_underway_at_sea%2c_in_the_1960s.jpg) USSGridley (CG-21) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Gridley |
| Namesake | Charles Vernon Gridley |
| Builder | Puget Sound Bridge and Drydock Company,Seattle, Washington |
| Laid down | 15 July 1960 |
| Launched | 31 July 1961 |
| Commissioned | 25 May 1963 |
| Decommissioned | 10 September 1968 |
| Recommissioned | 17 January 1970 |
| Decommissioned | 21 January 1994 |
| Reclassified | CG-21 on 30 June 1975 |
| Stricken | 21 January 1994 |
| Motto | World's Greatest Cruiser[citation needed] |
| Fate | Sold for scrap to International Shipbreaking LTD, Brownsville, TX. 4 October 2003.Reacquired from MARAD 23 January 2004. Scrapping completed on 31 March 2005. |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Leahy-class cruiser |
| Displacement | 7400 tons |
| Length | 533 feet |
| Beam | 53 feet |
| Draft | 26 feet |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 30 knots |
| Complement | 373 officers and men |
| Sensors & processing systems | |
| Electronic warfare & decoys | |
| Armament | four3 in (76 mm)/50 guns (Later replaced by 8Harpoon anti-ship missiles), twoMk 32 SVTT Mounts with threeMk 46 torpedoes each, fourTerrier missile launchers (Later replaced with Standard Missiles), oneASROC launcher, 2Phalanx CIWS Mounts ('70's era and later) |
USS Gridley (DLG-21/CG-21), aLeahy-class guided missilecruiser, was the third ship of theUnited States Navy to be named afterCharles Vernon Gridley, who distinguished himself with AdmiralGeorge Dewey's force at theBattle of Manila Bay on 1 May 1898.
Her keel was laid down by thePuget Sound Bridge and Drydock Company ofSeattle, Washington. She waslaunched on 31 July 1961 sponsored by Mrs. Stuart D. Rose, great-granddaughter of Captain Gridley, andcommissioned on 25 May 1963.[1]
After outfitting atPuget Sound Naval Shipyard inBremerton, Washington,Gridley made a goodwill visit toBritish Columbia and then conducted acceptance trials out of her homeport,Long Beach, California. The new cruiser returned to Puget Sound Shipyard from 8 November to 9 December 1963, after which she joined the Pacific Fleet as "planned" flagship of Destroyer Squadron 19.[1]
Following shakedown out ofSan Diego, California, early in 1964,Gridley departed Long Beach 8 April and steamed viaPearl Harbor toAustralia for commemoration of theBattle of the Coral Sea, arrivingAdelaide,South Australia, on 5 May. "Gridley" also visited Perth and Geraldton on the western coast of Australia. The frigate next headed for thePhilippines, stopping atSubic Bay on 29 May through 31 May, before proceeding toOkinawa on 2 June andSasebo,Japan, on 8 June.[1]
Heading south once more, she returned toSubic Bay and visitedHong Kong. On 4 August, she got underway for theSouth China Sea escorting the aircraft carrierUSS Constellation to strengthen American naval forces offVietnam after Communist motor torpedo boats had attackeddestroyersUSS Maddox andUSS Turner Joy (companion members of DESRON-19) in theGulf of Tonkin. But for a brief visit toSubic Bay, she remained on station serving screening and picket duty, coordinating antiaircraft warfare efforts, and relaying communications. Before she left the fighting zone 6 September, the ship's competent and dedicated service won her theNavy Unit Commendation. She departedSubic Bay on 7 November and reached Long Beach on 21 November.[1]
Gridley operated along the West Coast until heading back to the Western Pacific 10 July 1965. Stopping atPearl Harbor andYokosuka en route, she steamed to theSouth China Sea to support aircraft carriers of theSeventh Fleet as the flattops attacked targets inVietnam. On four occasions in the next four months, she rescued pilots who ditched at sea. She returned toYokosuka on 7 December but resumed station in theSouth China Sea on 22 December to serve as "Tomcat," responsible for checking-in planes returning to their carriers. Early in 1966 she headed for home and reached Long Beach 1 February.[1]
In 1965Gridley was runner up of the Capt. Edward F. Ney Memorial Award, for the best feeding food ship in the Navy.(Medium afloat class) In 1966, the destroyer leader won the Capt. Edward F. Ney Memorial Award, for the best feeding food ship in the navy (Medium afloat class).[2]In that same time period, a letter of Commendation from the Commander Cruiser Destroyer Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, to the Gridley Commanding Officer A. M. Sackett, stated, the Gridley won the Battle Efficiency Competition within Destroyer Squadron NINETEEN for the period ending 30 June 1966. The Gridley had also won the Supply Efficiency Award.[3]Gridley operated along the California coast until sailing for the Orient 18 November. She left Subic Bay 2 January 1967 for plane guard duty in the China Sea and theGulf of Tonkin. After varied duties in the fighting zone, she sailed forAustralia en route to the West Coast and arrived Long Beach 8 June to prepare for future action.[1]
On 8 June 1967 EnsignJohn Kerry reported on board for his first tour of sea duty. His tour ended a year later, on 6 June 1968, whenGridley returned from her deployment.
