‘In memory of Roy Luna; friend, shipmate and true Tin Can Sailor’

This is a photograph from the ships store, scanned and then did some “NIK Viveza” touch-up work on it … turned out pretty good for being a 30+ year old photograph which had been drug through every port in the pacific imaginable … 

During the Iran conflict, doing 90+ days at sea, non stop, not hitting a port one … unheard of … and has seldom been done since, if at all … was so long that we were given “beer rations” … two cans each … 

Crossing the international date line, on Friday the 13th … I spent two Friday the 13th’s, back to back on a ship with a hull number of DDG-13 … this all took place as we (borrowed) a case of lobster tails from the mess deck to boil up down in the engine room while on watch … ;) 

My first “port of call” at Pearl Harbor, out shopping for souvenirs in a “fine glass” shop, tripping over my two BIG FEET, falling into a shelve and breaking everything in sight ..

Steaming into Subic Bay, Philippines, waking up the next morning minus my “boots and belt”, running back to the ship for muster, and seeing both my boots and belt in a store window for sale, having to stop and buy them …

Steaming the South China Sea, picking up 100+ Vietnamese Boat People …

The food, my my, the food was simply the best, BBQ’s on the fantail, fresh baked bread, and SOS, it simply was the best …

The doldrums at sea, flat as glass, not a wake to be seen …

Refueling at sea … watching the dolphins swimming along side … and near getting my head taken off by a “throw line” bullet !

Shipmates and life long friends; Sears, Jenkins, Murillo, Gibbs, Luna, Balboa and may more … true life experiences forever etched within my memories …

Captains Mass for dragging in late while at port in Australia …

Steaming out of Pakistan, sitting in the mess deck, watching the Chief Master at Arms pull from the air conditioner vent what had to be 5 K’s of Hash … and watching the poor bastard being hand cuffed, crying to dear mama all the time …

In the sidewalk shit’r in Pakistan, getting stoned near to death, because the locals thought I was Russian (we were not allowed to dress) …

In Pakistan, on the beach, having Camel Races …

Dropping anchor somewhere in the Pacific for “swim call” … out there swimming around like a fool, as they were top side with shot guns doing “shark patrol” …

On the island of  Diego Garcia in Chagos Archipelago, part of the British Indian Ocean Territory, passed out drunk on the beach and awake to see a “coconut with legs”, “crab legs” that is …

Watching my first “cricket match” in Australia, which was still on as we left on the 4th day !

Watching Gibbs beat the hell out of a guy on the street for asking “the time of day” …

In Pakistan, on the beach, watching a camel throw up all over Gibbs …

In Pakistan, watching Gibbs beat the living shit out of a Camel …

Watching Gibbs beat the hell out of a shipmate, because the shipmate came in drunk, woke up, forgot where he was, thinking he was in the head, and then pissed all over Gibbs, of course we could have stopped it from ever happening, though WHY ?

Always watching Gibbs, closely, very closely, at all times, never taking an eye off of him !

Trying to understand WHY the Chief Petty Officer of the Watch made me make 8 Pots of Coffee, throwing each to the bilge, before pulling a cup from the 9th Pot ????

Getting into the fight of my life in the berthing compartment for telling a shipmate his haircut “sucked” !

Pulling fresh water showers in the engine room while the rest of the ship was on “salt water” showers …

Shell Back initiation … a serious, never to be forgotten, trip and a half this was indeed !

AND hitting San Diego after near a year at sea and the wife at port …

What is a ship, really?

Most people look at a ship as nothing more than a bunch of iron and steel. A sailor sees it as a living being concieved in a shipyard; the hopes, dreams and pride of those who built her - from the grandmother who helped assemble her electronics to the welders and pipe fitters who turn her into something recognizable. Eventually the day comes when she is commissioned and her crew breathes life into her hull. Her radar and lookouts are her eyes, sonar her ears, radios her voice and engines her heart. She reflects her crews attitude, their hopes and dreams. In her life time she will see about 10-15 complete crews man her, until that sad day when Uncle Sam says ‘Thank you for your service” and she is retired. 

Ship Specifications:

Ships Namesake

LCDR WILLIAM RION HOEL

From Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)

William R. Hoel, born 7 March 1825 in Ohio, was a Mississippi River steamboat pilot who entered the Navy 19 October 1861.  On 6 February 1862, while serving as the First Master of CINCINNATI, Hoel was wounded during the Battle of Fort Henry.  Less than 2 months later, on 4 April he volunteered to pilot gunboat CARONDELET in her famous run past the Rebel batteries at Island Number 10 to reach Maj. Gen. John Pope’s Army at New Madrid.  The gunboat’s valiant dash through a hailstorm of Confederate fire enabled Union forces to cross the river and to take this key island with quantities of cannon, equipment and stores.  It thus opened the Mississippi for operations by Union gunboats bringing the Federal Armies in a long stride to within sight of Memphis.  Hoel’s courageous and skillful service on this occasion won the praise of Flag-Officer Andrew H. Foote, the thanks of the Navy from Secretary Gideon Welles, and promotion to the rank of Acting Volunteer Lieutenant effective 29 April 1862.

