NARRATIVE OF EVENTS FOR 1977
Guided Missile Cruiser USS STERETT began the year 1977 in a flurry of activity for ship’s company. Of primary importance was an upcoming Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) which is the most intensive material evaluation period that a ship in the Navy experiences. Preparations were around-the-clock in order to present the ship at her very best for the 18 –22 January evolution.
Underway periods are essential elements in getting ready for such an inspection and STERETT conducted at-sea self-evaluations from the 10 – 16th of January. Additionally, a short stop was made at Seal Beach, California on 14 January to onload weapons. Other requirements during this period included acting as visit ship, 8 – 9 January, at Broadway Pier in San Diego.
Preparing the ship to depart San Diego on the 17th of February was no simple task. Reassembling a great deal of equipment following the January inspection was a process that continued right up to the sailing date. The determining of what supplies were required and getting them aboard was a major undertaking performed by the Supply Department.
One seemingly minor aspect of the supply loadout was the ordering of soft drinks in quantities sufficient to match the thirst of the STERETT sailors. The ship took aboard 1800 cases (43, 200 cans), and they were nearly all gone by the end of March.
Preparations also included embarking Commander Cruiser-Destroyer Group ONE, Rear Admiral R. S. SMITH, and his staff of 15 officers and 24 enlisted men. We also took aboard a helicopter detachment from Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron (Light) THIRTY-THREE, with one helicopter, four pilots, and twelve maintenance personnel.
Following departure from San Diego, the ship began a large fleet exercise involving ships and planes from the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia which ended on the 3rd of March with our arrival at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii with 22 other exercise ships. While inport the ship refueled, replaced its missiles, and topped off its supplies of fresh fruits, vegetables, milk, ice cream, and bread.
Shortly after noon on Saturday, 5 March, STERETT departed Pearl Harbor alone enroute to Japan. An exercise was conducted with a transiting friendly submarine south of Midway Island on the 7th, and the ship completely skipped 9 March as a result of crossing the International Date Line. On the evening of 11 March, while conducting an exercise with two French Navy ships, our helicopter crashed into the sea and a fine man and shipmate, Lieutenant Commander Jeff SMITH, was killed. The ship was able to recover the other two crewmen who escaped from the sinking helicopter.
STERETT arrived at the U.S. Naval Base at Yokosuka, Japan at first light on 15 March for a brief stop to pick up Staff members who had flown ahead of the ship from Hawaii for briefings and planning conferences. Never missing an opportunity to do so, the ship also filled up the fuel tanks, freezers, and storerooms again during the fast paced one-day stop.
Promptly at 0800 on the 16th, the ship departed Japan for a four-day trip to Subic Bay in the Philippines. The ship found Sunday 20 March to be one of the busiest days of the entire deployment. Beginning at 0600 the ship received personnel aboard via helicopter and very shortly after that via small boat. At 0700 STERETT was conducting a special electronics test just outside the Subic Bay entrance. AT 0900 the ship was in the harbor exchanging a number of personnel again by boat, including putting our helicopter detachment ashore to get acquainted with the new helicopter that was awaiting the ship in Subic. By 1030, STERETT had departed harbor and was again at sea, conducting receipt of food and other supplies from a stores ship alongside. Following lunch, it was back to work again to refuel from a tanker. Finally as the day was ending the ship conducted one more personnel transfer by helicopter.
STERETT joined six other missile ships on the 21 March to prepare for a missile shoot scheduled for the 22nd. The ship was unable to fire however, because our long-range TERRIER missiles were constantly obstructed by a sizeable number of Merchant ships and fishing craft continually passing through the range.
The ship returned to Subic Bay on the 23rd of March for a week of rest and equipment maintenance. The import time was utilized by having a number of equipment repaired or calibrated by the shipyard personnel.
From the 1st of April to the 5th of April the ship was at sea in the areas close-in to Subic Bay to conduct various training exercises and gunnery exercises. Our helicopter pilots were given an opportunity to put their newly acquired airplane through a vigorous flying program, including many night landings.
