USS Richard S. Edwards

Richard S. Edwards in 1962
History
United States
Namesake	Richard Stanislaus Edwards
Ordered	27 January 1956
Builder	Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company
Laid down	20 December 1956
Launched	27 September 1957
Acquired	30 January 1959
Commissioned	5 February 1959
Decommissioned	18 December 1982
Stricken	7 February 1990
Fate	Sunk as a target off Kauai in Hawaii on 12 May 1997
General characteristics
Class and type	Forrest Sherman class destroyer
Displacement	2,800 tons standard. 4,050 tons full load.
Length	407 ft (124 m) waterline, 418 ft (127 m) overall.
Beam	45 ft (14 m)
Draft	22 ft (6.7 m)
Propulsion	4 x 1,200 psi (8.3 MPa) Babcock & Wilcox boilers, Westinghouse steam turbines; 70,000 shp (52 MW); 2 x shafts.
Speed	32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Range	4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km) at 20 knots (37 km/h)
Complement	15 officers, 218 enlisted.
Armament	3 x 5 in (127 mm)/54 calibre dual purpose Mk 42 guns; 4 x 3 in (76 mm)/50 calibre Mark 33 anti-aircraft guns; 2 x mark 10/11 Hedgehogs; 6 x 12.75 in (324 mm) Mark 32 torpedo tubes.

USS Richard S. Edwards (DD-950), named for Admiral Richard Stanislaus Edwards USN (1885–1956), was a Forrest Sherman class destroyer built by the Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company at Seattle, Washington and launched on 24 September 1957 by Mrs. W. B. Franke; and commissioned 5 February 1959, Comdr. Richard R. Law in command.

Richard S. Edwards served as plane guard for carriers on Yankee Station in the Tonkin Gulf, participated in Sea Dragon operations, patrolled on search and rescue duties and carried out Naval Gunfire Support missions during the Vietnam War and underwent an ASW modernization at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard between 27 February 1970 and 15 January 1971.

History

Richard S. Edwards’ shakedown took her to Valparaiso, Chile. While returning from Valparaiso, the newly installed boilers started to spring leaks. Of the four boilers, it was found that they were leaking so bad, that the ship had to return to Seattle, in August the following year the Edwards was refueling from the USS Bennington, an aircraft carrier when the Bennington suddenly veered to the left, and sideswiped the Edwards. That is the reason the ship had to enter the Naval Shipyard at Terminal Island, then back to San Diego 13 May 1959. She then deployed to the western Pacific area where she operated with the fast carrier units of the 7th Fleet, and as a member of the U.S. Taiwan Patrol Force. She returned to the west coast 13 May 1960 and operated there until deploying to the western Pacific again in February 1961 to operate with the fast carrier group in the South China Sea. She returned to San Diego 14 September 1961.

Richard S. Edwards commenced her third WestPac cruise 13 November 1962 for fast carrier operations throughout the western Pacific, returning home in June 1963. She resumed local operations until commencing her fourth WestPac cruise from August 1964 to January 1965. During this deployment [Richard S.] Edwards and USS Morton (DD-948) engaged North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Tonkin Gulf on 18 September, probably sinking several.

Upon returning from the Far East, [Richard S.] Edwards operated off the west coast until deploying to WestPac again 1 March 1966 to 26 August 1966. There she rendered naval gunfire support to forces ashore in Vietnam and plane-guarded for U.S. Navy carriers in the Tonkin Gulf. During 1967, she operated off the west coast of the United States until returning to WestPac in August. She arrived Da Nang, South Vietnam, 3 November 1967. She returned to San Diego 12 March 1968 and spent the balance of that year operating off the west coast.

In late January 1969 Richard S Edwards deployed to WestPac again to operate off Vietnam She returned to San Diego 13 August 1969, until being decommissioned at Long Beach, Calif. 27 February 1970. She immediately entered Long Beach Naval Shipyard and underwent ASW modernization. By December, she was participating in sea trials in anticipation of her recommissioning, which occurred 15 January 1971. She embarked 4 March for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, her new home port, and continued operations in that vicinity until April 1972.

Receiving only 72 hours notice, Richard S Edwards sailed from Pearl Harbor 10 April 1972 for the western Pacific and deployment off the Vietnamese coast. On May 9, 1972, Edwards led the gunfire strike that preceded the Operation Pocket Money mining of Haiphong Harbor. She remained in the area, either on the gunline or cruising with the carriers as escort and plane-guard, until November. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 10 November 1972, operating out of that port until decommissioned on 15 December 1982.

Richard S. Edwards received six battle stars for service off Vietnam.

Fate

She was decommissioned 15 December 1982, stricken 7 February 1990, and sunk as a target ship off the coast of Kauai on 12 May 1997.

See also

• List of United States Navy destroyers

References

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
•  This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.

External links

• USS Richard S. Edwards Web Site
• Naval Vessel Registry entry