test the concept of the sea control ship. The three warships departed Lisbon on 28 June. The exercise lasted from 28 June to 8 July, during which time Wainwright vectored Guam-based Harrier II aircraft to the interception of two Soviet "Bear" aircraft
Tupolev Tu-95
The Tupolev Tu-95 is a large, four-engine turboprop-powered strategic bomber and missile platform. First flown in 1952, the Tu-95 entered service with the former Soviet Union in 1956 and is expected to serve the Russian Air Force until at least 2040...
. Just before the conclusion of the exercise on 8 July, Wainwright ventured across the Arctic Circle
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....
briefly before setting a course for Charleston. The guided missile frigate concluded her first Mediterranean deployment on 20 July and began her standdown period at Charleston. On 10 September, she entered the Charleston Naval Shipyard for her second regular overhaul.
Wainwright completed sea trials, the final phase of overhaul, between 10 June and 14 June 1974 and officially rejoined the Atlantic Fleet on 20 June at the Charleston Naval Station. For the remainder of the year, the warship was busy with refresher training, a myriad of tests, qualifications, inspections, and evaluations, and other normal Second Fleet operations conducted along the southern Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean. The beginning of 1975 brought another period in drydock, this time at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard
Norfolk Naval Shipyard
The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard and abbreviated as NNSY, is a U.S. Navy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia, for building, remodeling, and repairing the Navy's ships. It's the oldest and largest industrial facility that belongs to the U.S. Navy as well as the most...
, for repairs to her sonar dome. She returned to Charleston on 1 February 1975 and resumed tests and inspections in preparation for her second deployment to European waters.
On 5 March, she stood down the Cooper River
Cooper River (South Carolina)
The Cooper River is a mainly tidal river in the U.S. state of South Carolina. These cities are located along the river, Mt. Pleasant, Charleston, North Charleston, Goose Creek and Hanahan. Short and wide, it is joined first by the blackwater East Branch, then farther downstream, the tidal Wando River...
on her way to Europe. En route to the Mediterranean, the guided missile frigate joined and in a series of ASW, surface, and air action drills, at the conclusion of which Wainwright continued on her way to Spain.
She changed operational control to the Sixth Fleet while at Rota between 15 and 17 March. The warship entered the "middle sea" on the latter date and arrived in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, her first Mediterranean port of call, on 22 March. As during her previous Mediterranean cruise, she engaged in one training exercise after another, but interrupted that schedule almost as frequently for port calls all along the Mediterranean coast of Europe. Late in April, a missile-firing exercise was interrupted by a snoopy Soviet destroyer and had to be postponed until the following day.
June proved to be an important month in Wainwrights history, for it was during the latter part of that month that she transited the Straits of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart the Bosphorus. It is located at approximately...
into the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
and became the first American ship to visit Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, at the port city of Constanţa
Constanta
Constanța is the oldest extant city in Romania, founded around 600 BC. The city is located in the Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast. It is the capital of Constanța County and the largest city in the region....
, in 49 years. After concluding that visit on 24 June and passing back into the Mediterranean on 25 June, she conducted a brief surveillance of the Soviet helicopter carrier Leningrad before resuming her schedule of training exercises and port visits. On 30 June, Wainwright was redesignated a guided missile cruiser, CG-28. Her second tour of duty with the Sixth Fleet lasted until late August. On 22 August, she made a one-day stop at Rota; then headed home. Nine days later, she moored at Charleston and, for the remainder of the year, resumed a routine of Second Fleet operations, inspections, and upkeep.
Following a spring of special operations and underway training out of Charleston, Wainwright got underway on 30 June for New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and her big events for 1976: the International Naval Review and Operation "Sail", both in honor of the United States' Bicentennial birthday. To the guided missile cruiser went the signal honor of being the focal point of both events, serving as flagship for the naval review and as reviewing ship for Operation "Sail." During her service in those two capacities, she entertained Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Nelson D. Rockefeller, Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...
, Admiral James L. Holloway III
James L. Holloway III
James Lemuel Holloway III is a retired United States Navy admiral and naval aviator who was highly decorated for his actions during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. After the Vietnam War, he was posted to The Pentagon, where he established the Navy's Nuclear Powered Carrier...
