USS Elliot (DD-967)

USS "Elliot" (DD-967) was a sclass|Spruance|destroyer in the United States Navy. Built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries at Pascagoula, Mississippi, the ship was named for Lieutenant Commander Arthur J. Elliot II, USN (1933–1968), who as commanding officer of Patrol Boat River Squadron 57, was killed in action in the Republic of Vietnam on 29 December 1968.

1977 – 1981

"Elliot" got underway on 24 January 1977 for her maiden voyage, transiting from Pascagoula, Mississippi, to San Diego, California, via the Panama Canal. She was assigned to the U.S. Pacific Fleet as a unit of Destroyer Squadron 9 (DesRon 9), under the administrative control of Commander, Cruiser Destroyer Group Five and Commander, Naval Surface Forces, Pacific. After arrival, "Elliot" conducted five weeks of shakedown training and participated in a combat exercise. Following these evolutions, she returned to her builders for a post shakedown yard availability.

After leaving the yard, "Elliot" sailed to Rockland, Maine arriving on 25 August. Neighboring Thomaston was the hometown of the sailor for whom the ship was named. During a four day stay, the ship hosted several thousand guests and embarked 650 guests for a six hour guest cruise. On 24 September "Elliot" reported to Long Beach Naval Shipyard for a six month restricted yard availability during which her NATO Sea Sparrow and Harpoon missile systems were installed.

On 1 August 1978 "Elliot" shifted from the operational command of Destroyer Squadron Nine to Destroyer Squadron 31 (DesRon 31). "Elliot" departed for her first deployment, a seven month Western Pacific tour, on 21 February 1979 as flagship of DesRon 31 in company with the aircraft carrier USS|Ranger|CVA-61|2. On 31 March, "Elliot" departed Subic Bay, Philippines with "Ranger", for operations in the Indian Ocean. Less than a week later, "Elliot" was transiting the Strait of Malacca in lead of "Ranger" when the carrier was involved in a collision with the oil tanker M/V "Fortune" resulting in the carrier having to return to Subic Bay for repairs. "Elliot" arrived in Diego Garcia on 12 April. "Elliot" then joined a battle group centered around USS|Midway|CV-41|2 and participated in operations in the Gulf of Aden to maintain a U.S. military presence in the area. "Elliot" returned to Subic Bay on 15 June. "Elliot" was awarded the Navy Expeditionary Medal for Indian Ocean contingency operations. "Elliot" arrived back at her homeport from her first deployment on 9 September 1979. Also notable on this deployment was "Elliot" tailing Soviet carrier "Minsk" for five days of observation of operations.

"Elliot" began her second deployment in 1980. On 23 January 1981, "Elliot" suffered a main bearing casualty resulting in one of her gas turbine engines having to be replaced. This replacement was completed at Subic Bay in 2 days. On 21 April "Elliot" encountered the first of several refugee boats. Over the next eight days "Elliot" picked up 158 refugees for which the crew was awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal. Port visits on this deployment included stops in Hawaii, Guam, Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, Philippines, Japan, and Singapore. She returned from this deployment on 23 May.

1981 – 1985

On 1 June 1981 "Elliot" was transferred to Destroyer Squadron 21. "Elliot" reported to Todd Pacific Shipyard in Seattle, Washington on 17 August for the first private sector overhaul ever conducted of a "Spruance"-class destroyer. Among other refurbishments and installations during this overhaul "Elliot" received an SLQ-32(V)2 electronic warfare system. "Elliot" completed overhaul on 30 April 1982. She returned to her homeport of NS San Diego on 21 May. On 1 July "Elliot" was reassigned from DesRon 21 to DesRon 17.

"Elliot" departed San Diego, California on 13 April 1983 for the third deployment of her career. Port visits on this deployment included stops in Hawaii, Philippines, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Guam and Hong Kong. On 31 July, a small boat was spotted by the forward lookout. A total of 68 Vietnamese refugees were subsequently rescued and were turned over to state officials in Subic Bay. "Elliot" was again awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal for her rescue operation. During August, "Elliot" endured being at sea through the combined forces of two typhoons, though no significant damage resulted. On 1 September, "Elliot" departed Sasebo, Japan on four hours' notice, to respond to the downing of KAL 007. "Elliot" steamed at 32 knots (60 km/h) for a thousand miles (1,900 km) and arrived first on station. She remained on scene until 14 September. "Elliot" returned from her third deployment on 18 November 1983.

On 27 January 1984, "Elliot" conducted a safe weapons offload at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station. Shortly after departing this facility, "Elliot" struck a subsurface obstruction in the Seal Beach channel, causing some limited damage to the underwater hull and the starboard propeller. On 2 February, "Elliot" commenced a planned three month selected repair availability (SRA) period in San Diego. On 30 April, "Elliot" proceeded to the Todd Shipyard facilities in San Pedro, California for repairs to her starboard propeller and sonar dome. In May, "Elliot" shifted operational command to Destroyer Squadron 5. In October, "Elliot" participated in Fleet Week '84 festivities with 18 other ships in San Francisco, California. "Elliot" hosted more than 10,000 visitors during this event.

