_underway_in_1974.jpg) USSWaddell underway in 1974 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Waddell |
| Namesake | James Iredell Waddell |
| Ordered | 30 November 1960 |
| Builder | Todd Pacific Shipyards |
| Laid down | 6 February 1962 |
| Launched | 26 February 1963 |
| Acquired | 21 August 1964 |
| Commissioned | 28 August 1964 |
| Decommissioned | 1 October 1992 |
| Stricken | 1 October 1992 |
| Identification |
|
| Motto |
|
| Fate | Sold to Greece, 1 October 1992 |
| Badge | _insignia%2c_in_1966_(NH_69622-KN).png) |
 Greece | |
| Name | Nearchos |
| Namesake | Nearchos |
| Commissioned | 1 October 1992 |
| Decommissioned | 18 July 2003 |
| Identification | Hull number: D219 |
| Fate | Sunk as target, 29 May 2006 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Charles F. Adams-class destroyer |
| Displacement | 3,277 tons standard, 4,526 full load |
| Length | 437 ft (133 m) |
| Beam | 47 ft (14 m) |
| Draft | 15 ft (4.6 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 33knots (61 km/h; 38 mph) |
| Range | 4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h) |
| Complement | 354 (24 officers, 330 enlisted) |
| Sensors & processing systems |
|
| Armament |
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USS Waddell (DDG-24) was aCharles F. Adams-classguided missiledestroyer in theUnited States Navy. She was named for CaptainJames Iredell Waddell CSN (1824-1886) who famously captured several American whaling ships just below the Arctic circle and sailed the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans to disrupt American trade. He was the last Confederate officer to surrender which he did in Liverpool, England. The ship wascommissioned in 1964 and saw service in theVietnam War.Decommissioned in 1992, the destroyer was sold to Greece and renamedNearchos. From 1992-2003,Nearchos served in theHellenic Navy. In 2006, the ship was used as atarget and sunk.
Waddell waslaid down by Todd-Pacific Shipbuilding atSeattle, Washington on 6 February 1962. The ship waslaunched on 26 February 1963 by Mrs. Howard W. Cannon and commissioned on 28 August 1964.
Following trials from October 1964 to May 1965, the new guided missile destroyer conducted shakedown off the west coast into July, before she participated inanti-aircraft andelectronic warfare Exercise "Hot Stove" from 26 August to 3 September. During this time, while serving as plane guard for theaircraft carrierTiconderoga,Waddell rescued Comdr. C. H. Peters, whose plane had ditched off the coast ofsouthern California.
On 28 September 1965,Waddell—in company withTiconderoga and three destroyers, and acting asflagship for Commander, Destroyer Division (DesDiv) 132—departed her home port,Long Beach, California, bound for her first tour of duty in theWestern Pacific (WestPac). After stopping atPearl Harbor, she proceeded on toward thePhilippines.
While en route on 31 October, the American task group received a radio message reporting that JapanesemerchantmanTokei Maru had suffered an explosion on board. Detached to render assistance,Waddell sped to the scene and lowered her motorwhaleboat containing the squadron doctor. The ship's rescue party arrived on board to find three men ofTokei Maru's complement already dead and another seriously burned. After providing medical assistance which saved the man's life and having leftTokei Maru a supply of medicine to suffice until the Japanese ship could make port,Waddell rejoined her consorts.
Only one day after reachingSubic Bay,Waddell got underway on 2 November for the coast ofVietnam and her first deployment to "Yankee Station" W-5, in theTonkin Gulf. On station with Task Unit (TU) 77.0.2 until the 14th, the ship returned to Subic Bay for brief local operations before sailing back to the combat zone to take her post on the northernsearch and rescue station (SAR) from 29 November to 29 December.
On 7 December,Waddell steamed alongsideSacramento conducting an underway replenishment on theoiler's port side; while the destroyerBrinkley Bass replenished to starboard of the oiler. During the operation,Brinkley Bass reported a man overboard; andWaddell executed an emergency break-away and doubled back to pick up the man.
Upon completion of this SAR tour, the destroyer sailed viaSasebo toBuckner Bay,Okinawa. She conducted a missile shoot inRyūkyū waters and then visitedHong Kong. On 31 January 1966, she sailed forDa Nang, en route to a second deployment to the northern SAR area.
At 1410 on 3 February 1966,Waddell was notified that a pilot was possibly downed in their vicinity. While proceeding to investigate, the ship noted "surface action" to port and commenced shore bombardment at 1501. Communist guns replied 14 minutes later.Waddell then trained her guns on the communist batteries. At 1545, while still shelling the communist gun positions,Waddell was straddled by the enemy guns which had found the range. Radical maneuvers enabled the destroyer to retire without damage, and she emerged from the action unscathed.
