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The USS Plainview (AGEH-1), the world’s largest naval hydrofoil, launches a Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missile while making 42 knots on her foils. The time was 9 December 1972; the place was off the coast of Washington. This 320-ton test vessel is 212 feet long and can make 50 knots while foilhorne. The 430-pound Sea Sparrow has a speed of Mach 3.5 and a range of over seven sea miles. (See Chronology, page 359).
1 July According to the Maritime Administration, there were 632 vessels of 1,000 tons and over in the active oceangoing merchant fleet as of this date—down 58 from one year ago. There was no change in the number of active vessels and a decrease of ten inactive vessels in the privately-owned fleet as compared to the number of ships in this category on 1 June 1972. The total number of vessels in the privately-owned fleet is 659. Of these, 603 are active ships. The total U. S.-flag merchant fleet decreased by 13 to 1,233. This represents a decrease of 245 ships since 1 July 1971.
President Nixon announced the signing of contracts worth $660-million for construction of 16 ships—13 tankers and three freighters, to be built in five U. S. shipyards. Under terms of the contracts, the government will supply approximately $284-million in subsidies to shipbuilding firms to make their prices competitive with leading builders in Japan, Germany, and the Netherlands.
The Navy’s seventh nuclear-powered surface ship, the guided missile frigate South Carolina (DLGN-37), was launched at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company yard in Virginia.
2 July The U. S. Command in Vietnam reported that U. S. destroyers shelled Communist junks and sampans unloading a foreign freighter one mile off the North Vietnamese coast. Three of the boats were destroyed, and one was damaged.
6 July The USS Maddox (DD-731), which was involved in the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964, was turned over to the Nationalist Chinese government at Long Beach, California.
The United Press International reported that the U. S. Navy had stationed the gunboat USS Crockett (PG-90) in the waters between China’s Hainan Island and the North Vietnamese coast to warn foreign ships away from North Vietnamese ports. Operating in company with the destroyer escort USS Claud Jones (DE-1033), the Crockett can warn merchant ships away in ten languages, along with international code, according to the report.
Grumman Aerospace Corporation in Bethpage, Long Island, received a
$30,250,000 fixed-price contract with incentive-fee for EA-6B aircraft.
7 July The Lockheed Aircraft Corporation at Burbank, California, received a $21,615,440 firm, fixed-price contract for P-3C aircraft.
8 July The USS Brewton (DE-1086) was commissioned at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard in California.
The Harry F. Guggenheim Library, one of the outstanding private libraries in the United States, was donated to the U. S. Naval Academy by the Guggenheim Foundation. Included in the 5,000-volume library are 20 years of the works of Dr. Robert Goddard, a world pioneer in rocketry.
Two nuclear submarines, the USS Barb (SSN-596) and the USS Gurnard (SSN-662), rescued five of the six crewmen of an Air Force B-52 bomber that had crashed into Western Pacific waters. The sixth crewman was not found.
9 July The 10,678-ton British ship London Statesman was reported to have struck a mine off the coast of Central South Vietnam and to be in need of immediate assistance.
The Navy announced that the Atlantic Fleet carrier USS America (CVA-66) had replaced the USS Coral Sea (CVA-43), operating with the U. S. Seventh Fleet off the coast of Vietnam.
10 July A fire in the flag officer quarters on board the USS Forrestal (CVA-59) was extinguished after an eight-hour battle at Norfolk, Virginia. There were no injuries and the cause of the fire had not been determined.
The USS Wasp (cvs-is) was decommissioned at the Quonset Point Naval Air Station in Rhode Island. The 41,000-ton ship was then towed to the South Boston Annex of the Boston Naval Shipyard.
11 July The 50-foot submarine rescue vessel DSRV-2, which recently dived to a depth of more than 5,000 feet, was delivered to the Navy. She will operate out of the Navy facility at Ballast Point in San Diego, California.
14 July The United Press International reported that Colombia has ordered two destroyers that will be built
in the United States. The report also said that West Germany and Italy will each build two submarines for Colombia.
16 July U. S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Chester R. Bender said decreased draft pressure and the transition to an all-volunteer Armed Force, have resulted in reduced Coast Guard recruiting. Many Coast Guard units were reportedly functioning below normal manpower levels.
17 July Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announced that the President has nominated Major General Louis H. Wilson, Jr., U. S. Marine Corps, for promotion to lieutenant general and assignment as Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific. He would replace retiring Lieutenant General William K. Jones.
18 July The Navy reported that the USS Warrington (DD-843), operating in the Tonkin Gulf, experienced two underwater explosions, causing heavy damage and injuring one crewman. The destroyer was being towed to the U. S. Naval Base at Subic Bay, Philippines.
Egypt’s President, Anwar el-Sadat announced that he had ordered the immediate withdrawal of Soviet military advisers and experts from his country,- and the placing of Soviet bases and equipment under the exclusive control of Egyptian forces.
The USS Ranger (CVA-61) steamed into routine training exercises on three engines. The fourth was damaged when what appears to have been a 9-inch bolt was thrown into the reduction gears. Damage was estimated at between $25,000 to $35,000.
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s research ship, Knorr, began a 15,000-mile voyage to study the deep circulation of the seas from the Arctic Circle to the coast of Antarctica.
20 July The U. S. Command in Vietnam reported that a bomb that had exploded before it hit the ground caused the crash of three Navy aircraft—one F-4 and two A-7S—in South Vietnam earlier this week. One crewman was reported missing.
