Gearing-class destroyer
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c8/USS_Steinaker_%28DD-863%29_in_the_North_Atlantic_1951.jpg/300px-USS_Steinaker_%28DD-863%29_in_the_North_Atlantic_1951.jpg) USS
Steinaker
(DD-863) in the North Atlantic, in 1951.
|
History
|
United States
|
Name
| USS
Steinaker
|
Namesake
| Private First Class
Donald B. Steinaker (1922-1942), a
United States Marine Corps
Navy Cross
recipient
|
Builder
| Bethlehem Steel Corporation
,
Staten Island
, New York
|
Laid down
| 1 September 1944
|
Launched
| 13 February 1945
|
Sponsored by
| Miss Carol Steinaker
|
Commissioned
| 26 May 1945
|
Decommissioned
| 24 February 1982
|
Stricken
| 24 February 1982
|
Nickname(s)
| "Stinky"
[
citation needed
]
|
Fate
| Sold to
Mexican Navy
, 24 February 1982; renamed
ARM
Netzahualcoyotl
(D-102)
; Retired in 2014 and slated to be sunk as an artificial reef
|
General characteristics
|
Class and type
| Gearing
-class destroyer
|
Displacement
| 3,460 tons (full)
|
Length
| 390 ft 6 in (119 m)
|
Beam
| 40 ft 10 in (12 m)
|
Draft
| 14 ft 4 in (4 m)
|
Propulsion
| 2-screw General Electric geared turbines, 60,000 shp
|
Speed
| 36.8 knots
|
Range
| 4500 nm @ 20 knots
|
Complement
| 336
|
Armament
| |
The second
USS
Steinaker
(DD-863/DDR-863/DD-863)
was a
Gearing
-class
destroyer
of the
United States Navy
.
Namesake
[
edit
]
Donald Baur Steinaker was born on 15 September 1922 at
Syracuse, New York
. He
enlisted
in the
United States Marine Corps Reserve
on 20 March 1941. He served at
Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island
,
South Carolina
, and at
Marine Corps Base Quantico
,
Virginia
, before he was sent to the
South Pacific
for service during World War II.
During the
Guadalcanal campaign
, Private First Class Steinaker was killed in action at the
Matanikau River
on Guadalcanal on 9 October 1942 when his unit was attacked during a heavy
Japanese
offensive. He refused to be dislodged from his position and died at his post. He was posthumously awarded the
Navy Cross
.
The
destroyer escort
USS
Steinaker
(DE-452)
was named for him, but its construction was cancelled in 1944.
Construction and commissioning
[
edit
]
Steinaker
was laid down by the
Bethlehem Steel Corporation
at
Staten Island
in New York on 1 September 1944, launched on 13 February 1945 by Miss Carol Steinaker and commissioned on 26 May 1945.
History
[
edit
]
Steinaker
held her shakedown cruise off
Guantanamo Bay
,
Cuba
, and returned to
Norfolk, Virginia
, her home port, where she acted as a training ship for the remainder of the year. Until 1952, the destroyer alternated her operations between the east coast with the
Atlantic Fleet
and deployment with the
6th Fleet
. She was deployed to the
Mediterranean
in 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, and the first five months of 1952.
Steinaker
entered the
Norfolk Naval Shipyard
on 1 July 1952 for conversion to a radar picket destroyer and was classified as
DDR-863
. The work was completed on 28 February 1953 and shakedown at Guantanamo Bay followed. She made her first deployment to the 6th Fleet as a picket destroyer from 16 September to 3 February 1954. She also served with the 6th Fleet for portions of 1955, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, and 1965. In 1964, the destroyer was converted under the FRAM program and given modern antisubmarine weapons and detection equipment. On 1 July of that year, she resumed the designation,
DD-863
.
Steinaker
was in the
Red Sea
and Indian Ocean for two months in 1967 as a unit of the Middle East Force. On 26 March 1968, she stood out of Norfolk headed for her first tour in the western Pacific. She transited the
Panama Canal
on 31 March and?after calling briefly at
San Diego
,
Pearl Harbor
,
Midway
,
Guam
, and the
Philippine Islands
?arrived off
Vietnam
.
Steinaker
was assigned to the
7th Fleet
from 20 May through 1 October and participated in naval gunfire support operations off
Binh Thu?n
and
Phu Yen
provinces; "Sea Dragon" operations off the coast of
North Vietnam
to interdict seaborne infiltration of
Communist
forces into
South Vietnam
; and antiaircraft picket duty off the demilitarized zone. She also operated with aircraft carriers conducting strikes against North Vietnam.
Steinaker
returned to the east coast of the United States, via
Subic Bay
,
Singapore
,
Yokosuka
, and
Okinawa
. She arrived at Norfolk on 5 November 1968 and resumed Atlantic Fleet operations until 9 January 1970. At that time, she was assigned to
NATO
's Standing Naval Force, Atlantic. This tour lasted until 23 July 1970. She made another voyage to the Mediterranean from 23 February to 23 July 1971 and returned to the North Atlantic from 10 July to 18 November 1972.
Steinaker
was transferred to Destroyer Squadron 10, Naval Reserve Force, on 1 July 1973 and changed her home port to Baltimore. Into December 1974, she serves as a training ship for reserves.
Steinaker
received two
battle stars
for service in Vietnam.
Steinaker
was decommissioned and stricken from the
Naval Vessel Register
on 24 February 1982, transferred to Mexico and renamed
Netzahualcoyotl
.
References
[
edit
]
This article incorporates text from the
public domain
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
. The entry can be found
here
.
External links
[
edit
]