Tattnall II DDG-19

Tatnall II (DDG-19: dp. 3,370; 1. 432'; b. 47'; dr. 21'ff", s. 34 k.; cpl. 364; a. 2 5", 1 Tartar mist in., 1 ASROC In.,6 15.6" tt.; cl. Churles F. Adams) The second Tattnall (DDG-19) was laid down on 14 November 1960 at New Orleans, La., by Avondale Marine Ways, Inc.; launched on 26 August 1961; sponsored by Mrs. Mary Adams Mason and commissioned on 13 April 1963 at Charleston S.C., Comdr. William F. Regan in command. Following commissioning, Tattnall conducted sea trials out of Charleston and tested her Tartar and ASROC missile systems in the Charleston, Jacksonville, Fla., and San Juan, Puerto Rico, operating areas. Late in August, she returned to Charleston before departing again for shakedown training in the Caribbean. The guided-missile destroyer returned to Charleston once again on 20 October for post-shakedown availability. Training, exercises, and local operations followed from early February until late April 1964. After a visit to New York City late in April, she resumed operations from Charleston. On 8 September, she gob underway for her first overseas cruise during which she participated in NATO Exercise "Teamwork," an operation conducted in the Norwegian Sea and in the Bay of Biscay. The exercise ended early in October, and the warship put into Portsmouth, England, on the 3d. Tattnall moved from there to Edinburgh, Scotland, for a one-day visit on 12 October, before heading back to the United States. On the 22d, she reentered Charleston and resumed normal operations. Following missile firings and hombardment practice in the San Juan operating area, Tattnall departed the western Atlantic on 7 December for her first deployment to the Mediterranean Sea. On 14 December, she reached the Straits of Gibraltar and became a unit of the 6th Fleet. While in the Mediterranean, she visited Tunis, Genoa, and Naples in Italy, Marseilles and Theoule in France, and Barcelona in Spain. She also participated in several exercises with other units of the 6th Fleet and with ships of foreign navies. On 4 March 1965, she retransited the Straits of Gibraltar and headed back toward the United States. The guided-missile destroyer made Charleston on 14 March and began an availability period in preparation for her participation in projects for the Chief of Naval Operations. She completed the availability on 19 April and put to sea to conduct Fleet Research Project Number 69. She finished her work on the research project on 7 May and returned to Charleston. Tattnall resumed normal operations until 30 August when she put to sea to conduct the first of two additional tasks for the Chief of Naval Operations. This project, designated D/S 336, sought to insure her combat readiness prior to the second project, O/S 102. During project D/S 336, Tattnall's crew averaged 10 to 12 hours a day at general quarters as they tracked single and multiple-plane air raids and simulated missile firings. Weather conditions hampered the gathering of data so that project D/S 336 was not concluded until 2 October. She put to sea again on 4 October for project O/S 102, a multi-phase test of the combat effectiveness of the Charles F. Adams-class guided-missile destroyer. She completed the project early in December and returned to Charleston for availability, holiday leave, and preparation for another Mediterranean deployment. On 15 February 1966, Tattnall departed Charleston once more to join the 6th Fleet. From 27 February to 3 March, she participated in Exercise "Fairgame IV," a Franco American exercise conducted in the western Mediterranean. On 17 May, she conducted an intelligence surveillance of Russian warships. In June, she joined in another western Mediterranean exercise, "Deep Six." On this cruise, she added Rhodes; Majorca; Thessalonica and Volas, Greece and Istanbul, Turkey, to her list of ports visited. On i July, the warship put to sea from Palma de Mallorca and headed back toward Charleston, where she arrived on 22 August. Upon arrival, Tattnall immediately began her first major overhaul since commissioning. She remained in Charleston Naval Shipyard from 22 August 1966 until 7 March 1967. After exiting the shipyard, she resumed local operations along the southern Atlantic coast of the United States and in the West Indies until early July. Following a week-long visit to New York City from 12 to 19 July, the guided-missile destroyer returned to Charleston to prepare for her third Mediterranean cruise. That deployment lasted through January 1968; and, by early February, Tattnall was back in Charleston. She resumed normal operations along the southeastern coast of the United States and in the