USS Duncan

• Duncan (DDR-874) at sea
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• "Blue Water over the bow"
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Nexus: WestPac
The following articles are related to "WestPac Cruise" USS Duncan (DDR-874 Ship stats) Hong Kong Raffles Hotel Subic Bay See also [ Nexus ]

After my tour of duty aboard the USS Robert L Wilson, I received orders to report to the USS Duncan in San Diego, California.

This meant I had to find my way from Norfolk, VA, to San Diego, California, and my new ship. My orders stated that I could have a two-week delay in reporting, so I made a side trip to Sunnyvale, California, to visit family. When I reported to San Diego, I asked where the Duncan was. I was told Duncan sailed yesterday. "When will it be back?" "Oh, it left for Japan, and it will return in about two years!"

I stayed at NavStaSD for a while and was booked passage aboard a troop transport ship, General W. A. Mann (T-AP-112), with hundreds of Marines and soldiers heading for bases in the Western Pacific. Mann traveled from San Diego to Pearl Harbor, Midway, Guam, and Yokosuka, Japan, at a blistering twelve to fifteen knots. I was truly glad to see land, any land.

When I tried to find the "Duncan," I was told it was at sea for gunfire exercises and would return in ten to fourteen days. GREAT!

So, I reported to NavStaYokosuka for a bunk and a little card that enabled me to eat in the commissary. Since I was 'in transit' I was allowed daily liberty but had to return aboard the base by midnight: "Cinderella Liberty".

I visited many Hostess clubs along Dobuita Street outside the Main Gate. A little exploration showed that the clubs right outside the gate usually charged a LOT more for drinks, entertainment, and "entertainment" than those one or two miles up the road.

The Enlisted men's club

The 'EM Club' was a huge restaurant and bar on the NavStaYokosuka base. The bar had a great selection of alcoholic drinks. The restaurant had tablecloths, napkins, and a well-appointed set of cutlery. It was much better than the chowline at the mess hall or the commissary. MUCH! They also served an extraordinary steak dinner with a fresh green salad. The steak was served on a flame-heated metal plate on a wooden trivet with a baked potato and a veggie. More importantly, it was served with a bottomless glass of fresh chocolate milk. (Destroyers have limited refrigerated storage so that we would run out of fresh milk after about four to five days, fresh veggies in a week, and fresh eggs after ten days. These would be replaced by desiccated versions-not quite the same. The cooks would make omelets with freeze-dried eggs and then throw one whole egg into the mixer, shell and all. The men would find a small piece of shell and believe the omelets were being made with fresh eggs.) Having fresh milk with dinner was better hat a glass of fine wine.

WestPac

My second tour in the Navy was quite different than my first.

Since I was somewhat fluent in Japanese, I was transferred to the USS Duncan (DDR-874)] homeported in Yokosuka, Japan. We made port calls all over the Western Pacific, including the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Korea, and I made a side trip to Macau. This allowed for a fair amount of "in port time", and I spent time traveling around Japan, making friends and learning the various Japanese styles of bondage. (I find it interesting that although we did a fair amount of bondage, we never used the title "Shibari.")

See also [ Kazumi-chan ]

ComDesRon Nine

USS Duncan (DD/DDR-874)

Duncan was the flagship for ComDesRon-9 (Captain Hartigan) and his staff. He was the Commander of eight US Navy destroyers.

During the Vietnam War, Duncan served as a plane guard for aircraft carriers on "Yankee Station" in the Gulf of Tonkin, participated in Operations "Sea Dragon" and "Market Time," patrolled search and rescue duties, and carried out naval gunfire support missions.

Duncan was decommissioned on 15 January 1971, struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 February 1974, and sunk as a target off California on 31 July 1980.

Duncan's homepage

USS Knox (DD/DDR-742}

USS Knox was named for Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox, who was the father of Elyse Knox and grandfather of tv celebrity Mark Harmon.

USS DeHaven (DD-727)

Navy sense of humor

On 15 March 1952 (during the Korean War), the USS Duncan, during the Korean War, was escorting and protecting the USS Wisconsin from inbound enemy aircraft.

A North Korean 155mm gun battery fired at the "Big Whisky." It hit a 40mm battery aboard the USS Wisconsin, but did very little damage.

In response, the Wisconsin turned all nine 16" guns and fired nine 2700-pound shells at the North Korean gun battery, causing it "to permanently disappear."

The Captain of the Duncan sent the following radio message to big Wisky, "Wisconsin, Wisconsin: Temper, temper."

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