STERETT was in Subic Bay from the 5th of April until the 3rd of May. The unusually long inport period was provided for the ship in order to ensure that she would be in top condition for a lengthy Indian Ocean voyage which was to put the ship out of touch from U.S. repair and supply sources until the end of July.
Leaving Subic Bay on the morning of 3 May, STERETT and travelling companions USS MORTON (a destroyer), USS BRADLEY (a frigate), and USNS MISPILLION (a civilian manned tanker operated by the U.S. Navy) proceeded directly south through the Philippine Islands via the Subic and Celebes Seas toward the Indonesian island of Celebes. The ships conducted an ambitious schedule of training exercises during this period and at all other times at sea during the remainder of the cruise as well. There were a good deal of helicopter exercises, gunnery training, tactical maneuvering drills, communications drills, engineering and seamanship exercises. All the ships spent considerable time alongside MISPILLION to take on fuel and food supplies.
STERETT conducted 18 replenishments from MISPILLION and accumulated a total of 29 hours and 33 minutes steaming closely alongside the tanker during those refuelings.
The ships of the Task Group crossed the Equator on the 5th of May, and the traditional crossing-the-line ceremonies were held on all ships on the 6th. It was a memorable day for all the Pollywogs as they met Davy Jones, King Neptune, Miss Pollywog, the Royal Judge, Royal Barber, Royal Doctor, Royal Baby, and a variety of tests of their stamina during the course of becoming veteran Shellbacks in good standing with Davy and King Neptune.
STERETT, BRADLEY, and MISPILLION arrived at the city of Ujung Pandang at the southwest tip of Celebes on the morning of 7 May for a four-day visit. A large number of the crew worked two straight days in the high heat and humidity to paint out a dental school. Others befriended school students, played a number of sports events with them, and gave them personnel tours of the ship. We also had the opportunity to leave behind a small quantity of HANDCLASP material, in this case clothes for an orphanage, medical supplies, and basic tools.
Leaving the Celebes on 11 May, our group participated in exercises with the Indonesian Navy in the Java Sea on the 12th and 13th before continuing south to the next stop in Australia. The Task Group passed close by the fabled island of Bali, with its towering volcano, on the 14th and officially entered the Indian Ocean at that point. Many exercises and 1600 miles later we arrived at Fremantle, Australia on the 19th of May. A tremendous welcome awaited our ships, and that atmosphere prevailed throughout the visit.
The Task Group departed Australia on 24 May enrobe to several destinations. STERETT and MISPILLION headed for the island country of Mauritius some 3300 miles distant. BRADLEY was with us most of the way before breaking off to visit the French island La Reunion just to the southwest of Mauritius, and MORTON left us on the 30th to go north to the island of Diego Garcia.
Mauritius proved to be more than expected! A beautiful tropical island, some 720 square miles in size, it is little more than an old volcano arising out of the seabed. The attraction for the crew was the fine array of beaches available. Quite a number availed themselves of opportunities to take organized tours of the island. The ship still had some HANDCLASP material left for local distribution.
Leaving Mauritius on the 6th of June after a three day visit, STERETT joined a number of French Navy ships for two days of exercises off the island of Madagascar. Then, with all of our group together again, we proceeded to the Kenyan port of Mombassa in Africa for a three-day stop.
From Kenya, it was off to the north on the 15th of June for more naval exercises with ships of the French Navy, this time in the Gulf of Aden, just to the south of Arabia. This period also marked our entry into what became the hottest part of the trip, with air and sea temperatures climbing to uncomfortable levels. Additionally, it began a two-week period of contending with the sands of Arabia which are constantly blowing in the air, even out at sea.
It took the heavy rains off India too finally wash off rivers of mud from all over the ship.
Following the French Navy encounter, our group proceeded into the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Amman, and on to Bandar Abbas, Iran in the Persian Gulf. MORTON went on alone to Abadan at the north end of the Gulf, and MISPILLION proceeded to Bahrain to take on more fuel. STERETT anchored outside the harbor at Bandar Abbas, due to the less than adequate depth of water in the harbor.