1985 – 2003

On 10 July 1985, "Elliot" departed on her fourth deployment as part of the USS|New Jersey|BB-62|2 battle group. Port visits on this deployment included stops in Hawaii, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Brunei, and Hong Kong. In mid-September "Elliot" was engaged in an exercise with Republic of Korea ships. During the exercise, "Elliot" rendered on-scene assistance to the USS|Darter|SS-576|2 which was disabled during a collision with the merchant ship "Kansas Getty". On 1 December "Elliot" departed Subic Bay in company with the USS|Kitty Hawk|CV-63|2 battle group for transit to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii arriving on 12 December. "Elliot" returned to her San Diego homeport on 21 December, ending her fourth deployment.

In May 1986 "Elliot" began a two month selected repair availability which included installation of flight deck modifications necessary to support LAMPS Mk III helicopter operations. On 11 October "Elliot" arrived at San Francisco to participate in Fleet Week '87 festivities.

In January 1987, "Elliot" departed on her fifth deployment. Highlights off this deployment included operations in the Bering Strait.

"Elliot" received a major overhaul in the 1988 / 1989 time frame, receiving, among other things, VLS, Phalanx CIWS, new TACAN and an upgraded Sea Sparrow system including MK 23 TAS radar.

"Elliot" departed San Diego on 9 September 1989 to participate in PACEX-89, said to be the largest major naval exercise in the Pacific since the close of World War II. "Elliot's" course took it north to the Gulf of Alaska, then on to the Bering Sea, the northwest Pacific, East China Sea, and the Sea of Japan. "Elliot" made its sole port stop at Sasebo, Japan before returning home on 9 November 1989. During PACEX-89, "Elliot" conducted joint operations with other units of the Pacific Fleet as well as elements of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force. "Elliot" and its battlegroup were also overflown by two Soviet TU-95 Bear D reconnaissance aircraft. Another highlight was the group photograph "Elliot" participated in as one of fifty ships gathered in formation.

"Elliot" departed San Diego for WestPac-90 on 1 February 1990 as part of the USS|Carl Vinson|CVN-70 Carrier Battlegroup "Charlie." Ports visited included Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Pusan, Korea; Subic Bay, Philippines; Singapore; Pattaya Beach, Thailand; Diego Garcia, BIOT; Muscat, Oman; Fremantle; and Hong Kong. "Elliot" also participated in Team Spirit 1990 exercises with the South Korean military.

While transiting the South China Sea on 20 April 1990, "Elliot" rescued 35 Vietnamese refugees left adrift in a derelict boat and claiming to be the victims of pirates. "Elliot's" captain, CDR Timothy LaFleur, made the determination to embark the refugees and scuttle their boat. After the refugees were fed and clothed (many in clothes donated by crewmembers), "Elliot" turned them over to a representative of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Singapore on 21 April.

"Elliot" entered the NASSCO yards on 9 September 1990 and remained there until 17 December, thus spending the majority of the Persian Gulf War on the sidelines.

"Elliot" deployed for WestPac-91 on 31 July 1991 with COMDESRON 17 embarked. Port visits were made to Pearl Harbor; Subic Bay; Phuket, Thailand; Bahrain; Oman; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and Hong Kong. On 21 October, while deployed off the coast of Kuwait, "Elliot" was alerted by the French DGSE ship "Le Berry" to the presence of a drifting Iraqi LUGM-145 mine approximately 12nm offshore from Kuwait's Mina Al-Ahmadi port. Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit One, Detachment 31 team members were flown in from Bahrain. With the assistance of "Elliot's" air detachment the mine was safely detonated, resulting in a plume of water hundreds of feet tall. "Elliot" spent the Christmas holiday in Hong Kong before returning to San Diego on 20 January 1992.

"Elliot" reported to Southwest Marine Shipyard, San Diego in May 1992 for a yard period where she remained until August. On 16 November "Elliot" departed San Diego for a five week counter narcotics cruise. This cruise included a port stop in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. "Elliot" returned from this cruise on 21 December.

In June 1993, "Elliot" arrived in Portland, Oregon for the Portland Rose Festival. On 9 July "Elliot" departed San Diego for her next deployment. Port visits on this deployment included Hawaii, Guam, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Diego Garcia, Australia, and Fiji. By late August, "Elliot" was operating off the coast of Iran. "Elliot" continued operating in this region into November, serving as anti-air warfare commander and Persian Gulf force over-the-horizon track coordinator for portions of this time period. She also frequently conducted contingency strike operations exercises. During these operations, "Elliot" participated in boardings of merchant vessels in support of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

: ["1993-2003"]

"Elliot" operated out of San Diego, California until she was decommissioned on December 2, 2003.

Fate

The decommissioned "Elliot" and USS|William H. Standley|DLG-32|2 were sunk off the eastern coast of Australia as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre on 25 June 2005. Both ships are now artificial reefs in the Coral Sea located near 25 degrees south latitude, 155 degrees east longitude, or roughly 100 nautical miles (190 km) east of Fraser Island, Queensland, Australia.

ee also

*List of United States Navy destroyers

External links

* [http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/DD967.htm nvr.navy.mil: USS "Elliot"]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/967.htm navsource.org: USS "Elliot"]
* [http://united-states-navy.com/dd/dd967.htm united-states-navy.com: USS "Elliot"]
* [http://www.usselliot.org unofficial USS "Elliot" website]
* [http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=10886 "Elliot" decommissions] article from Navy News
* [http://www.c7f.navy.mil/TS05 c7f.navy.mil: Operation Talisman Sabre 2005]
* [http://server.militarynews.com/jet/Jet_07.14.05.pdf militarynews.com: USS "Elliot" sunk by VFA-195 jets] (pdf)