Naval and Maritime Events July 1972-December 1972 349
21 July Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, announced that the helicopter carrier USS Tripoli (LPH-io) had been ordered off her Vietnam station and sent to his country for flood relief.
The Grumman Aerospace Corporation in Bethpage, Long Island, received a $40,100,000 contract modification to cover long lead-time effort and materials to support the conversion of A-6A Intruder aircraft to the A-6E configuration.
22 July The fast ammunition ship USS Mount Baker (AE-34) was commissioned at the Charleston Naval Shipyard in South Carolina.
The USS Donald L. Beary (DE-1085) was commissioned at the Boston Naval Shipyard in Charleston, Massachusetts.
23 July Litton Industries announced plans to merge its two large Mississippi shipyards into a single administrative unit.
Six Britons, whose sailboat collided with a whale and sank, were rescued by a Japanese fishing boat in the eastern Pacific after spending 37 days in a liferaft. All were reported in good condition.
24 July China charged, in the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of the Seabed, that the United States and the Soviet Union were attempting to "partition and control the seas” and this "must be firmly opposed.”
26 July After a three-year battle, the Navy won Congressional approval for a fourth nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The 95,000-ton ship, first proposed in 1969, would join the Fleet between 1980 and 1981.
27 July The Senate approved construction of a new fleet of Trident submarines to replace the Polaris/Poseidon
submarine in the late 1970s.
\
The Air Force F-n Eagle single-seat, twin-jet air superiority fighter flew for the first time at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
31 July Personnel figures released by the Department of Defense showed a Navy strength of 593,864 on this date, compared to 620,145 on the same date in 1971. The Marine Corps figures were 198,686 and 211,305 respectively.
Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announced that he has authorized payment, effective 1 September, of continuation pay of up to four months basic pay per year to selected critical military and naval dental specialists. The program already exists for military and naval physicians.
The Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Robert E. Cushman, Jr., ordered an end to "voluntary segregation” by race, of Marines in living quarters at Marine Corps installations and on board ships.
1 August According to the Maritime Administration, there were 623 vessels of 1,000 tons and over in the active oceangoing merchant fleet as of this date. There was a decrease of nine in the number of active vessels and an increase of nine in the inactive vessels in the privately-owned fleet as compared to the number of ships in this category on 1 July 1972. The total number of vessels in the privately-owned fleet is 659. Of these, 594 are active ships. The total U. S.-flag merchant fleet decreased by 18 to 1,215.
Aircraft from the USS Saratoga (CVA-60) struck and left in flames Haiphong Shipyard No. 3. The yard built and repaired shallow-draft vessels which North Vietnam used to unload supplies from ships anchored offshore to avoid mines.
2 August A U. S. Marine Corps F-4 Phantom jet crashed while landing at a newly-opened air base at Nam Phong in northeast Thailand. Both crewmen ejected safely.
3 August The Senate approved by a 88 to 2 vote, the treaty with the Soviet Union which limits each nation to two defensive missile sites. Consideration of an agreement limiting offensive weapons, however, was delayed.
Indonesian Air Marshal Suwoto Suken- dak said that his country would get a squadron of T-33 jet trainers from the United States early in 1973.
5 August The tank landing ship USS Bristol County (LST-1198) was commissioned at Long Beach, California.
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7 August The General Electric Company of Schenectady, New York, re-
ccivcd a $126,735,000 contract for nuclear reactor compartment components, and a $76,831,000 contract for research and development in nuclear propulsion plants.
8 August The Navy announced that it would send women to sea as regular ship’s company officers and crew for the first time in history. Women would also be allowed to take almost any job in the Navy.
10 August In an agreement signed between the United States and Turkey, it was announced that Turkey would buy two squadrons of F-4 Phantom fighter-bombers, totaling 36 aircraft.
11 August The Navy announced that it had assigned the first women, other than nurses, to regular shipboard duty on board the USS Sanctuary (AH-17). Ensign Rosemary E. Nelson was scheduled to become the assistant supply officer and Lieutenant (j.g.) Ann Kerr would become personnel officer.
12 August The Thomas C. Hart (DE-1092) was launched at Westwego, Louisiana.
14 August Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos awarded the Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation Badge to more than 30 U. S. Armed Forces units for ", . . their outstanding service during recent Philippine disaster relief operations in the flood-stricken provinces of central Luzon.” Many Navy and Marine Corps units were among those decorated.
17 August Five Royal Australian Navy ships left Sidney to join ships of the United States, Canada, and New Zealand in Exercise Rimpac 72 off Hawaii, scheduled from 5 to 20 September.
The Navy awarded the Distinguished Service Medal to Senior Chief Radarman Larry B. Nowell, making him the first Navy enlisted man to win the decoration for combat action. As an air intercept controller on board the USS Chicago (CG-11), Nowell directed Navy and Air Force aircraft to 12 MiG kills over North Vietnam during 1972.
20 August As the next step in relaxing Soviet-American tensions, Secretary of the Navy John W. Warner said, in an
interview, that the administration hopes to welcome Russian warships to U. S. ports for the first time since World War II. He added that any ship visits would be reciprocal.
21 August Harbor officials from Capetown, South Africa, reported that 47 of the 50-man crew of the Liberian tanker Texanita were killed in a collision with another Liberian tanker, the 48,320-ton Oswego Guardian, about 50 miles east of Cape Agulhas, off the coast of Africa. The three survivors of the 43,339-ton ship were injured, while only one man was injured on board the Oswego Guardian.
