USS Arthur W. Radford
Firing a gunnery exercise at Vieques, Puerto Rico, the destroyer returned to the eastern seaboard with a port visit to Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Independence Day 1977.Entering the Norfolk Naval Shipyard on 25 October for restricted availability, she remained there into the spring of 1978 before resuming local operations out of her home port.[4] On 23 August, Arthur W. Radford got underway from the Naval Weapons Station Yorktown Virginia, and headed for NATO exercises in the North Atlantic.En route, she participated in Exercise "Common Effort", carrying out escort duties in an "opposed Atlantic transit", and briefly embarked Vice Admiral Wesley L. McDonald, Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet.Next came Operation "Northern Wedding" a joint NATO exercise which began on 4 September and involved several carrier groups in an amphibious landing and many other facets of simulated naval warfare.[4] After returning briefly to Norfolk from 31 October to 5 November, the destroyer proceeded to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and participated in a training exercise with American and Canadian warships.[4] For the first half of 1980, the warship principally operated off the eastern seaboard of the United States, and ranged as far north as Halifax and as far south as the Caribbean, working briefly out of Vieques and Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, as well as out of Jacksonville, Florida.[4] Over the next four months, Arthur W. Radford operated with elements of the Venezuelan, Ecuadorian, Peruvian, Colombian, Trinidad and Tobagonian, Argentine, Uruguayan, and Brazilian navies.Her ports of call included Puerto La Cruz and La Guaira, Venezuela, Rodman, Panama, Manta, Ecuador, Paito and Callao, Peru, Cartagena, Colombia; Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Belgrano, and Bahía Blanca, Argentina, Montevideo, Uruguay, and the Brazilian ports of Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and Recife.After supporting the multinational peacekeeping force in Beirut from 20 to 28 May, the destroyer visited Taranto, Italy, before returning to Lebanese waters for another brief period.Subsequently, undergoing sea trials and repairs in the floating drydock Sustain, Arthur W. Radford conducted routine training out of Norfolk through early August.After then conducting underway training in the Virginia Capes area in September and October, Arthur W. Radford accompanied the recommissioned battleship Iowa to Roosevelt Roads.[4] After local operations, Arthur W. Radford sailed for a deployment with the Middle East Force (MidEastFor) on 4 February 1985, in company with Barney.Five days into her time on station, she responded to a "Mayday" from the Liberian-flag tanker Caribbean Breeze which had been attacked and set afire in the central Persian Gulf.[4] Refueling on 25 March at Sitrah Anchorage, Bahrain, Arthur W. Radford got underway to resume her radar picket duty later the same day, remaining employed thus until she moored alongside La Salle for availability.[4] Arthur W. Radford embarked Rear Admiral John Addams, Commander, Middle East Force, on 17 April, and served as his flagship until 5 June.During the first of these periods, on 7 June, the destroyer's embarked Sikorsky SH-3 "Sea King" helicopter from squadron HS-1 transported a civilian rescued from drowning and in need of medical attention to Bahrain hospital, saving the person's life.Early in this period, Hurricane Gloria prompted Arthur W. Radford to depart Norfolk on 13 September 1985, and proceed to the upper Chesapeake Bay anchorage to ride out the storm.Arthur W. Radford operated locally out of Norfolk into late July, interspersing this work with a drydocking in Sustain from 30 May to 17 June, for repairs to her struts and stern tubes, as well as an inspection of her sonar dome.Following refresher training in Guantanamo Bay, the ship touched at Roosevelt Roads before operating at Vieques for gunfire support practice, surface gunnery exercises, and missile shoots.[11] On 4 February 1999 at about 23:34, Arthur W. Radford collided with the Saudi Riyadh,[12] (IMO number: 7900053) a 29,259-ton, 656-foot (200 m)-long, roll-on/roll-off container ship, which was preparing to enter the Chesapeake Bay bound for Baltimore.Saudi Riyadh, meanwhile, was approaching the Chesapeake Bay from the northeast, preparing to line up in the shipping lanes before taking on a marine pilot for its eventual trip to Baltimore.[17] Arthur W. Radford was decommissioned 18 March 2003,[3] then stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 6 April 2004 and eventually assigned to the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Mediterranean SeaArthur W. RadfordIngalls ShipbuildingCallsignHull numberScuttledSpruance-classdestroyerlong tonsfull loadwaterlineoverallGeneral Electric LM2500gas turbinesAN/SPS-40AN/SPG-60fire control radarAN/SPS-55AN/SPQ-9AN/SQS-53active sonarpassive sonarNaval Tactical Data SystemAN/SLQ-32AN/SLQ-25 NixieMark 36 SRBOCAN/SLQ-49 inflatable decoys5 in (127 mm) 54 caliber Mark 45 dual purpose gunsPhalanx CIWSSea SparrowHarpoonMark 32 triple 12.75 in (324 mm) torpedo tubesMk 46 torpedoesTomahawkSikorsky SH-60 SeahawkFlight deckhangarUnited States NavyAdmiralChairman of the Joint Chiefs of StaffDelawareartificial reeflaid downLitton IndustriesPascagoulaMississippilaunchedsponsoredcommissionedUnited States East CoastCharleston, South CarolinaNorfolk, VirginiaNewport, Rhode IslandVirginia CapesPort Canaveral, FloridaDestroyer Squadron 22PresidentJimmy Carterattack submarineLos AngelesUnited States Coast GuardHampton RoadsWest IndiesSaint CroixU.S. Virgin IslandsVieques, Puerto RicoFort Lauderdale, FloridaIndependence DayUSS OpportuneBahamasGuantanamo BayNorfolk Naval ShipyardNaval Weapons Station YorktownNorth AtlanticWesley L. McDonaldU.S. 2nd FleetNorthern WeddingRoyal NavyRoyal Danish NavyRoyal Norwegian NavySwedish NavyWest German NavyHurricane FlossieCopenhagenRotterdamNetherlandsPortsmouthU.S. 6th FleetCataniaTriesteAlexandriaCannesBarcelonaToulonThéouleValencia, SpainHarpoon missileLansdowneIonian SeaTyrrhenian SeaSt. TropezMiami, FloridaMayport, FloridaHalifax, Nova ScotiaRoosevelt Roads Naval StationJacksonville, FloridaAnnapolis, MarylandUnited States Naval AcademyJames L. Holloway IIIChief of Naval OperationsSaint KittsBridgetownVenezuelanEcuadorianPeruvianColombianTrinidad and TobagonianArgentineUruguayanBrazilianPuerto La CruzLa GuairaPanamaCallaoCartagena, ColombiaTrinidad and Tobago