| USS GOLDSBOROUGH DDG-20 1963-1993 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
| USS GOLDSBOROUGH Ship's History | |
  The first GOLDSBOROUGH, torpedo
boat number 20, was built by Wolff and Zwicker Iron Works of Portland,
Oregon. Her keel was laid 14 July 1898 and she was launched 29 July 1899,
under the sponsorship of Miss Gertrude Ballin, young daughter of the
Superintendent of the Wolf and Zwicker Iron Works. The torpedo boat was commissioned in the Puget Sound
Navy Yard 9 April 1908, Lt. Daniel T. Ghent in command.
GOLDSBOROUGH had a length overall
of 198 feet; extreme beam, 20 feet 7 inches; normal displacement of 255
tons; mean draft 6 feet 10 inches; designed speed of 27 knots, and a
designed complement of 3 officers and 56 men. Her original armament was
four 6-pounders and two 18-inch torpedo tubes.
GOLDSBOROUGH joined the Pacific
Torpedo Fleet after commissioning on 9 April 1908 and spent the next six
years based at San Diego, California. She cruised along the coast of
California and the Pacific Coast of Mexico, engaged in torpedo practice
and joint Fleet exercises and maneuvers. She was placed in ordinary at the
Mare Island Navy Yard on 26 March 1914 and later sailed up the Pacific
coast to serve as a training ship for the Oregon State Naval Militia at
Portland, Oregon (December 1914-April 1917.) She was again placed in full
commission on 7 April 1917 and served as a patrol ship for the Thirteenth
Naval District throughout World War I, basing her operations from the
Pacific Coast Torpedo Station. During this service 1 August 1918, her name
was assigned to a new destroyer to be constructed and she was designated
U. S. Coast Torpedo Boat Number 7. She was decommissioned in the Puget
Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, on 12 March 1919 and sold for
scrapping 8 September 1919. |
|
|
|
 The second
GOLDSBOROUGH DD 188 was a "four piper" destroyer which was
launched at Newport News, Virginia in 1920 and sponsored by Miss Lucetta
Goldsborough, the Admiral's niece. This ship had a displacement of 1215
tons a speed of 35 knots, and a crew of 6 officers and 95 men. After two
years of routine duty she was decommissioned in Philadelphia Navy Yard
until re-activation in 1940 as a seaplane tender-destroyer with the hull
number AVD 5. In this assignment she saw duty from the Caribbean to
Greenland and from the Galapagos Islands to Chile. AVD 5 served in several
capacities and in various areas of the Atlantic working with Hunter-Killer
Groups and on wartime patrols.On December 1, 1943
her classification was changed back to destroyer DD 188, and until early
in 1945 she operated in the East Atlantic against Nazi Submarines.
Following a conversion to APD 32 (high speed destroyer trans-port), she
arrived in Pearl Harbor where she embarked a company of United States
Marines and joined a task force steaming for what was to become the
invasion of Saipan. The landing was made on 13 June 1945 in the face of
the stiffest enemy resistance. For five weeks she supported the invasion
and twice provided gunfire support to the men on the beaches. Upon
completion of this assignment she joined the forces that became involved
in the Battle of Leyte Gulf beginning 18 October 1944. Her first mission
was to land underwater demolition teams in the face of Japanese machine
gun, mortar, and 75mm gunfire. GOLDSBOROUGH returned the enemy fire with her 3 inch
guns and joined by other ships in firing into concealed positions ashore.
A landing boat came alongside to transfer wounded and later enemy
artillery bracketed GOLDSBOROUGH, then hit the forward stack spraying the
ship with shrapnel.On October 1944,
GOLDSBOROUGH joined the Central Philippines Attack Force and entered Leyte
Gulf. The invasion for the Liberation of the Philippine Islands was
launched at this time. Following the operation at Iwo Jima and Okinawa,
earning her fourth and fifth battle stars, she returned to San Pedro where
she was deactivated and later decommissioned and scraped. |
|
|
|
 The third
GOLDSBOROUGH DDG 20, was built by the Puget Sound Bridge and Drydock
Company in Seattle, Washington, and was commissioned at Puget Sound Naval
Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington on 9 November 1963, Captain Charles D.