22 August King Hassan II of Morocco dismissed the chief of the Morrocan Navy, Commander Driss Abaroudi, in an apparent continuation of the general shake up in the armed forces, following an attempt by air force pilots to shoot down the King’s plane one week ago.
An Israeli naval patrol captured an Egyptian fishing vessel in Bardawil Bay off the northern coast of occupied Sinai, and detained four fishermen.
1 September According to the Maritime Administration, there were 622 vessels of 1,000 tons and over in the active oceangoing merchant fleet as of this date. There was a decrease of one active vessel and no change in the number of inactive vessels in the privately- owned fleet as compared to the number of ships in this category on 1 August 1972. The total number of vessels in the privately-owned fleet is 658. Of these, 593 are active ships. The total U. S.-flag merchant fleet decreased by 11 to 1,204.
23 August In testimony given in May before the House Appropriations Committee, but not released until this date, Vice Admiral Hyman G. Rickover told Congress that American shipyards are poorly managed, with many workers loafing on the job. He said that the Russians are expanding an "already far superior” shipbuilding capability.
Several Soviet minesweepers arrived at the port of Chittagong, bringing to 11 the total number of Russian ships clearing a 500-square mile area mined by Pakistan during the Indo-Pakistani war in December 1971.
24 August More than 100 sailors from three U. S. destroyers visiting the port of Recife in Brazil, volunteered to paint the Pernambuco cancer hospital. The hospital’s director said that the volunteer project was the largest single contribution the hospital has ever received.
27 August A four-ship American force, with the Commander of the U. S. Seventh Fleet embarked, made a night raid on the Haiphong port area, shelling targets within two miles of the city limits. Two North Vietnamese torpedo \
boats attacking the force were sunk.
28 August President Richard Nixon and Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announced that there will be no draft calls after 30 June 1973.
29 August The first Chinese Communist ship to visit the Philippines arrived in Manila with $443,000 worth of flood relief supplies.
31 August Personnel figures released by the Department of Defense showed a Navy strength of 591,300 on this date, compared to 619,063 on the same date in 1971. The Marine Corps figures were 199,201 and 208,935 respectively.
Two Navy fast patrol boats, based at Norfolk, Virginia, began a six-week Navy cruise of inland waterways en route to a new homeport at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, north of Chicago, Illinois. They will join the newly-established Naval Reserve Coastal River Division 21.
The Navy rejected a Litton Industries claim for $379-million in additional payments on the LHA program. The Navy, however, agreed to extend the policy of payments based on construction costs incurred instead of switching on 1 September 1972, to a policy of payments based on progress.
Admiral John S. McCain, Jr., was relieved by Admiral Noel A. M. Gayler, as Commander in Chief, Pacific, after having held that post since 31 July 1968. McCain will retire on 1 November 1972.
The USS Batfish (SSN-681) was commissioned at Groton, Connecticut.
2 September A squadron of six American destroyers anchored in Phaleron Bay near Athens to begin U. S. homeporting
Naval and Maritime Events July 1972—December 1972 351
in Greece under an agreement between the U. S. and Greek governments.
A Navy navigation satellite for military and commercial use was launched into a near-polar orbit at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
5 September Some 300 American dependents landed in Piraeus to join their husbands and fathers serving with the U. S. destroyer squadron now home- ported in Greece.
Navy undersea researchers reported the training of whales to recover objects, such as torpedoes from the ocean floor, at depths of at least 1,600 feet.
6 September One hundred and twenty Soviet merchant marine cadets visited their U. S. counterparts at the U. S. Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point, New York. The Russians are visiting the United States on board the training vessel Tovarisch, which was berthed at Baltimore, Maryland.
8 September The Defense Department
said that "the best estimate without a final report” was that the destroyer USS Warrington (DD-843) hit a stray U. S. mine in the Tonkin Gulf on 17 July. The ship was badly damaged and may be scrapped.
9 September The USS Kirk (DE-1087) was commissioned at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard in California.
The USS Guitarro (SSN-665) was commissioned at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California.
10 September The Navy began a pilot program which will cut in half the number of men manning the bridges of 17 ships, in a test of manpower savings. The program would leave an officer of the deck, a helmsman, lookout, quartermaster, and signalman in the bridge watch of most ships for routine sailing, with aircraft carriers requiring somewhat more.
12 September The United Press International reported that the USS Enterprise
(CVAN-65) sailed for the Western Pacific despite half a dozen small boats blockading the Golden Gate in a war protest.
The Defense Department reported that two Soviet long-range aircraft, operating from Cuba, carried out a 12-hour reconnaissance flight off the East Coast of the United States. It was the first time such a flight was launched from and returned to Cuban airfields.
13 September According to Havana radio, Cuba and Peru have agreed to take "common action” in international gatherings concerning maritime problems and territorial limits. Cuban officials reiterated support of efforts by some countries to extend maritime limits to 200 miles.
The Maritime Administration formally advised the governors of the country’s 23 coastal states, that the government’s remaining 670 World War II Liberty ships are now available to them for use as artificial reefs.
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15 September The Navy announced plans to use the Italian island of La Maddalena as homeport for elements of the U. S. Sixth Fleet. An agreement to reassign the submarine tender USS Howard W. Gilmore (AS-16) from Key West to La Maddalena was said to be "in the final stages of completion” between the United States and Italy.
