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USS Theodore E. Chandler DD 717
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| We are seeking information on the USS Theodore E. Chandler and her crews. Files may be emailed to us and we will incorporate them into these pages. |
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Sent: Friday, November 07, 1997 10:11 PM Subject: Fwd: DD-717 les campbell From: [email protected]
Name: MACM Lesley B. CAMPBELL, USN, Retired U.S. Navy 1949-79 Served in USS Theodore E. Chandler (DD-717) 11/63 - 12/64. Chief Radioman (RMC), OC Div LCPO Had 12 CPO's onboard, but can only remember: MMCS McGee, MMC Poston, FTCS Squires, YNCS Katerliegh, GMG Epperson, RDC Merrit, SKC Tate, ETC Maderis, SMC Hughes. BTC Raymond, EMC Cosky, HMC Miller. Can't remember our ENC, but he was out of allowance for DD-710 types at that time. Chandler had long operated with Ozbourn (flagship), and Hollister. Picked up Henderson some months prior to Wespac deployment in June, 64. When departing LBeach in Late June (could have been early July), these DD's were DesDiv 112, DesRon 11 ("On the Way'). Arriving in Pearl, we found ourselves detached from DESRON 11, and assigned as DesDiv 233, DesRon 23 ("Little Beavers") Have no idea the reason for this, but as far as I know, the rest of Desron 23 was in CONUS while we operated with the 7th Flt. Several peculiar things occurred during our pre-deployment in Pearl. A good part of our crew was shanghied for units remaining in Pearl. Chandler was at near full manning strength when leaving Long Beach. No replacements were to be had during the remainder of the deployment as crewmenbers were lost due to death, illness, transfers, etc. I left the ship in Yokosuka in December 64, but heard she was down to near skeleton manning by the time she got back to LBeach around March, 65. Also while in Pearl, the yard came aboard to install stanchions on the signal bridge (could have been the 02, can't remember for sure), to support .30 cal machine guns. We were advised that they would be used on surface craft too close in for the 5/38's. Later, we would reflect on that when we got into Vietnam coastal areas and got our first look as sampans. We were inport Yokosuka on August 4th when first word came of the Maddox and Joy incident. (incidently, the ships bio makes reference to the Maddox as DD-622. This is not correct. Maddox was DD-731, or somewhere in the series) [Corrected - Ed.] Leaving Yokosuka as part of ASWGRU ONE, RADM F.E. Baukis embarked in USS Kearsarge (CV-33), we ran into TWO typhoons while enroute to what would later be named "Yankee Station" in area of Hainan Island. Altho the DD's took a hell of a beating, it was the worst typhoon I ever sailed in/around in 30 years of service, they came through. Not so for our DE escorts, Bridgett, Bauer, Evans, Hooper, who started suffering superstructure damage and were directed into Hong Kong by ComASWGru 1. One of our missions was to find ANY shreds of evidence, debris, etc., that would support the claim that Maddox and Joy had been attacked by N. Viet craft, incorrectly identified as PT's. No evidence was found, mainly because there never had been a documented attack. However, LBJ needed something to back his claim that U.S. naval forces had been fired on. After about 30 days of that nonsense, we put in to Subic for a 10 day RAV, but got chased out shortly thereafter by yet another typhoon. It was not a fun deployment. One thing not mentioned in the ships bio is the forward deployed 3 year tour homeported in Yokosuka. I would have to research the records, but I believe she was assigned to DesRon 3 after leaving 23. The years would have been in the 1966-69 time frame. Final note: Chandler sustained significant damage when hit by NV shore fire. After retiring in Japan in Sept, 79, I lived in Subic City until returning to the States in 84. I recall that a piece of Chandler shrapnel was on display at the Naval Station Library. In addition to a history of the DD-717, a write up (at the display) alluded to the USS Chandler as the role model for the ship depicted in the book, "China Station Destroyer." I have never read the book, and may not be accurate on the title, but intend to look it up. I'm sure you are aware of the USS Chandler annual reunions. If not, I can provide names and addresses. Les Campbell
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