, Chief of Naval Operations
Chief of Naval Operations
The Chief of Naval Operations is a statutory office held by a four-star admiral in the United States Navy, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Navy. The office is a military adviser and deputy to the Secretary of the Navy...
, and Admiral Shanahan, Commander, Second Fleet. On 6 July, the ship departed New York and headed back to Charleston to resume her more mundane schedule of special operations and training cruises. That routine, spiced liberally with tests, inspections, evaluations, and certifications. saw her through the Bicentennial year and the first three months of 1977.
On 31 March 1977, Wainwright embarked upon her third deployment to the Mediterranean. She joined the Sixth Fleet officially upon arrival in Rota on 12 April and actually entered the Mediterranean the following day. Port visits and an almost incessant schedule of training exercises — ASW drills, AAW practice, missile shoots, multinational and bilateral exercises — occupied her once again. During June, she visited the Black Sea once more, but otherwise, her routine was similar to that she had experienced in previous tours of duty with the Sixth Fleet. She concluded her Mediterranean operations at Rota at the end of the first week in October and arrived back in Charleston on 21 October. For the remaining two months of 1977, typical Second Fleet operations out of Charleston filled her schedule.
January 1978 was spent in grooming for a multi-threat training exercise, "READEX 1-78", which took place in February in the southern Florida and Caribbean operating areas. Returning to Charleston late in the month, Wainwright entered the Charleston Naval Shipyard on 23 February for the commencement of a scheduled 13-month overhaul which concluded in March 1979.
10 years of service go here.
Operation Praying Mantis
On 18 April 1988 the USS Wainwright participated in Operation Praying MantisOperation Praying Mantis
Operation Praying Mantis was an attack on April 18, 1988, by U.S. naval forces within Iranian territorial waters in retaliation for the Iranian mining of the Persian Gulf during the Iran Iraq war and the subsequent damage to an American warship....
. Operation Praying Mantis was the 18 April 1988 action waged by U.S. naval forces in retaliation for the Iranian mining of an American warship.
The 14 April mining nearly sank the guided missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts, which was sailing in the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
as part of Operation Earnest Will, the 1987-88 convoy missions in which U.S. warships escorted reflagged Kuwaiti oil tankers to protect them from Iranian attacks.
After the mining, U.S. Navy divers recovered other mines in the area. The serial numbers matched those of mines seized along with the Iran Ajr the previous September.
By the time the Roberts was towed to Dubai on 15 April, battered but saved with no loss of life, U.S. planning for the retaliatory operation had already begun in Washington and in the Middle East.
The battle, the largest for American surface forces since World War II,[1] sank two Iranian warships and as many as six armed speedboats. It also marked the first surface-to-surface missile engagement in U.S. Navy history.
The attack by the U.S. helped pressure Iran to agree to a ceasefire with Iraq later that summer, ending the eight-year conflict between the Persian Gulf neighbors.
On 18 April 1988, the Americans responded with several groups of surface warships, plus airplanes from the carrier USS Enterprise. The action began with coordinated strikes by two surface groups. One group, consisting of two destroyers and the amphibious transport dock USS Trenton, attacked the Sassan oil platform while the other, which included the guided missile cruiser, Wainwright and two frigates, attacked the Sirri oil platform. U.S. Marines from Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) 2-88 fast-roped onto the Sassan platform, gathered intelligence, and set explosives to disable it.
Iran responded by dispatching Boghammar speedboats to attack various targets in the Persian Gulf, including an American-flagged supply ship and a Panamanian-flagged ship. After these attacks, A-6E Intruder aircraft from VA-95 were vectored in on the speedboats by an American frigate. The two aircraft, piloted by Lieutenant Commander James Engler and Lieutenant Paul Webb dropped Rockeye cluster bombs on the speedboats, sinking one and damaging several others.