16 September NATO’s exercise "Strong Express” involving 64,000 men, 300 ships, and 700 aircraft from 12 of the 15 NATO nations, began in the North Atlantic.
The Defense Department said that Navy and Marine aviators recorded their lowest accident rate in history during 1971. The new record was said to be the result of long efforts to get pilots to stop taking chances and to think of themselves as professionals rather than performers.
17 September The North Vietnamese released three American prisoners of war—Navy Lieutenants Markham Gart- ley and Morris Charles, and Air Force Major Edward Elias.
18 September Air Force Chief of Staff General John D. Ryan told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the typeofunauthorized bombing conducted against North Vietnam by General John D. Lavelle could happen again without the knowledge of higher authority. The raids occurred from November 1971 to March 1972.
The California Regional Water Quality Control Board sued the Navy, contending it was intentionally dumping some 380,000 gallons of industrial wastes a day into San Francisco Bay. The suit asked $6,000-a-day damages and cessation from further dumping.
19 September Air and surface forces of the U. S. Seventh Fleet joined in support of South Vietnamese troops along the northern coast of South Vietnam in a drive aimed at checking North Vietnamese assaults in that area.
Ten 221-foot steel minesweepers were signed over to Mexico by the U. S. Navy for use in a war on drug runners on the high seas.
22 September Commander Denis R. Weichmann set a Navy record for com
bat flights over Southeast Asia, when he returned from his 501st mission.
23 September The USS Peary (DE-1073) was commissioned at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington.
24 September British military authorities reported intense Soviet interest in NATO’s exercise "Strong Express.” The Royal Air Force Strike Command reported more than double the usual number of Soviet planes penetrating Britain’s air defense region since the exercise began.
25 September The House approved and sent to the White House an interim U. S.-Soviet agreement to freeze a major part of their offensive nuclear arsenals for five years. The action cleared the way for a second round of strategic arms limitations talks expected to begin later in 1972.
A Poseidon missile was fired at night from the USS George Bancroft (SSBN-643), while the ship was cruising submerged about 30 miles off Cape Kennedy. It was the 27th Poseidon to be fired from a submerged submarine.
26 September The Defense Planning Committee of the North Atlantic Council, appointed U. S. Admiral Ralph W. Cousins as Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic, to succeed another American, Admiral Charles K. Duncan.
27 September Navy amphibious craft began emergency ferry service across the Chesapeake Bay to Norfolk, Virginia, after the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel was closed when it was rammed by a civilian barge and tug during a storm.
28 September The three American pilots, freed by North Vietnam on 17 September, arrived in New York.
The Navy announced that it will conduct a worldwide Ecology Spot Report system by selected Fleet units during a six-month period, beginning 1 November 1972. Data collected will be provided to federal environmental organizations for evaluation and subsequent study. Civilian scientists throughout the world will receive the reports from the Center for Short-Lived Phenomena of the Smithsonian Institution.
29 September The General Dynamics Corporation received a $268.7-million contract to build the first three liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers ever constructed in the United States. The ships, to be built at the Quincy, Massachusetts, yard, will be 936 feet long, 144 feet wide, and have a speed of 20 knots.
30 September Personnel figures released by the Department of Defense showed a Navy strength of 592,696 on this date, as compared to 615,767 on the same date in 1971. The Marine Corps figures were 199,601 and 204,738 respectively.
The $21-million American-built deepwater port at DaNang in South Vietnam, was turned over to South Vietnamese civilian control by the U. S. Navy.
1 October According to the Maritime Administration, there were 612 vessels of 1,000 tons and over in the active oceangoing merchant fleet as of this date. There was a decrease of ten active vessels and an increase of ten inactive vessels in the privately-owned fleet as compared to the number of ships in this category on 1 September 1972. The total number of vessels in the privately-owned fleet is 658. Of these, 583 are active ships. The total U. S.-flag merchant fleet decreased by six to, 1,198.
An explosion in a main battery turret of the USS Newport News (CA-148), while the ship was conducting gunfire support' missions off the coast of Vietnam, killed 19 sailors and wounded ten. The explosion occurred in one of the 8-inch barrels.
The Navy notified Maryland Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company that it was terminating the yard’s $3.5-million contract for work on the USS Austin (LPD-4), because the military could no longer absorb the delays imposed by the strike at the yard.
2 October The Navy announced it had agreed to provide the Grumman Aerospace Corporation a $19.6-million advance payment for the F-i4 fighter, and had set 15 December 1972 as the new date for announcing whether it will exercise its option to buy 48 more of the planes. Grumman had said production of the plane had cost more than
Naval and Maritime Events July 1972—December 197 2 353
expected and could not build the next lot without a price increase.
The Lockheed Missile and Space Company, Inc., of Sunnyvale, California, received a $98,000,000 contract modification for research and development of the Navy’s Trident I fleet ballistic missile.
3 October President Nixon and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei A. Gromyko signed documents, putting into effect the nuclear arms limitation agreements approved at the Moscow summit.
Four former crew members of the British submarine HMS Artemis were given gallantry awards for their courageous actions during the sinking of their ship at Gosport, England, on 1 July 1971. The 1,120-ton submarine sank at her mooring in 30 feet of water. Twenty of the 23 men on board escaped before the ship sank, and the other three men were rescued ten hours later.
