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U.S.S. HENRY B. WILSON
(DDG-7)MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
Click to view crew list
USS HENRY B. WILSON (DDG-7) - a Charles F. Adams-class guided missle destroyer
In Commission 1960 to 1989DDG-7 Deployments - Major Events
Add a DDG-7 Shellback Initiation | Add a DDG-7 Deployment - Major Event | ||||
Month | Year | to | Month | Year | Deployment / Event |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
FEB | 1958 | - | Keel Date: 28 FEB 1958 at Defoe Shipbuilding Company Bay City MI | ||
APR | 1959 | - | Launch Date: 22 APR 1959 | ||
DEC | 1960 | - | Commissioned: 17 DEC 1960 | ||
MAR | 1961 | - | Shellback Initiation - 27 MAR 1961 - Pacific Ocean | ||
JUN | 1965 | - | NOV | 1965 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
DEC | 1967 | - | OCT | 1968 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JAN | 1968 | - | JUL | 1968 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
FEB | 1968 | - | AUG | 1968 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JUN | 1968 | - | JUN | 1968 | Damaged by Enemy gunfire |
JUL | 1968 | - | Shellback Initiation - 17 JUL 1968 - Pacific Ocean | ||
OCT | 1969 | - | APR | 1970 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JUN | 1971 | - | DEC | 1971 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JUN | 1971 | - | DEC | 1971 | West Pac |
NOV | 1971 | - | Shellback Initiation - 28 NOV 1971 - Pacific Ocean | ||
JUN | 1972 | - | FEB | 1973 | West Pac |
JUN | 1972 | - | FEB | 1973 | West Pac-Viet Nam |
JUN | 1972 | - | FEB | 1973 | West Pac |
JAN | 1975 | - | SEP | 1975 | Mayaguez Rescue - May 12-15 1975 |
OCT | 1975 | - | Shellback Initiation - 2 OCT 1975 - Pacific Ocean | ||
OCT | 1976 | - | MAR | 1977 | West Pac |
OCT | 1976 | - | Shellback Initiation - 2 OCT 1976 - Pacific Ocean | ||
AUG | 1979 | - | FEB | 1980 | West Pac |
FEB | 1981 | - | SEP | 1981 | West Pac |
SEP | 1981 | - | JUL | 1982 | Overhaul- Northwest Shipyard, Swan Island, Portland, Oregon |
MAR | 1983 | - | JAN | 1984 | West Africa |
FEB | 1986 | - | AUG | 1987 | Mediterranean-Indian Ocean-Persian Gulf |
APR | 1986 | - | Shellback Initiation - 22 APR 1986 - Pacific Ocean | ||
APR | 1986 | - | Shellback Initiation - 26 APR 1986 - Indian Ocean | ||
DEC | 1988 | - | JUN | 1989 | West Pac |
OCT | 1989 | - | Decommissioned: 2 OCT 1989 | ||
OCT | 1991 | - | Shellback Initiation - 18 OCT 1991 - Atlantic Ocean |
DDG-7 General Specifications
Class: Charles F. Adams-class guided missle destroyer
Named for: Henry Braid Wilson
Complement: 24 Officers and 330 Enlisted
Displacement: 3277 tons
Length: 437 feet
Beam: 47 feet
Flank Speed: 33 knots
Range: 4 500 nautical miles
Final Disposition:Sunk as target ship 15 August 2003
USS HENRY B. WILSON (DDG-7)
Henry B. Wilson (DDG-7) was launched 22 April 1959 by Defoe Shipbuilding
Co., Bay City, Mich.; sponsored by Mrs. Patrick J. Hurley, daughter of Admiral Wilson ; and commissioned 17 December
1960, Comdr. L. D. Caney in command.
One
of a new class of destroyers built from the keel up to fire guided missiles, Henry
B. Wilson was the first ship of her size to be side-launched and when launched was the largest warship ever
constructed on the Great Lakes. Because
of these unique circumstances, she was christened not with the traditional champagne but with a bottle filled with water
from the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River, and the Atlantic Ocean. Following shakedown in the Caribbean she
arrived in early May 1961 at her new home port,
San Diego. During the months that followed Henry B. Wilson conducted
tests and drills of her missile systems, fleet
exercises, and type training.
The
guided missile destroyer sailed 6 January 1962 for duty in the Western
Pacific, the first ship in that region to be armed with Tartar missiles. Stopping at Pearl Harbor and Yokosuka, she
carried out antisubmarine exercises until returning to the United States 19 July 1962.
Training
off the California coast, punctuated with several missile firings, occupied Henry B. Wilson until
17 October 1963,
when she sailed with carrier Kitty Hawk for duty with 7th Fleet in the Western Pacific.
During the next 5 months she
operated as part of America's mobil peacekeeping
fleet between Japan and the Philippines. After returning to San Diego 16
April 1964, she resumed ASW and fire
support operations.
Henry B. Wilson sailed on her third deployment to the Far East 4 June 1965.
Arriving Subic Bay, Luzon, 21 June, she became flagship for Destroyer Squadron 21, then began rescue and air
defense picket duty in the Gulf of Tonkin 31 July, along with shore bombardment support. As escort for Midway
(CV-41), she departed Subic Bay 7 November and arrived San Diego the 24th.
After
a year's operation off the West Coast, Henry B. Wilson departed San Diego for the
Far East 5 November 1966. She resume picket duty off Vietnam 23 December. During the first 3 months
of 1967 she cruised the South China Sea and Gulf of Tonkin, performing search and rescue missions and pounding enemy coastal
positions in support of ground operations.
She returned to San Diego early in May.
Henry B. Wilson (DDG-7) decommissioned on 2 October 1989 and was sunk as a
target in the Pacific Ocean on 15 August 2003.
[Note: The above USS HENRY B. WILSON (DDG-7) history may, or may not, contain text provided by crew members of the USS HENRY B. WILSON (DDG-7), or by other non-crew members, and text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]