_underway_at_sea_in_the_mid-1950s.jpg) USSWitek between 1954 and 1957 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSWitek |
| Namesake | Frank P. Witek |
| Builder | Bath Iron Works,Bath, Maine |
| Laid down | 16 July 1945 |
| Launched | 2 February 1946 |
| Commissioned | 23 April 1946 |
| Decommissioned | 19 August 1968 |
| Stricken | 17 September 1968 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Sunk as a target, 4 July 1969 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Gearing-classdestroyer |
| Displacement | 3,460 long tons (3,516 t) full |
| Length | 390 ft 6 in (119.02 m) |
| Beam | 40 ft 10 in (12.45 m) |
| Draft | 14 ft 4 in (4.37 m) |
| Propulsion | Geared turbines, 2 shafts, 60,000 shp (45 MW) |
| Speed | 35knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) |
| Range | 4,500 nmi (8,300 km) at 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Complement | 336 |
| Armament |
|
USSWitek (DD/EDD-848) was aGearing-classdestroyer of theUnited States Navy, named forMarine Private First ClassFrank P. Witek (1921–1944), who was awarded theMedal of Honor posthumously for his heroism during theBattle of Guam.
Witek was laid down on 16 July 1945 atBath, Maine, by theBath Iron Works;launched on 2 February 1946; sponsored by Mrs. Nora Witek, the mother of PFC Witek; andcommissioned at theBoston Naval Shipyard on 23 April 1946.
Witek departed Boston on 27 May, bound forCuban waters, and reachedGuantanamo Bay on 1 June. She conducted shakedown training out of Guantanamo until 2 July, when she headed north, returning to Boston on 6 July for post-shakedown availability. Fitted out for experimental development work inanti-submarine warfare (ASW) systems,Witek received the classification ofEDD-848. She arrived atNew London, Connecticut, her newhome port, on 7 December 1946.
Over the next 20 years,Witek operated primarily off the eastern seaboard of the United States fromNarragansett Bay to theVirginia Capes and toKey West, Florida She ranged on occasion into theCaribbean and touched at places such asNassau, Bahamas; Guantanamo Bay andHavana, Cuba; thePanama Canal Zone;St. Croix, Virgin Islands;Bridgetown, Barbados;San Juan, Puerto Rico;Hampton Roads; and Boston. On one occasion, the ship visited theWest Coast – spending six months in operations out ofSan Diego, California, testing the sound gear formerly installed in theGermanheavy cruiserPrinz Eugen – in mid-1948. During those tests, carried out under the supervision of theNaval Electronics Laboratory,Witek's silhouette took on a decidedly different "look" compared to that usually associated with aGearing-class destroyer. Her second twin 5-inch gun mount (mount 52) was removed at the Boston Naval Shipyard, and its place was taken by the "house-trailer full" of formerGerman electronics equipment. These tests included the sonic listening deviceGHG, which had been used heavily by German submarines. That "trailer" was eventually removed at theNorfolk Naval Shipyard in the autumn of 1950. Its place was taken, in turn, by a trainable Mk. 15 "hedgehog" anti-submarine mortar.
While at Nassau, Bahamas, in late October 1954,Witek went to the aid of the local fire department in the British colony when a serious fire threatened the city. Faced with a bad warehouse fire, 140 men fromWitek rushed into action with 3,000 feet of fire hose,walkie-talkie radio sets, "smoke-eater" masks, four fog applicators, and two portable pumps on Sunday, 24 October. Working for two hours alongside Nassau police, firemen, and volunteers,Witek's sailors earned a unanimous vote of thanks in "helping stem what might have been the most disastrous fire in the Colony's history."
Due to the nature ofWitek's work, her routine was little publicized, and she gained none of the overseas deployment excitement in the course of her more than two decades of experimental work. She made no deployments to theMediterranean nor any to the western Pacific; in addition, she never visited European waters. Outside visitingLa Guaira, Venezuela, the seaport forCaracas, in January 1948,Witek spent most of her underway time off the eastern seaboard and in thewestern Atlantic – sometimes in the Caribbean – participating in experimental exercises with other units of theOperational Development Force based at New London. She operated primarily with other experimental ships, such asMaloy (EDE-791), andsubmarines, testing ASW electronics installations. On some occasions, when she conducted project work out of New London, she would slip up the coast toRockland, Maine, or toPortsmouth, N.H. Her local operations inLong Island Sound even earned her the nickname: "The Galloping Ghost of the Long Island Coast."
On occasion, though, outside her normal independent routine,Witek conducted exercises withcarrier task forces for ASW maneuvers. During one such evolution in 1955,Witek exercised with thefleet carrierLeyte (CVS-32) and the atomic submarineNautilus; other carriers with whichWitek operated includedAntietam andRandolph.
Besides carrying out operational tests of ASW electronics equipment,Witek served as the test-bed for the "pump jet" propulsion system. On 2 July 1958,Witek entered Drydock No. 4 at the Boston Naval Shipyard for an "extensive overhaul and installation of the pump jet system." The destroyer remained indrydock at Boston until a little over a week before Christmas, when she emerged with the new system installed. Over the ensuing years,Witek tested the system under operational conditions. In 1960, she operated for a time withTask Group Alpha, the first time in four years since she had operated with the fleet. She conducted extensive ASW operations with that unit until returning to her home port.
Due to the grounding ofBache in early 1968,Witek was retained in active service. Subsequently,decommissioned atNorfolk, Virginia, on 19 August 1968, the ship's name was struck from theNavy List on 17 September 1968. She was then berthed at the Inactive Ship Facility, Norfolk, to await final disposition.Witek was sunk as a target offVirginia on 4 July 1969.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entries can be foundhere andhere.