4 October The first mate of a Hong Kong-based freighter that recently left Haiphong after being blockaded by U. S. mines for five-and-a-half months, said the mines continue to be effective. He said no ships—only some small boats and his 6,500-ton freighter—have gone through the minefields.
The Navy announced that the death toll in the turret explosion on board the USS Newport News (CA-148) reached 20, when a sailor died on board the USS New Orleans (LPH-n) where he was being treated for injuries.
6 October The nuclear submarine USS Tullibee (SSN-597) and the West German merchant ship SS Hagen collided about 150 miles off Cape Hatteras, while the submarine was running just below the surface.
John A. Volpe, Secretary of Transportation, said that women will enter the U. S. Coast Guard’s officer candidate program in 1973 for the first time since World War' II.
The Defense Department said that recruiting for the Armed Forces reached a four-year high in September, when the number of volunteers exceeded 50,000.
Westinghouse Electric Corporation of Wilkins Township, Pennsylvania, received a $155,110,444 contract for the
design and furnishing of Navy nuclear propulsion components.
11 October A group of U. S. Navy ships cancelled a scheduled visit to Valparaiso, Chile, because of fears of anti- American demonstrations resulting from the embargo secured by the Kennecott Corporation on payment of a $1.3-million copper shipment bound for France, according to Chilean naval sources. American officials confirmed the cancellation, but refused to give the reason.
The Hughes Aircraft Company of Culver City, California, received a $106,547,398 contract for an additional quantity of AN/AWG-9 weapons control systems and associated equipment for the F-14 Tomcat aircraft.
The Sperry Rand Corporation of Great Neck, Long Island, New York, received an $8,836,339 contract for the design, construction, and support of the patrol frigate land-based test site; integration of the patrol frigate combat system; and management support of the Patrol Frigate Ship Acquisition Project Office.
12 October A fight involving both black and white sailors on board the USS Kitty Hawk (cVA-63), resulted in injury to 46 men, three seriously enough to be medically-evacuated.
The United Aircraft Corporation of East Hartford, Connecticut, received a $73,440,000 contract for J52-P-408 and TF30-P412A engines for the Navy, and TF30-P-100 engines for the Air Force.
13 October The Lockheed Missile and Space Company, Inc., of Sunnyvale, California, received a $157,426,443 contract for Fiscal Year 1973 procurement of the Navy’s Poseidon fleet ballistic missile.
14 October The Navy’s new F-14 Tomcat fighter plane was displayed in San Diego, California, during ceremonies commissioning the first two squadrons to which the aircraft will be assigned.
The United States and the Soviet Union signed a three-year maritime agreement, opening 40 ports in each nation to civilian-manned ships from each country, on four-day’s notice.
16 October Secretary of the Navy
John W. Warner said that women would soon be permitted to fly naval aircraft as part of the Navy’s equal opportunity program. Combat aircraft, however, were not included.
Vice Admiral James L. Holloway, Commander, U. S. Seventh Fleet, arrived in Singapore for a four-day good-will port visit.
Four white sailors on board the USS Hassayampa (AO-145) were injured in a fight between blacks and whites on board the ship at Subic Bay, in the Philippines. Eleven blacks were placed in the base correctional center at Subic Bay for legal processing.
21 October The Capodanno (DE-1093) was launched at Westwego, Louisiana.
22 October The Navy announced charges against 25 black sailors allegedly involved in the racial disturbances on board the USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) on 12 October, while the ship was operating on Yankee Station, off North Vietnam.
23 October The Washington Post reported that the Navy spent $375,000 in a scientific study, over a four-year period, to see if Frisbees could be adapted for the aerial-delivery of flares.
24 October The Navy said that four sailors were killed, one was missing, and 22 were injured, when the landing gear of an A-6 Intruder collapsed, causing the aircraft to careen across the flight deck
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of the USS Midway (CVA-41). The ship was operating off the coast of Vietnam.
26 October Presidential Advisor Henry A. Kissinger announced that ", . . peace is at hand . . in Indochina, and that a final agreement on a cease fire and political arrangement could be reached in one more negotiating session with the North Vietnamese. U. S. bombing above the 20th parallel in North Vietnam was reported to be stopped.
29 October A fire in a machinery space on board the USS Saratoga (CVA-60) in Singapore, resulted in the death of three Navy men from smoke inhalation. Six other men suffered minor injuries. Navy officials on board the ship said there was only minor smoke and water damage to the ship, and were investigating the cause of the fire.
Two crewmen on board a Navy A-3 bomber were killed, when their plane
crashed and exploded on takeoff from the Buckley Naval Air Station at Aurora, Colorado.
30 October A fire in the forward cargo hold of the Navy submarine rescue vessel USS Florikan (ASR-9), killed one sailor and injured one other. A Navy spokesman said the cause of the fire was under investigation.
31 October The wire services reported that the U. S. Seventh Fleet has drastically curtailed naval operations against North Vietnam, and has withdrawn its cruisers and destroyers below the 20th parallel to improve the climate for ceasefire negotiations.
Personnel figures released by the Department of Defense showed a Navy strength of 592,797 on this date, as compared to 615,680 on the same date in 1971. The Marine Corps figures were 15)9,168 and 203,866 respectively.
