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USS Lynde McCormick (DDG 8)

- formerly DD 958 -
- decommissioned -
- sunk as a target -


USS LYNDE McCORMICK was the seventh ship in the CHARLES F. ADAMS - class of guided missile destroyers and the first ship in the Navy to bear the name. Last homeported in San Diego, Ca., the ship was stricken from the Navy list on November 20, 1992, and was subsequently berthed in San Francisco after she was converted into a power barge. On February 24, 2001, the ship was finally disposed of as a target.

General Characteristics:Keel laid: April 4, 1958
Launched: July 28, 1959
Commissioned: June 3, 1961
Decommissioned: October 1, 1991
Builder: Defoe Shipbuilding, Bay City, Michigan
Propulsion system:4 - 1200 psi boilers; 2 geared turbines
Propellers: two
Length: 437 feet (133.2 meters)
Beam: 47 feet (14.3 meters)
Draft: 20 feet (6.1 meters)
Displacement: approx. 4,500 tons
Speed: 31+ knots
Aircraft:none
Armament: two Mk 42 5-inch/54 caliber guns, Mk 46 torpedoes from two Mk-32 triple mounts, one Mk 16 ASROC Missile Launcher, one Mk 11 Mod.0 Missile Launcher for Standard (MR) and Harpoon Missiles
Crew: 24 officers and 330 enlisted


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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS LYNDE McCORMICK. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.


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Accidents aboard USS LYNDE McCORMICK:

DateWhereEvents
December 26, 1967Sasebo, JapanUSS LYNDE McCORMICK suffers an explosion while in Sasebo, Japan, injuring two.


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About the Ship's Name:

Lynde Dupuy McCormick was born in Annapolis, Md., 12 August 1895, son of Rear Adm. A. M. Depuy McCormick. After attending St. John’s Preparatory School and College, he graduated from the Naval Academy with distinction 4 June 1915. He served in WYOMING with the British Grand Fleet during World War I, then in SOUTH CAROLINA and BUCHANAN. His commands at sea included KENNEDY and submarines R-10 and V-2. An expert in logistics, he won the Legion of Merit and two gold stars in lieu of additional awards of the same decoration for service as war plans officer for the Pacific Fleet; as assistant chief of Naval Operations for Logistic Plans and chief adviser on logistics to the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and as commander, Battleship Division 3 in action against Okinawa. As vice admiral he was deputy commander in chief, Pacific Fleet, then vice chief of Naval Operations. Upon the death of Adm. Forrest Sherman he became acting chief of Naval Operations, then served as commander in chief, Atlantic Fleet and Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic under NATO. His final service was as president of the Naval War College. He died 16 August 1956 at Newport.


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USS LYNDE McCORMICK History:

USS LYNDE McCORMICK was built by the Defoe Shipbuilding Company, Bay City, Michigan. Her keel was laid on 4 April 1958 and she was launched on 8 July 1959. She was commissioned at the Boston Naval Shipyard on 3 June 1961 with Commander Ernest S. Cornwall, Jr., serving as her first Commanding Officer. CDR Cornwall and Lynde McCormick, Jr., were classmates at the US. Naval Academy (class of 1944).

Upon completion of sea trials 23 August 1961, LYNDE McCORMICK departed Boston and proceeded to join the Pacific Fleet. She then transited the Panama Canal enroute to her new homeport of San Diego, California, where she arrived 16 September 1961. Shortly after her arrival, LYNDE McCORMICK satisfactorily completed ASROC and TARTAR Ship Qualification Tests and successfully concluded Shakedown training on 8 December 1961.

From November 1962 to June 1963 the ship deployed for the first time with the US Seventh Fleet. During this deployment, she saw service with the carriers RANGER (CVA 61), CONSTELLATION (CVA 64), TICONDEROGA (CVA 14), YORKTOWN (CVS 10), KITTY HAWK (CVA 63), PRINCETON (LPH 5), and HMS HERMES.

In company with USS COLUMBUS (CG 12), the ship departed on her second WestPac cruise on 5 August 1964. During the cruise operations centered on carrier escort duties in the South China Sea. Hostilities started in Vietnam and many days were spent on the gunline where thousands of rounds of 5 inch ammunition were expended. On 18 December 1967, while operating off the coast of North Vietnam, the ship was straddled by 300 rounds of counter battery fire and received superficial shrapnel damage. In early 1969, LYNDE McCORMICK was the only gun ship to support the successful defense of Nha Trang during the Tet Offensive. Her precision firing scattered the attacking Viet Cong and saved the city.

Deployments in the early 70’s saw much of the same action on the gunlines off North and South Vietnam. In October 1973 she responded to the Yom Kippur War in the Middle East with the USS HANCOCK (CVA 19) Task Group.

After an intensive operational period including five deployments in seven years, extensive industrial work and local operations, LYNDE McCORMICK sailed in July 1985 for the Persian Gulf to work for Commander, Middle East Force. Her efforts ensured the rights of free passage for US-flagged merchant vessels during the Iran-Iraq conflict.

Her fifteenth Western Pacific/Indian Ocean deployment in 1988 found LYNDE McCORMICK back in combat action. In response to the mine incident with USS SAMUEL B. ROBERTS (FFG 58), LYNDE McCORMICK earned a Joint Meritorious Unit Commendation by neutralizing the Sassan Oil Complex while receiving hostile fire.

The sixteenth and final Western Pacific/Persian Gulf deployment began 15 September 1989 as the ship operated as part of the USS NEW JERSEY (BB 62) Battleship Battle Group. PACEX 89, conducted in the northern Pacific, kicked off the deployment and was the largest peacetime naval exercise since World War II. LYNDE McCORMICK served as escort for the first battleship patrol ever to enter the Persian Gulf.

USS LYNDE McCORMICK was decommissioned at her homeport of San Diego on 1 October 1991.


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