Action continued to escalate. Joshan, an Iranian Combattante II Kaman-class fast attack craft, challenged USS Wainwright (CG-28) and her surface group, firing a Harpoon missile at Wainwright. Wainwright responded to the challenge by firing four Standard missiles. After damage assessment of Joshan, USS Bagley (FF-1069) fired one Harpoon missile at Joshan; however, Joshan's superstructure had been destroyed by the previous attacks, so the missile did not strike the target. The three ships of Surface Action Group Charlie closed on the Joshan, destroying it with naval gunfire.
Fighting continued when the Iranian frigate Sahand departed Bandar Abbas and challenged elements of an American surface group. She was observed by two VA-95 A-6Es while they were flying surface combat air patrol for USS Joseph Strauss (DDG-16).
Sahand launched missiles at the A-6Es, and the Intruders replied with launches of two Harpoons and four laser-guided Skipper bombs. This was followed by a Harpoon firing from Joseph Strauss. The weapons delivered against Sahand were successful.
By the end of the operation, elements of the American fleet had damaged Iranian naval and intelligence facilities on two inoperable oil platforms in the Persian Gulf and sunk at least six armed Iranian speedboats. Sabalan was repaired in 1989 and has since been upgraded and is still in service with the Iranian navy. In short, Iran lost one major warship and a smaller gunboat. Damage to the oil platforms was eventually repaired, and they are now back in service.
The U.S. side took two casualties: the aircrew of a Marine Corps AH-1T Sea Cobra gunship. The Cobra, attached to the USS Trenton, was flying reconnaissance from the Wainwright and crashed sometime after dark about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Abu Musa island. The bodies of Capt. Stephen C. Leslie, 30, of New Bern, N.C., and Capt. Kenneth W. Hill, 33, of Thomasville, N.C., were recovered by Navy divers in May, and the wreckage of the helicopter was raised later that month. Navy officials said it showed no sign of battle damage, though the aircraft could have crashed while trying to evade Iranian fire.
The guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes was called to protect the extraction of the Roberts and arrived a month later. The heightened tensions contributed to the crew of the Vincennes mistakenly shooting down a commercial airliner on a routine flight, Iran Air Flight 655, killing all 290 crew and passengers on 3 July, less than 2 months after their arrival.
Operation Praying Mantis is one of five American naval engagements cited by United States Naval Academy Prof. Craig L. Symonds in his book Decision at Sea (2005) as being decisive in establishing U.S. naval superiority. The others were the Battle of Lake Erie (1813), the Battle of Hampton Roads (1862), the Battle of Manila Bay (1898), and the Battle of Midway (1942).
On 6 November 2003 the International Court of Justice dismissed Iran's claim for reparation against the United States for breach of the 1955 Treaty of Amity between the two countries. The court also dismissed a counter-claim by the United States, also for reparation for breach of the same treaty. As part of its finding the court did note that "the actions of the United States of America against Iranian oil platforms on 19 October 1987 (Operation Nimble Archer) and 18 April 1988 (Operation Praying Mantis) cannot be justified as measures necessary to protect the essential security interests of the United States of America." The Court also ruled that it, "...cannot however uphold the submission of the Islamic Republic of Iran that those actions constitute a breach of the obligations of the United States of America under Article X, paragraph 1, of that Treaty, regarding freedom of commerce between the territories of the parties, and that, accordingly, the claim of the Islamic Republic of Iran for reparation also cannot be upheld;"
Fate
Wainwright decommissionedShip decommissioning
To decommission a ship is to terminate her career in service in the armed forces of her nation. A somber occasion, it has little of the elaborate ceremony of ship commissioning, but carries significant tradition....
on 15 November 1993 and was mothballed for most of a decade. On 11 June 2002, ex-Wainwright was used as a live fire target and struck by two Harpoon missiles from . Remaining afloat overnight, she was attacked the next day by Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
attack submarine which hit Wainright with a Spearfish torpedo
Spearfish torpedo
The Spearfish torpedo is the heavy torpedo used by the submarines of the Royal Navy. It can be guided by wire or by autonomous active or passive sonar, and provides both anti-submarine warfare and anti-surface ship warfare capability.It replaces the unreliable Tigerfish torpedo, which was...
, severing the bow. US aircraft then attacked Wainwright before she was scuttled with explosive charges.