Retiring Admiral Charles K. Duncan, Commander-in-Chief, U. S. Atlantic Fleet, voiced alarm at the increasing numbers of sabotage incidents on board U. S. Navy ships by dissident crewmen. Duncan’s remarks were made in his retirement speech.
1 November According to the Maritime Administration, there were 620 vessels of 1,000 tons and over in the active oceangoing merchant fleet as of this date. There was an increase of nine active vessels and a decrease of nine inactive vessels in the privately-owned fleet as compared to the number of ships in this category on 1 October 1972. The total number of vessels in the privately- owned fleet is 658. Of these, 592 are active ships. The total U. S.-flag merchant fleet decreased by 19 to 1,179.
Admiral John S. McCain, Jr., former Commander-in-Chief, Pacific, retired after 41 years of active duty.
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Naval and Maritime Events July 1972—December 197 2 355
The Navy announced it has requested proposals from private industry to build barge carriers, a LASH ship, and a Seabee, for charter by the Military Sealift Command. The vessels would replace some of the old World War II vessels now operated by the command.
2 November The Defense Department said the United States has agreed to sell two World War II diesel submarines to Nationalist China.
3 November Gould, Inc., of Cleveland, Ohio, received a $116,712,847 contract modification for the further production of Mark 48 torpedoes and associated equipment for Fiscal Year 1973.
4 November The 80,000-ton USS Constellation (CVA-64) cut short a two-week training operation off the California coast and returned to San Diego, reportedly because of a malfunction in her fresh water distilling plant. The ship began the operation on 31 October.
5 November The Constellation sailed again from San Diego in the morning, leaving behind a "beach detachment” of 130 disgruntled crewmen, who had protested, in an all-night boycott on 3 November, their job assignments and other treatment on board the ship. The commanding officer was quoted as saying that their complaints ", . . could best be resolved ashore.” The ship returned to San Diego in the evening, however, after a landing accident left an A-7 Corsair jet aircraft dangling over the side of the ship, suspended from an arresting cable.
6 November The Constellation departed San Diego for the second time in two days, after the A-7 jet, dangling over the side of the ship, was removed.
7 November The Constellation returned to San Diego unexpectedly after her commanding officer cancelled the training exercises to meet with the 130 dissident crewmen put ashore on 5 No
vember. The Navy said "... the operating schedule of the USS Constellation has been adjusted to permit the ship’s return to . . . San Diego ... in order to take a personal role in dealing with the alleged grievances of some 130 crew members.”
The Navy announced that it would seek eight volunteers from women officers and officer candidates for flight training to become transport and helicopter pilots. Federal law prevents their flying combat aircraft.
President Richard M. Nixon was elected to a second four-year term in a victory over Senator George McGovern, the Democratic contender from South Dakota.
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8 November The Navy acceded to requests of several national black organizations and postponed the courts- martials of 19 black sailors until the USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) returns to the United States, about 1 December, from
her deployment off Vietnam. The sailors were charged in connection with a disturbance on board the carrier on the night of 12 October.
The 130 dissident crewmen of the USS Constellation (CVA-64) refused an order to board their ship. The day-long dockside sitdown ended, when most of the protesters were reassigned to shore station duty.
10 November Dissident crewmen and former crewmen from the Constellation appeared at captain’s mast in the commands to which they were currently assigned after being charged with being absent when they refused an order to return to their ship on 8 November.
The Secretary of the Navy John W. Warner, and the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., addressed more than 100 Navy flag and Marine Corps general officers from the Washington area, to emphasize the need for the naval Service to face the issue of racial discrimination "openly and fully.”
The U. S. Marine Corps celebrated its 197th birthday.
11 November The Navy announced that individual hearings to deal with the racial grievances of the dissident crewmen from the USS Constellation (CVA-64) would begin next week at three shore stations to which the sailors have been reassigned.
The Commander-in-Chief, U. S. Pacific Fleet, Admiral Bernard A. Clarey, ordered all ship and shore units under his command, to report immediately on the extent of racial unrest, and steps being taken to head off more serious troubles.
Admiral Samuel M. Robinson, U. S. Navy, (Retired), the only engineering duty officer to reach four-star rank in the U. S. Navy, died in Houston, Texas. He was 90 years old.
The USS Barbey (DE-1088) was commissioned at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard in California.
The replenishment oiler Kalamazoo (AOR-6) was launched at the General
Dynamics, Quincy Shipbuilding Division at Quincy, Massachusetts.
12 November A submarine, unidentified as to nature or nationality, was reported by civilians to be in the long and deep Sognefjord, north of Bergen, Norway, and well inside Norwegian territorial waters.
13 November A special House Armed Services Subcommittee was appointed by Representative F. Edward Hebert (Derm, La.), to inquire into alleged disciplinary problems which occurred recently on board the USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) and the USS Constellation (CVA-64).
14 November In a message to all Navy enlisted men and women, Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr., the Chief of Naval Operations, cautioned them that strict discipline will not be sacrificed as a price for liberalized reforms.
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15 November The first operating- differential subsidy agreements that will permit U. S.-flag ships to participate in
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16 November Vice Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, U. S. Navy (Retired), collapsed in his office, suffering from what was later described as a minor heart attack. His condition was reported as stable.
18 November The first Navy Ship with women crewmembers, other than medical or administrative personnel, the USS Sanctuary (AH-17), was recommissioned at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard at San Francisco, California. (Nurses had long served afloat in hospital ships. Some Navy trooptransports has a few women in administrative or family- assistance billets.)