On 10 May 1862 Hoel assumed command of CINCINNATI when serious wounds incapacitated her Captain, Commander Roger N. Stembel.  The new commander of the Western Flotilla, Captain Charles H. Davis, took this opportunity to express his admiration of Hoel: “I can not praise more than they deserve his high valor and ability. He sets the highest example to those below him, and if it were possible to give him a permanent position worthy of his merits, the Navy would be the gainer …”

On 29 October, Hoel then took command of PITTSBURG on which he served with distinction in the campaign to take Vicksburg.  One of Lieutenant Hoel’s exploits during this campaign is of special interest since it foreshadowed the heroism of the World War II destroyer which bore his name, USS HOEL (DD-533).  On 29 April 1863, as Acting Rear Admiral Porter’s flotilla was bombarding the Confederate Batteries at Grand Gulf, his flagship, USS BENTON, became unmanageable and was caught under heavy fire in a position where she could neither steer nor reply to the enemy guns.  On seeing Porter’s predicament, Hoel slipped the PITTSBURG in between BENTON and the flaming Rebel batteries to protect her by taking the fire himself.  In the next 10 minutes his heroism cost the PITTSBURG 6 men killed and 8 wounded, but the sacrifice allowed BENTON to extricate herself from the deadly trap.  The bombardment was so successful that the next day General Grant safely moved his troops across the Mississippi to begin the operations which at long last isolated and captured Vicksburg.

Hoel was promoted to Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Commander on 10 November 1864.  Detached from PITTSBURG, he then took command of VINDICATOR 1 March 1865 on which he served until 7 July 1865.  He was honorably discharged on 30 December 1865.

USS Hoel (DDG-13) “underway”:

USS Hoel DDG-13 passing alongside the USS Blue DD-744. Filmed from the USS Blue by Earl Faubion. 

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7dlpaekrb0

Identical (5-inch, 54 Caliber, Single Mount, Rapid Fire Gun) as that on the USS Hoel:

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqWhOQw7_TY

Hoel Photographs:

Hoel News Clippings (1959 - 1987) … some are difficult to read, though you can “right click”, save to your desktop and enlarge for further viewing:

Ships History:

She was the third Navy vessel to be named after Lieutenant Commander William R. Hoel.  The first USS HOEL (DD-533) , was shorter in length, narrower in beam, and had lighter overall displacement.  On 13 DEC 46 the second USS HOEL (DD-768) was cancelled during construction. Sixteen years passed before another US Navy warship would be named HOEL.  The third HOEL was a CHARLES F. ADAMS class guided missile destroyer, utilizing a hull design that evolved from the FORREST SHERMAN class (DD-931 was the first) destroyer and a new missile air defense system that had proven effective by trials on the USS GYATT (DD-712), a GEARING class destroyer.

USS NORTON SOUND (AV-11) became the first guided missile ship after she successfully launched a training missile in 1948, thus marking the beginning of the Navy’s shipborne guided missile era. After further modifications on 11 MAY 50, NORTON SOUND launched a five-ton Viking rocket transporting a 500-pound scientific instrumentation package to an altitude of 106.4 miles. Project “Reach” concluded the first phase of Norton Sound’s history as a mobile missile launching platform, which was devoted to extending scientific research frontiers and gaining experience prequisite to firing tactical weapons. The ongoing second phase required the application of the resultant knowledge. Newer missiles launched from the ship had a more direct bearing on the future of the Navy’s combatant missile capability.

Like the FORREST SHERMAN class, the CHARLES F. ADAMS class DDG’s also incorporated mostly aluminum in the superstructure.  Air conditioning of all living spaces was a definite plus in habitability improvements.

HOEL was equipped to launch the Tartar (15-foot length, 1-foot diameter) surface-to-air missile with a range of 15-to-20 miles; 42 missiles were carried in the aft battery.  Long range anti-submarine weapons (ASROC) were mounted in a special launcher amidships. Two highly-proven and dependable single-mount rapid-fire (5″-54 caliber) guns rounded out the weapons bill, one forward, one aft.

The multi-faceted design mission of the DDG class was anti-air warfare, escorting and supporting amphibious forces after beach landings, teamwork with submarine-attacking hunter-killer battle groups, and ocean convoy protection. 

These ships were the first ships designed and built as guided missile destroyers from the keel up. Experiments on the Gyatt (DD-712), a Gearing class destroyer proved the worth of mounting a guided missile on destroyer type ships for air defense. This occurred during that short but barren technological period between the slow firing all-gun air defense and the current wizardry of automated guided missile systems and Vulcan Phalanx 20 mm close in weapon.