On 20 November 1970, after being re-commissioned having received a major overhaul of radar, sonar and anti-air and anti-submarine warfare weapons systems makingGridley the first ship of her class to be outfitted withNTDS. With stops at Pearl Harbor, Subic Bay, Yokohama, Yokosuka and Sasebo. Served as "shotgun" for the aircraft carriersUSS Ranger, USSConstellation andUSS Kitty Hawk in the Gulf of Tonkin.[citation needed]
In 1972,Gridley was the first ship of the class to be fitted with digital missile fire control systems providing her with the capability to fire Standard Missile Type 2. Several years later, the 3 in/50s were replaced by 8 AGM-84Harpoon missiles and 2Phalanx CIWS were added.[citation needed]
Gridley was reclassified as a guided missile cruiser withhull classification symbol CG-21 on 30 June 1975. That year, she provided air traffic control and on-station support during "Operation Frequent Wind", the evacuation during the collapse ofSouth Vietnam.Gridley was also on-station air traffic controller during theMayagüez incident.Gridley was based in Subic Bay, Philippines, during the 1975 Westpac. During the 1975 year,Gridley appears to have been part ofCruiser-Destroyer Group 3.
In 1976,Gridley made a Westpac tour. During her trip across the Pacific,Gridley transited the 180th parallel (theInternational Date Line) at midnight 3 July.Gridley went directly from 3 to 5 July, resulting in her crew being the few Americans to miss the 200th anniversary of Independence Day. (Gridley celebrated the missing 4 July upon crossing the dateline in December, when an extra day is gained.)[4]
During the 1976 Westpac,Gridley was based in Yokosuka, Japan.
On 21 August 1976,Gridley was involved in the fallout ofAxe Murder Incident. This involved the murder of two U.S. Army officers by North Korean soldiers.Gridley was in-port in Yokosuka, Japan when this event happened; by the next morning the entireUSS Midway battle group was underway and stood off the coast of Korea for nearly a month.
In early 1980Gridley and the frigateUSS Barbey escorted theUSS Okinawa Battle Group/ 31st MEU from Pearl Harbor as a reserve in what culminated as Operation Eagle Claw, the effort to rescue the Iranian Embassy hostages. These 31st MEU deployments routinely included the Indian Ocean with port calls from Busan to Mombasa to include Diego Garcia.
In 1981 the ship deployed with Battle Group Charlie to the Middle East.[5]
Upon returning toSan Diego, California, in March 1982,Gridley was once again operating in SouthernCalifornia waters, until October when she returned toLong Beach Naval Shipyard for an extensive upgrade and an overhaul of all engineering machinery. More upgrades were made to the ship's fire control and air searchradars, sonar system was upgraded from the AN/SQS-23 to the AN/SQQ-23 PAIR, and the Phalanx close-in weapon system was installed during 1982.Gridley returned to the operational fleet in October 1983.
In July 1987Gridley was part of the USSRanger battle group, conducting strikes against Iranian oil platforms duringOperation Nimble Archer, returning to San Diego in January 1988. The ship then departedSan Diego, California for thePersian Gulf on 15 December 1988, operating with theSpruance-class destroyerUSS John Young to escort reflaggedKuwaiti oil tankers through theStrait of Hormuz duringOperation Earnest Will. While homeward bound, transiting the South China Sea,Gridley rescued Vietnamese refugees sighted in a small boat off of the coast ofVietnam. A Vietnamese-speaking crewman aboardGridley was able to translate for those rescued, facilitating the process. The crew was awarded theHumanitarian Service Medal for their rescue efforts.
Gridley returned to San Diego in June 1989. On 17 October of that year, the ship's visit to Naval Station,Treasure Island, San Francisco, was interrupted by the 6.9MwLoma Prieta earthquake that struck theSan Francisco Bay area.Gridley's crew provided assistance to victims in San Francisco's severely damaged Marina district, and was awarded theHumanitarian Service Medal for disaster recovery efforts.
From February 1990 until March 1991,Gridley received theNew Threat Upgrade at Southwest Marine Shipyard inSan Diego, California. During the US$55 million overhaul, all engineering, berthing and food service areas were upgraded, and the ship's combat systems were dramatically enhanced. Improvements to the air search radars and Combat Direction System improved the ship's ability to detect and engage multiple air threats with itsSM-1ER and SM-2ER surface-to-air missiles.
Following an extensive operational evaluation and qualification phase,Gridley deployed to thePersian Gulf, the ship operated in support of the aircraft carrierUSS Independence.Gridley rescued the disabled merchant vesselAdel 11 in theNorth Arabian Sea in June 1992. When Operation Southern Watch, the enforcement of a "no-fly" zone over southernIraq, commenced in August,Gridley was the first ship on station off the coast of Kuwait. She provided coastal radar coverage and air-defense protection for ships in the northern Persian Gulf.
Gridley returned to San Diego in October 1992 and was overhauled at theNational Steel and Shipbuilding Company from January through April 1993. During that time, the ship was back fitted to accommodate the newSM-2ER block III missile. The modification gave the ship the capability to defeat the sea-skimmingcruise missiles which have proliferated worldwide in the 1990s. In July 1993,Gridley fired several of the new missiles on the Pacific Missile Test Center range, scoring three successful hits. That same month, the ship rendezvoused with USSConstellation inAcapulco,Mexico, escorting her back to San Diego, after the carrier's three-year Service Life Extension Program overhaul at thePhiladelphia Naval Shipyard.
After a final port visit to San Francisco, in October 1993Gridley returned to San Diego, where she was decommissioned, stricken from theNaval Vessel Register, and transferred to theMaritime Administration for temporary lay-up on 21 January 1994. She was laid up in theSuisun Bay, California, reserve to await disposal. She was scrapped in 2005.
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This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere. This article incorporatespublic domain material fromGridley (CG-21) at theNaval Vessel Register.