19 November In a speech before the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers in San Francisco, Secretary of the Navy John W. Warner confirmed that the Russians are building their first aircraft carrier, a ship some 900 feet long, displacing 35,000 to 40,000-tons.
■20 November The U. S. Naval Academy announced the dismissal of seven plebes, following an investigation into the use of marijuana.
21 November The House Armed Services Subcommittee, investigating ra- eial and disciplinary problems in the Navy began hearings in San Diego. The commanding officer and other persons from the USS Constellation (CVA-64) were the first witnesses.
The General Electric Company of Niskayuna, New York, received a $174,528,400 contract for the design, development, and furnishing of nuclear components for installation in submarines.
25 November The Navy announced it will consolidate the Naval Surface and Air Reserve Commands and move them from Omaha, Nebraska, and Glenview, Illinois, to New Orleans, Louisiana. Vice Admiral Damon W. Cooper was nominated to head the new command with the title, Chief of Naval Reserve.
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26 November There was a racial disturbance at the Norfolk Naval Station Correctional Center, involving fights between black and white prisoners, and black prisoners and security personnel. There were no serious injuries and the Navy said it was investigating the incident at the Center.
The unidentified submarine reported in Sognefjord, north of Bergen, Norway, on 12 November, escaped to sea. According to Johan Kleppe, the Norwegian defense minister, the nationality of the intruder had not been established.
27 November The Navy reported a racial fight between about 130 black and white sailors at a recreational area at Midway Island. The Pacific Fleet Inspector General was reported investigating the incident.
Secretary of Defense Melvin R. Laird said that the Soviet Union test-fired a submarine-launched SSNX-8 missile at a
range of 4,000 nautical miles, exceeding American predictions for the missile’s performance.
Unnamed Norwegian naval sources in Oslo were reported as saying that the submarine which had been in Sognefjord at least since 12 November, was allowed to escape on 26 November in order to avoid an international incident. The submarine was said to be of the Soviet F or W class.
28 November President Nixon announced the selection of Elliot Richardson to replace Melvin R. Laird as Secretary of Defense.
29 November The Navy announced that it will disestablish the U. S. First Fleet and consolidate it with the Antisubmarine Warfare Force, Pacific, to form the U. S. Third Fleet, with headquarters at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
30 November A task force appointed by the Secretary of Defense to study military justice reported that the Defense Department must provide uniform punishment for minor offenses in order to avoid racial strife.
Personnel figures released by the Department of Defense showed a Navy strength of 593,880 on this date, as compared to 610,985 on the same date in 1971. The Marine Corps figures were 198,140 and 202,658 respectively.
1 December According to the Maritime Administration, there were 589 vessels of 1,000 tons and over in the active oceangoing merchant fleet as of this date. There was a decrease of 31 active vessels and an increase of 28 inactive vessels in the privately-owned fleet as compared to the number of ships in this category on 1 November 1972. The total number of vessels in the privately- owned fleet is 655. Of these, 561 are
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Naval and Maritime Events July 1972—December 1972 359
active ships. The total U. S.-flag merchant fleet decreased by 13 to 1,166.
The U. S. Command in Vietnam announced that, for the first week since January 1965, no Americans died in Vietnam during the last week of November.
4 December A Russian merchant ship, the first since World War II, arrived at Houston, Texas.
6 December A flight to the moon was launched, with Captain Eugene A. Cernan and Commander Ronald E. Evans, both of the Navy, and civilian geologist-astronaut Dr. Harrison H. Schmitt. No further such flights are scheduled.
The developmental hydrofoil USS Plain- view (AGEH-i) successfully test fired a Sea Sparrow while hullborne, during technical trials in rough water off the coast of Washington.
8 December Heidi R. Hunter of Reisterstown, Maryland, was sworn in 3s a musician second class at the U. S. Naval Academy, thus becoming the first woman instrumentalist in a Navy band. She will take part in concerts given by the band, give solo guitar performances, and play with the band’s rock music group.
9 December The USS Fort Fisher (LSD-4o) was commissioned at the Charlestown Naval Shipyard at Boston, Massachusetts.
The USS Plainview (AGEH-i) successfully test fired two Sea Sparrow missiles while foilborne and traveling at 42 knots off the coast of Washington. She test fired a missile on 6 December while hull- borne. See photograph on page 347.
H December The Navy announced 'hat it had exercised its option to procure 48 F-k aircraft in accordance with the terms and conditions of "existing contracts.” Grumman Areospace Corporation said that increased costs would bankrupt the company if it built the planes for the $16.8 million for each aircraft, as provided in the contract.
The new Labor governments of Australia and New Zealand announced details of their plans for final withdrawal °f their remaining troops from Vietnam.
12 December President Nixon named Texas oilman William P. Clements, Jr. to replace Kenneth Rush as Deputy Secretary of Defense—-the number two position in the Defense Department.
The Danish Defense Ministry said that an unidentified submarine was believed to be operating deep inside Greenland’s fiords under cover of the long polar night.
The USS Sanctuary (AH-17) steamed out of San Francisco, with a woman sailor in the bridge watch, ending a seagoing tradition that dates back to wooden ships.
13 December The Washington Star- News reported that Colonel Robert D. Heinl, Jr., a retired Marine and military analyst for the Detroit News, had been blacklisted as a lecturer at the Naval War College, because of a series of articles he wrote attacking Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, the Chief of Naval Operations.
