USS John R. Pierce
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | John R. Pierce |
Namesake | John Reeves Pierce |
Builder | Staten Island, New York |
Laid down | 24 March 1944 |
Launched | 1 September 1944 |
Commissioned | 30 December 1944 |
Decommissioned | c.1973 |
Stricken | 1 July 1973 |
Motto | Swift and Sure |
Fate | Sold 6 November 1974 and broken up for scrap. |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer |
Displacement | 2,200 tons |
Length | 376 ft 6 in (114.76 m) |
Beam | 40 ft (12 m) |
Draft | 15 ft 8 in (4.78 m) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph) |
Range | 6,500 nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
Complement | 336 |
Armament |
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USS John R. Pierce (DD-753), an
Namesake
John Reeves Pierce was born on 3 November 1906 in Cristóbal, Colón, Panama Canal Zone. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1928. Following flight training and submarine instruction, he served on the submarine USS S-29 and studied marine engineering at the University of California. After serving on USS Nautilus and USS Narwhal, he assumed command of USS S-23 on 15 February 1941. Appointed Lieutenant Commander on 2 January 1942, on 22 June he took command of USS Argonaut, a transport submarine, which participated with Nautilus in carrying out the Raid on Makin Island from 17 to 19 August.
On 10 January 1943 during its third war patrol in the Southwest Pacific, Argonaut sighted an
Construction and commissioning
John R. Pierce was
Service history
World War II
Following her
Post war
For the next three months, she operated in the Japanese Inland Sea, covering occupation landings and assisting in the liberation of
She arrived at San Francisco on 27 March, and was deactivated 16 September. John R. Pierce then sailed for San Diego on 17 January 1947, decommissioned 24 January and entered the San Diego Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet on 1 May.
John R. Pierce was recommissioned on 11 April 1949. Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, she departed on 11 July for Norfolk. Arriving on 5 August, she commenced twelve months of Atlantic operations that extended from Greenland to the Panama Canal Zone. Under the command of Commander J. R. Wadleigh, she cleared Norfolk on 8 August 1950 for duty with the 6th Fleet. Before she returned to the United States on 23 January 1951, she operated in the Mediterranean from Gibraltar to Crete and along the western coast of Europe from England to Norway.
Korea
For more than 15 months, John R. Pierce operated out of Norfolk along the Atlantic coast; then she departed on 15 May 1952 for duty in the Far East. Sailing via the Panama Canal, San Diego and Pearl Harbor, she arrived Yokosuka, Japan on 18 June. She sailed on 20 June for blockade and bombardment operations against Communist forces along the east coast of Korea. From
1954–1973
From 5 January 1954 to 1 April 1962 John R. Pierce deployed to the Mediterranean on six cruises of varying duration. When not conducting operations with the 6th Fleet, she operated out of her home port on training exercises and readiness operations in the Atlantic and the Caribbean. When in the Mediterranean, fleet operations carried her the length and breadth of the sea, and deployments in 1954 and 1956 sent her, in addition, to the coast of Western Europe.
On 1 October 1956, 75 miles south of
Engaged primarily in conducting ASW barrier patrols and screening carrier flight operations, John R. Pierce responded when the Syrian Army threatened King Hussein's pro-Western government of Jordan during August and September 1957, destroyers, including John r. Pierce, patrolled the sea lanes of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea to guard against possible intervention by Egypt. She returned to the same area in December 1958 to bolster the security of Lebanon, recently threatened by the Soviet-backed United Arab Republic. Following the assassination of General Trujillo on 27 May 1961, the destroyer patrolled off the Dominican Republic.
Returning to Norfolk 1 April 1962 from her seventh Mediterranean cruise, she sailed on 15 May to participate in
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, under the command of Commander J. W. Foust, John R. Pierce departed Norfolk 22 October; joined the quarantine force on 24 October; and during the next five days, investigated 13 ships. On 28 October, the Soviets agreed to the American demands, thus alleviating a tense and crucial crisis. John R. Pierce departed from her assigned position the following day, but she continued a Caribbean sea-vigil from Jamaica to the Canal Zone until returning to Norfolk 14 December.
She departed home port on 29 March 1963 for the Mediterranean and the Middle East. After two weeks of maneuvers with the 6th Fleet, she transited the Suez Canal on 30 April and commenced an 11-week cruise through the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea, and the Persian Gulf. Returning to the Mediterranean 16 July, she resumed fleet operations. On 14 August she rescued three survivors of a plane that splashed off her starboard bow while attempting an emergency landing on
John R. Pierce spent the next year operating out of Norfolk; and during off-shore surveillance patrols in January 1964 she escorted five Cuban boats, which were illegally fishing in U.S. territorial waters, to Key West for internment. Once again she departed Norfolk for the Mediterranean 8 October. Reaching Naples late in the month, she joined the 6th Fleet and through the remainder of the year operated along the western coast of Italy.
John R. Pierce returned to Norfolk 27 February 1965. She reported to Commandant of the 3rd Naval District in Brooklyn, New York, for duty as a reserve training ship and began a schedule of 2-week training cruises for naval reservists.[2] She continued this duty into 1973.[citation needed]
Awards
John R. Pierce received one
References
- ^ Dobyns, Lloyd. "Anchor NBC News Overnight". NBC News.
- ^ "John R. Pierce DD-753". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.