The following day, after receiving fuel fromSacramento in an underway replenishment while on station,Waddell collided withBrinkley Bass. The damage whichWaddell sustained forced her to return to the Philippines for repairs.
Back in Vietnamese waters in late February,Waddell provided gunfire support in theIII Corps operating area from 27 February to 11 March, as part of Task Unit 70.8.9. She then returned—via Subic Bay,Guam,Midway, and Pearl Harbor—to her home port, Long Beach, where she arrived on 8 April.
Following a yard period—during which the ship underwent structural repairs—Waddell participated in various fleet and independent exercises off the California coast. Two days after Christmas of 1966, the ship got underway for another WestPac deployment.
Early in 1967,Waddell was again engaged off the Vietnamese coastline. From 2 March to 21 May 1967, the ship displayed "exceptional readiness and effectiveness in all tasks assigned," including gunfire support offSouth Vietnam; interdiction ofNorth Vietnamese supply traffic along the coast; and gunfire against selected targets in North Vietnam. Coming under hostile fire from shore on one occasion,Waddell returned the fire and inflicted maximum damage on enemy shore batteries while emerging without harm. During her second WestPac deployment in Vietnamese waters, the destroyer fired some 2,000 rounds of ammunition while winning the reputation of being "the busiest ship in the Tonkin Gulf" before heading home.
Waddell made port at Long Beach on 29 May 1967 and operated briefly off the southern California coast. She entered theLong Beach Naval Shipyard on 4 August and commenced an extensive overhaul which lasted through the end of the year 1967 and into February 1968.
She returned to WestPac that summer—withlogistics stops at Pearl Harbor and Midway en route—and arrived at her new home port ofYokosuka, Japan, on 1 August 1968. She conducted three tours on the "gun line" off North and South Vietnam into the fall, as well as one tour as plane guard for the attack carrier strike group based around the carriersCoral Sea andRanger.
On 22 September while operating off thedemilitarized zone (DMZ) in company with thecruiserSaint Paul,Waddell participated in a SAR operation. At 0145, an attack bomber splashed near the ship. Both crew members had previously ejected from their stricken jet and parachuted to the sea.Waddell closed to within 5,000 yards (4,600 m) of the mouth of the Cua Vet River and rescued the navigator/bombardier, whileSt. Paul picked up the pilot.
After completing an overhaul at Yokosuka toward the end of December 1968,Waddell got underway on 7 January 1969, bound for the "gun line." Between 17 and 30 January, she fired two gunfire support missions in the I Corps area for theArmy's101st Airborne Division and one for the 7th and 9th Divisions of theRepublic of Vietnam (ARVN) units. After a quick trip via Buckner Bay to Yokosuka,Waddell sped back to the "gun line" in late February and resumed her gunfire support duties on 1 March. There, in theII Corps area, she fired 12 support missions with Task Force "South." She subsequently conducted 79 more gunfire support missions including 12 for Australian units, 11 for ARVN units, and 15 in support of Operation "Sheridan"—in which the United States Army 101st Airborne and an ARVN regiment participated.
During the first week of April, the downing byNorth Koreans of a NavyEC-121 Connie early-warning intelligence aircraft in theSea of Japan greatly increased tension in theFar East.Waddell departed the "gun line" at 22 knots, refueled at Buckner Bay, and arrived in theStrait of Tsushima to screen aircraft carriersTiconderoga andRanger. She operated in the Sea of Japan until the crisis abated enabling her to head for Yokosuka on the afternoon of 28 April.
Returning to the "gun line,"Waddell then lobbed shells atViet Cong (VC) camps and infiltration points from waters off Phu Quoc Island in theGulf of Siam in support of Operation "Javelin," before she was assigned to theMekong Delta region. There, supporting two ARVN divisions, she conducted 19 bombardments against VC structures, bunkers, rest sites, and supply routes.
Subsequently returning to "Yankee Station," she screened the carrierEnterprise in June, as the big carrier conducted strike operations, and returned to waters near the DMZ in mid-July for gunnery support duties.
Waddell was decommissioned and stricken from theNaval Vessel Register on 1 October 1992, sold toGreece and renamedNearchos after the ancient Cretan admiralNearchus.
Nearchos was decommissioned from the Greek Navy on 3 June 2003 and scuttled as a target on 29 May 2006.[1][2]
Waddell received 11 engagement stars for her service in waters off Vietnam and twoNavy Unit Commendations.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere. This article incorporatespublic domain material fromWaddell (DDG-24) at theNaval Vessel Register. United States Navy | |
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 Royal Australian NavyPerth class | |
 German NavyLütjens class | |
 Hellenic NavyKimon class |
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