The Charles F. Adams class provided the Navy with a state-of- the-art air defense system that could respond to any Soviet threat into the 1970s and even beyond. Plus, they were credible anti-submarine warfare platforms and could also be called upon for shore target bombardment with their highly dependable five-inch/54-caliber guns. This class of destroyers, the second built after World War II (just after the Forrest Sherman class), displaced 3370 tons/437-foot length/47-foot beam/70,000 shaft horsepower/speed 33 knots. They were armed with two 5-inch/54-caliber guns/ASROC/Tartar surface to air missiles. They were not helicopter or DASH capable. They were also one of the most attractive ships ever designed for the Navy. They were so well thought of, that Australia and Germany also operated modified versions of this class.

All in all, these were magnificent ships and would last into the 1990s, but all things come to an end. The advent of the Spruance class destroyers and now the powerful Arleigh Burke relegated the old Adam’s class to mothballs and now the auction block. By the early 1990s, most had been decommissioned and laid up. The cutbacks in military appropriations sealed their doom and they were recently stricken.

She now rest, moored to a remote pier on the Amazon River near Manaus, Brazil.

USS Hoel (DDG-13) was one of twenty-three CHARLES F. ADAMS Class Destroyers which were built:

USS Charles F. Adams (DDG-2)

USS John King (DDG-3)

USS Lawrence (DDG-4)

USS Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5)

USS Barney (DDG-6)

USS Henry B. Wilson (DDG-7)

USS Lynde McCormick (DDG-8)

USS Towers (DDG-9)

USS Sampson (DDG-10)

USS Sellers (DDG-11)

USS Robison (DDG-12)

USS Hoel (DDG-13)

USS Buchanan (DDG-14)

USS Berkeley (DDG-15)

USS Joseph Strauss (DDG-16)

USS Conyngham (DDG-17)

USS Semmes (DDG-18)

USS Tattnall (DDG-19)

USS Goldsborough (DDG-20)

USS Cochrane (DDG-21)

USS Benjamin Stoddert (DDG-22)

USS Richard. E Byrd (DDG-23)

USS Waddell (DDG-24)

SPINNING A YARN - from (Origin of Naval Terminilogy)

“Salts and landlubbers alike delight in hearing a tall tale told with all the trimmings by someone with a talent for ’spinning a yarn.’ While today ’spinning a yarn’ refers to any exaggerated story, originally it was exclusively a nautical term understood by sailors only.  Officers and mates in the old Navy were stern disciplinarians who believed if sailors were allowed to congregate and tell sea stories, no work would be done. However, there was one job that required congregating on a weekly basis — unraveling the strands of old line.  On this day, the salts could talk to their heart’s content and the period came to be known as the time for ’spinning yarns.’ Later anyone telling a tale was said to be ’spinning a yarn,’ a cherished naval tradition.”

Spinning a Yarn through a poem from our 1981 WestPac Cruise by Stan Schrock:

In the laid back China Sea
on the USS Hoel,
lived 350 sailor type guys,
you probably knew them well.

They’d been sailing here and sailing there,
and their story is widely told
about the day they left San Diego
on a cruise that was so bold.

The first day out the ship Kinkaid
sat on a submarine.
The second day the seas got rough,
(the bootcamps all turned green).

A week went by and we pulled in
to a harbor known as Pearl.
We hit the beach and soaked up suds,
and ravaged a couple of girls.

We left Hawaii in our whites
we all looked nice and clean,
it’s something you won’t see again,
it was something to be seen.

We finally hit a wild port
they partied night and day,
the booze and girls were super cheap.
That’s right, it’s Subic Bay.

We’d walk around and hit the shops
we bought things by the million,
some guys went back to the ship for bucks,
(some went for penicillin).

We then pulled out and not too soon
for we have a motley crew,
the Leftwich hit another sub,
Submarines - zero / Destroyers - two.

We stayed at sea for 23 days
some tempers were getting short,
the Nav almost went over the side
but then we saw a port.

Oh, joys and raptures, we see land,
the crew was filled with spunk.
We terrorized the Wanchai district,
two thirds of us got drunk.

We staggered up, we staggered down,
we staggered on the street.
The Bradley saw us staggering,
The Bradley ended beat.

And now I sit upon the Ship
awaiting future ports.
I’ll cross the line (and do my time)
and get it in the shorts.

So now my poem is finished, folks.
It’s the best I could make it sound,
and even though we’re a radical bunch . . .
We’re the best fricken ship around.

The Adams Class Veterans Association, Inc. (ACVA, Inc.) is working to establish an ADAMS Ship Museum in Jacksonville, Florida (USA) … visit them at:

www.adamsclassddgvets.org

Enjoy!