Allen Jr., in command. The ship was sponsored by Mrs. Alan Bible, wife of
U.S. Senator Bible of Nevada.After working up in
the Puget Sound area, she completed a series of port visits on the
mainland, and arrived in her new home port of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 14
February 1964. Following qualification and acceptance tests in April, she
sailed for Sydney, Australia for the Coral Sea celebration and returned to
Hawaii in June.GOLDSBOROUGH got
underway in late November for Yokosuka, Japan and her first WestPac
deployment with the Seventh Fleet. In February 1966 GOLDSBOROUGH made a
second deployment to the Orient. She provided gunfire support for
Operation "Binh Phu I" firing nearly 600 rounds. GOLDSBOROUGH
also screened attack carriers on Yankee Station in the South China Sea.
She participated in SEATO exercises in May, and was station ship at Hong
Kong in June. On 26 June she was again off Vietnam on picket station. The
ship returned to Pearl Harbor on 23 July.In August 1966,
GOLDSBOROUGH entered the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for overhaul and
extensive modification. In 1967 she participated in "Operation Sea
Dragon", designed to interdict the North Vietnamese lines of supply
into the Republic of Vietnam, and provided Naval Gunfire Support along the
DMZ. During this deployment GOLDSBOROUGH fired nearly 10,000 rounds in
support of allied forces and avoided over 800 rounds of hostile fire
without damage to the ship. She was awarded the Naval Unit Commendation
for exceptionally meritorious service in Vietnamese waters from 29 August
1967 to 17 February 1968 upon her return to Pearl.In November 1968
GOLDSBOROUGH made her fourth Western Pacific deployment in five years,
participating in eighty-eight gunfire missions in support of Vietnam,
Republic of Korea, and U. S. Marine and Army forces.In 1969 GOLDSBOROUGH
participated in the Apollo 11 Recovery Mission. The command module
"Columbia" splashed down about 200 nautical miles south of Johnston Island
at 12:50 GMT July 24, 1969.After a yard period
in 1970, GOLDSBOROUGH made a fifth WestPac tour, departing Pearl in August
and returning in February 1971. Again she provided Naval Gunfire Support
for allied troops, and carried out carrier escort duties in the Gulf of
Tonkin. Later that year she visited Portland, Oregon for the 1971 Rose
Festival.In September 1971
GOLDSBOROUGH departed on her sixth deployment to the Western Pacific,
providing Naval Gunfire Support for allied ground troops and performing
carrier escort services.In early 1972 she was
assigned to the recovery Task Force for Apollo 16. Departing again on 13
October 1972 for her seventh deployment to the Western Pacific, this would
be her last trip to the "gunline" of Vietnam. In December, while
conducting a combat mission GOLDSBOROUGH was hit by coastal artillery
fire. The shore battery put a hole five feet wide through an upper deck.
The ship's crew received a Meritorious Unit Commendation for service
between October 1972 and February 1973. The ship returned to Pearl Harbor
in May 1973.GOLDSBOROUGH
underwent a major overhaul at Pearl in 1974. Her electronics and weapons
systems were modernized, and she was fitted with a new type of sonar. Her
boilers and generators were rebuilt as well. She was badly in need of this
overhaul, being well worn from her repeated deployments to the Western
Pacific.During the 1980's
GOLDSBOROUGH participated in Persian Gulf operations, including
contingency activity during the Iranian hostage crisis. She conducted
maritime escort duties during the Iran / Iraq war, escorting Kuwaiti oil
tankers through the Persian Gulf. GOLDSBOROUGH was modernized extensively
in 83-84 at Pearl Harbor. In 86 the ship was host of the CNO Adm. Watkins.In September 1990,
during Operation Desert Shield GOLDSBOROUGH made the first seizure of an
Iraqi ship, the Zanoobia. The Iraqi ship was boarded and diverted to a
neutral port by GOLDSBOROUGH crew members. The ship's action set the
standard for future boarding operations during Operation Desert Shield.GOLDSBOROUGH
completed her final forward deployment in October 1992 to Central America
as part of a joint task force involved in counter-drug operations, setting
the standard for joint aerial and surface detection and monitoring
operations.GOLDSBOROUGH was
decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessels Register on 29 April
1993. She was sold to Australia as a parts hulk in September the same
year. |
|
 up |
|
|
|
| quarterdeck | admiral | history | specifications | roster | photos | reunion | association | memorabilia | contact | |
|
|
|
© 2008 USS GOLDSBOROUGH (DDG 20) Association |
|
