USS Hoel (DDG-13)
USS Hoel underway on 1 November 1987
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | Hoel |
Namesake | William R. Hoel |
Ordered | 17 January 1958 |
Builder | Defoe Shipbuilding Company |
Laid down | 3 August 1959 |
Launched | 4 August 1960 |
Acquired | 5 June 1962 |
Commissioned | 16 June 1962 |
Decommissioned | 1 October 1990 |
Stricken | 20 November 1992 |
Identification |
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Motto |
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Fate | Sold for commercial use, 20 June 1994 |
Badge | |
General characteristics | |
Class and 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 |
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Speed | 33 knots (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 and processing systems |
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Armament |
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Aircraft carried | None |
USS Hoel (DDG-13), named for Lieutenant Commander
Hoel was
Hoel served as plane guard for
History
1960s
After fitting out at Boston, Hoel got underway for her first homeport,
Hoel arrived in San Diego on 11 September 1962 and spent the ensuing months completing the various inspections, tests, and trials by the
After a 3-week cruise to Esquimalt, British Columbia, Hoel spent April and May 1963 in Pearl Harbor conducting special exercises. She then returned to waters off San Diego to participate in the Presidential Demonstration held for President John F. Kennedy.[1]
The months of July, August, and part of September were spent at Long Beach Naval Shipyard for the post-shakedown availability assigned each new ship approximately 1 year after commissioning. At this time improved fire-control radars were installed and tested by successful missile firings. Hoel departed Long Beach on 17 October 1963 for duty in the Western Pacific to serve as the flagship of Commander Destroyer Division 12.[1]
In ensuing years she alternated deployments in the Far East with operations off the West Coast. Her 1966 deployment to the Western Pacific began when she departed San Diego 28 July. On September she was on search and rescue patrol off Da Nang, Vietnam. On 8 December the guided missile destroyer became naval gunfire support ship in the Corps I area. She fired 2,100 rounds destroying at least 20 enemy structures and two trench networks; damaging 61 buildings, three bunkers, eight trench networks, and five roads; and killing 24 Viet Cong while wounding seven. Hoel retired to Hong Kong 21 December but headed for Yankee Station the day after Christmas to screen the aircraft carrier Coral Sea. On this patrol she helped to rescue a pilot after his A-4 Skyhawk had crashed.[1]
On 19 October 1987, Hoel was one of 4 ships participating in
Decommissioning
Hoel was
Hoel was one of seven decommissioned US naval vessels purchased by
Power Barge
The city of
The ex-Hoel was chosen as the ship to be used. However, the plans of both companies were too optimistic. Eletronorte announced that ex-Hoel would be delivering power within only a few days of its arrival in Manaus. CSI had failed to test the ship's equipment fully before departing for Brazil and failed to appreciate how many repairs the ship's 38-year-old power plant might require. The ship ended up needing weeks of work after its arrival in Brazil before it could begin generating power and numerous repairs after that. Repairs were much more difficult to accomplish in Brazil because the parts and technicians now had to be brought in from CSI's headquarters back in the United States. Meanwhile, many people in Manaus had become angry over the failed power delivery and there were violent protests. The ex-Hoel was never able to generate more than a quarter of the electricity that had been promised and that only periodically. After a year of failed attempts, Eletronorte cancelled its contract with CSI.
Research on this can be found here... https://sites.google.com/site/usshoelddg13site/home/hoel-history/post-decomm Archived 27 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine
References
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.