Bandar Abbas was hot and humid. A thermometer held just above our flight deck indicated 146 degrees. Other thermometers about the ship went as high as they could go and quit. The air was a continuous dust laden haze.
All ships were underway again on 28 June, and for the next two days were engaged in naval exercises with ships and aircraft of the Iranian Navy and Iranian Air Force. These exercises took place in the Gulf of Amman, where the most common sight is an endless stream of giant oil tankers from all over the world proceeding to and from the oil reservoirs at the upper end of the Persian Gulf.
Our Task Group departed the area on 30 June, proceeded along the coast of Pakistan, down the coast of India whereupon STERETT detached on 5 July to transit to Male in the Maldives Islands. The other ships continued to the east, with BRADLEY headed for Penang, Malaysia, and MORTON to Singapore. MISPILLION accompanied them part of the way.
STERETT departed Male on 9 July, enroute to Singapore. We met MISPILLION half way across the Bay of Bengal for fuel, and arrived in Singapore on the 15th of July for a four-day stop. While there STERETT received industrial assistance from the several ship repair facilities of Singapore who employ a total of nearly 40,000 skilled workers.
On the 19th of July, our band of ships pointed for Subic Bay and the final leg of the long journey, except for MISPILLION which went off to Thailand. An uneventful four-day trip wound up with an extensive replenishment of food, fuel and other supplies from two supply ships the day before arrival in Subic.
After an 82-day swing through the Indian Ocean which saw some 19,000 miles pass beneath the ship, STERETT returned to its homeport-away-from-home in Subic Bay, Philippines on the 23rd of July. A recap of some of the statistics of the trip include visits to seven foreign ports, hosting more than 20,000 citizens of other countries, a total time of 41 days spent south of the Equator, the induction of more than 200 men into the Royal Realm of Davy Jones and King Neptune as we crossed the Equator, and an actual at sea time of seventy percent during the cruise.
As STERETT neared the end of its seven and one half-month deployment the schedule held us in, or in the waters around, Subic Bay. In the midst of preparations for an upcoming Operational Propulsion Plant Examination (OPPE) the ship took time out to visit two additional liberty ports. STERETT was in Keelung, the port city for Taipei (the capital of the Taiwan Republic of China), during 11 – 13 August period and in the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong from the 29th of August through the 2nd of September.
On the 16th of September we departed Subic Bay; destination San Diego, California; with two short "pit stops" in between. On 26 September the ship moored at Midway Island to take on fuel and to embark the Propulsion Examining Board who were to conduct STERETT’s OPPE while on the way to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The next three days became a test of endurance for the ship’s engineers as they were put through an intensive schedule of tests and evaluations. Our arrival in Pearl Harbor on the 29th of September was an emotional moment for two reasons. First, after months of exhaustive preparations, STERETT had successfully passed her OPPE and second we had family and friends waiting for us on the pier.
Returning home with STERETT were 70 sons, brothers, fathers, and friends of crewmen who had traveled to Hawaii at their own expense to sail to San Diego with the ship as part of the Navy’s "Operation Tiger". On 6 October, the ship arrived home, greeted by hundreds of STERETT supporters.
November and December found STERETT pierside for the majority of the time. Immediately upon our return we commenced a 30-day leave and upkeep period. The ship took advantage of this time frame to make herself ready for the several inspections that had been scheduled in December and also maintenance on a good deal of our equipment.
December was highlighted by STERETT’s participation in Ready Exercise 1 – 78 with other units of the Pacific Fleet. A near tragedy marred the start of the exercise on December 7 as a SH – 2F Seasprite Helicopter enroute to FOX via STERETT went into the water 20 miles from the ship with six airmen aboard. All six men were recovered with minor injuries and the exercise pressed on to completion on the 14th of December.
The year 1977 closed with STERETT pierside at Naval Station, 32nd Street, San Diego in a holiday leave and upkeep period.