West Indies until June, when she returned to Europe. After a stop in the Azores and a visit to Germany for the "Kiel Week" celebration, Tattnall reentered the Mediterranean for another tour of duty with the 6th Fleet The warship remained in the Mediterranean until mid-November and then returned to the east coast and local operations. Tattnall continued to operate from Charleston until late July 1969, when she shifted home ports to Mayport, Fla. She arrived in Mayport on 29 July and conducted normal operations until September. From 2 to 24 September, the guided-missile destroyer participated in NATO Operation "Peacekeeper." On the 24th, she entered Amsterdam in the Netherlands for a week, then put to sea for hunter-killer operations and visits to the European ports of Hamburg, Bergen Edinburgh, and Le Havre. She reentered Mayport on to December 1969. After four months operating out of Mayport, Tattnall steamed north to Chespeake Bay, where she assisted in tests conducted at Randle Cliffs, Md., by scientists of the Naval Research Laboratory. She visited Newport R.I., in mid-month and returned to Mayport on the 25th. Following five months of operations and exercises in the vicinity of Mayport, Tattnall steamed to Charleston for her second regular overhaul. She remained in Charleston Naval Shipyard until 24 March 1971, when she began post-overhaul trials. On 22 April, she headed back to Mayport and operations in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. On 16 September 1971, the ship departed Charleston bound for nothern Europe and Exercise "Royal Knight." During that cruise, she visited Rosyth, Scotland, and Rotterdam in the Netherlands before returning to Mayport on 22 October. In March 1972, Tattnall deployed to the Mediterranean once again. She conducted exercises with other units of the 6th Fleet and with ships of foreign navies. The guidedmissile destroyer visited Valencia, Spain, Genoa and Naples in Italy, Patras and Athens, Greece, Kusadasi and Iskenderun, Turkey; Sousse, Tunisia; Menton, France; and Sicily. On 28 August, she changed operational control to the 2d Fleet and headed for Mayport, where she arrived on 5 September. Tattnall resumed operations from Mayport until 29 May 1973, when she got underway to participate in a joint American-French exercise conducted in the vicinity of Charleston. In late May and early June, she visited Norfolk, Va., and the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. She returned to Mayport on 18 June. After a month in the Mayport area, Tattnall embarked upon her first UNITAS deployment to South America. She visited ports in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Uruguay in between operations and exercises conducted with units of those countries' navies. On 15 December, she returned to Mayport and resumed exercises in the western Atlantic and upkeep in her home port through July 1974. On 22 July, she began a two-month restricted availability at Charleston. Tattnall returned to Mayport on 21 September and began preparations for another Mediterranean deployment. The guided-missile destroyer departed Mayport on 25 November and changed operational control to the 6th Fleet at Rota, Spain, on 5 December. That tour of duty in the Mediterranean Sea continued through the first five months of 1975. She returned to the United States at Mayport on 6 June and began western Atlantic operations once more. Late in August, she visited Newport, R.I., and then returned to the Florida area on the 29th. She resumed local operations in that vicinity until early October. On 4 October, Tattnall arrived at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for regular overhaul. Completing overhaul on schedule on 6 August 1976, Tattnall conducted post-overhaul refresher training off the east coast and in the Caribbean. Completing these Operations, she returned to her home port of Mayport on 20 November and commenced an availability period and Christmas standdown. Following participation in a major fleet exercise CARIBEX 2-77, from 29 January to 10 February 1977 Tattnall departed on a seven-month deployment with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean on 30 March. She returned to Mayport on 21 October. Holiday leave period followed. Tattnall operated off the east coast until 12 June 1978 when she departed for a deployment with the Standing Naval Forces, Atlantic (SNFL) in the North Atlantic. This deployment, which concluded at Mayport on 16 December, included various NATO exercises and port visits to the Netherlands, Great Britain Norway, Belgium Germany, and Portugal. Tatinall finished the year 1978 in port at Mayport.