Fire broke out in the main machinery room on board the USS Ranger (CVA-61),
operating off the Vietnam coast. The fire was quickly brought under control. Eight sailors were treated for smoke inhalation.
Two specialists at the Navy Weapons Center at China Lake, California, were killed when explosives that they had been preparing, exploded prematurely.
15 December The Commandant of the Marine Corps announced the selection of Colonel Margaret A. Brewer to become the seventh Director of Women Marines. She will replace the retiring Colonel Jeanette I. Sustead. At the same time, he announced the selection of Sergeant Major Clinton A. Puckett to be the Sixth Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps. He will relieve Sergeant Major Joseph W. Dailey who will retire.
16 December The USS Kiska (AE-35) was commissioned at the Charleston Naval Shipyard in South Carolina.
The USS Halsey (DLG-23) was recommissioned at the Bath Iron Works in Maine.
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The Pharris (DE-1094) was launched at the Todd Shipyards at Westwego, Louisiana.
18 December While Press Secretary, Ronald L. Ziegler announced a resumption of full-scale bombing and mining of North Vietnam, and warned that the raids would continue until a settlement of the conflict was reached. The resumption followed a stalemate in the Paris peace talks, after a settlement had almost been reached.
The National Steel and Shipbuilding Company of San Diego, California, received a $51,474,347 contract for construction of a fleet replenishment oiler, the AOR-7.
The President made the following flag officer nominations; Vice Admiral Worth H. Bagley for appointment to admiral and assignment to relieve Admiral William F. Bringle as Com- mander-in-Chief, U. S. Naval Forces, Europe; Rear Admiral Daniel F. Murphy for appointment to Vice Admiral to relieve Vice Admiral Gerald E. Miller as Commander, U. S. Sixth Fleet; Rear Admiral Thomas B. Hayward for appointment to Vice Admiral and to relieve Vice Admiral Worth H. Bagley as Director, Navy Program Planning; and Rear Admiral John G. Finneran for appointment to Vice Admiral to relieve Vice Admiral Douglas C. Plate as Commander, U. S. Second Fleet.
19 December The U. S. Command in Saigon announced the loss of two B-52 bombers and one F-111 in the renewed raids on North Vietnam. A total of 15 crewmen were reported missing.
Two crewmen were killed and three others wounded, when the USS Golds- borough (DDG-20) was hit by counterbattery fire off the coast of North Vietnam.
20 December The number of B-52 bombers lost in the renewed raids on North Vietnam rose to six, with the announcement of the loss of three. Two more fighter-bombers were also downed.
The Department of Defense reported that American aircraft had inflicted "very significant damage” on targets, in North Vietnam, ranging from warehouses to railroad bridges.
21 December The President nominated Vice Admiral George M. Davis, Medical Corps, U. S. Navy, Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, for placement on the retired list in his present grade.
22 December The U. S. command in Saigon announced the loss of two more B-52S in strikes on North Vietnam, bringing to a total of eight lost so far during the renewed raids. The Command said that 43 U. S. airmen were listed as missing.
24 December The U. S. Command in Saigon announced the loss of another B-52 and a Navy F-4 Phantom jet in raids over North Vietnam. Five crewmen of the B-52 were rescued by helicopters from the jungle, where they had parachuted. The two crewmen of the Phantom were rescued in the Gulf of Tonkin. The B-52 loss brought to 11 the number of Stratoforts shot down since the resumption of the bombing.
25 December The crews of the U. S. Coast Guard cutter Gresham (WHEC-387) and the Russian oceanographic ship Ernst Krenkel exchanged gifts and expressions of goodwill, 250 miles off the Maryland coast.
27 December Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird said that the U. S. Navy would retain its controversial naval and air gunnery range on the island of Culebra, off Puerto Rico, until at least 1985, despite an earlier commitment to move it by June 1975.
28 December The U. S. Command in Saigon announced the loss of two more B-52 bombers, bringing the total to 14 since the raids on North Vietnam were renewed. A "Jolly Green Giant” rescue helicopter was also lost.
29 December The loss of another B-52—the 15th—and three other aircraft over North Vietnam was reported by the U. S. Command in Saigon.
30 December President Nixon announced the halt of bombing and naval bombardment of North Vietnam, above the 20th Parallel, and the resumption of private peace negotiations in Paris.
31 December Personnel figures released by the Department of Defense showed
a Navy strength of 580,478 on this date, as compared to 600,447 on the same date in 1971. The Marine Corps figures were 196,722 and 198,579 respectively.
Changes in Ships’ Status
Compiled by Lieutenant Commander J. B. Finkelstein, U. S. Navy 1-28 February 1973
Ships Commissioned: | Date: | |
SSN-684 | Cavalla | 2/9/73 |
DE-1089 | Jesse L. Broun | 2/17/73 |
Ships Decommissioned: | Date: | |
lst-1166 | Washtenaw County | 2/9/73 |
de-1034 | John R. Perry (Sold to Indonesia) | 2/20/73 |
pg-97 | Surprise (On loan to Turkey) | 2/28/73 |
U. S. Navy Shore Establishment— Facilities Established:
1 Feb. 1973 Chief of Naval Reserve,
New Orleans, La.
U. S. Navy Shore Establishment— Facilities Disestablished:
1 Feb. 1973 Naval Reserve Center, North Hollywood, Calif.