Viet Nam Era - Photos

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Does Anyone Remember Shore Patrol ?

In the P.I. ????

This Arm Band Is The Real Thing !

Contributed By - Jerry Kiser - BM2

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The Following Viet Nam Era Postings Were Contributed By - Bill 'Smokey' Stover

USS BRINKLEY BASS DD 887

CLASS - GEARING As Built.
Displacement 3460 Tons (Full), Dimensions, 390' 6"(oa) x 40' 10" x 14' 4" (Max)
Armament 6 x 5"/38AA (3x2), 12 x 40mm AA, 11 x 20mm AA, 10 x 21" tt.(2x5).
Machinery, 60,000 SHP; General Electric Geared Turbines, 2 screws
Speed, 36.8 Knots, Range 4500 NM@ 20 Knots, Crew 336.
Operational and Building Data
Laid down by Consolidated Steel,Orange Texas. December 20 1944.
Launched May 26 1945 and commissioned October 1 1945.
Decommissioned December 3 1973.
Stricken December 3 1973.
To Brazil December 3 1973, renamed Mariz e Barros (D26).
Decommissioned By Brazil, September 1 1997, serving as a dock side training ship.
Fate Selected to be expended as a surface target.

USS Brinkley Bass DD-887

Commissioned – First Cruise

Brinkley Bass

(DD-887: dp. 2425; 1. 390'6"; b. 40'10"; dr. 18'6"; s. 34.6 k.; cpl. 345; a. 6 5", 10 21" TT.; cl. Gearing)

Brinkley Bass (DD-887) was launched 26 May 1945 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Ltd., Orange, Tex.; sponsored by Mrs. Percy Bass, mother of Lieutenant Commander Bass, and commissioned 1 October 1945, Commander P. W. Winston in command.

Brinkley Bass conducted her shakedown cruise in the Caribbean and then proceeded to San Diego for duty with the Pacific Fleet, arriving February 1946. From San Diego she proceeded to Shanghai, China, via Pearl Harbor and Guam, for duty with Commander, Naval Forces, Western Pacific. Upon reporting in the spring of 1946 Brinkley Bass served as mail ship between the naval commands at Shanghai, Tsingtao, and Hong Kong.

USS Brinkley Bass (DD-887)

USS Brinkley Bass (DD-887), named for Lieutenant Commander Harry Brinkley Bass USN (1916-1944) killed in action when his plane crashed in combat during the invasion of southern France on 20 August 1944, was a Gearing class destroyer laid down by the Consolidated Steel Corporation at Orange, Texas on 20 December 1944, launched on 26 May 1945 by Mrs. Percy Bass, mother of Lieutenant Commander Bass and commissioned on 1 October 1945. Brinkley Bass operated with the Seventh Fleet in support of United Nations Forces during the Korean War, and served as plane guard for carriers on Yankee Station in the Tonkin Gulf, participated in Sea Dragon operations, patrolled on search and rescue duties and carried out Naval Gunfire Support missions during the conflict in Vietnam. USS Brinkley Bass was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 3 December 1973, transferred to Brazil and renamed Mariz e Barros, decommissioned on 1 September 1997 and served as a dock side training ship until expended as a surface target.

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Bass Service Record While I was Aboard - 1964 to 1968

The last of those peacetime cruises ended at Long Beach in June 1963. That was followed by 27 months of duty along the California coast that also included a four-month regular overhaul at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard between April and August of 1964. Just as she was preparing to leave the yard, an event--the Gulf of Tonkin incident--occurred off the coast of Vietnam. It helped to bring the United States into the Vietnamese civil war as a full belligerent. Though Brinkley Bass spent another year in peaceful operations along the west coast, that incident meant that her remaining Far East deployments would be of a combat nature.

On 28 September 1965, the destroyer departed Long Beach in a carrier task group built around Ticonderoga (CVA-14). The task group spent about two weeks engaged in exercises in the Hawaii operating area before continuing its voyage west. The warships arrived in Subic Bay in the Philippines on 30 October. Three days later, she was on her way to Vietnamese waters where she screened Independence (CVA-62) and served as her plane guard during air strikes on North Vietnam. That brief line tour ended 10 days later back at Subic Bay. On 21 November, the destroyer put to sea once again. After type training at the Tabones shore bombardment range, she headed for Danang, South Vietnam, where she trained for duty as a sea air rescue (SAR) ship in the Gulf of Tonkin. She then began a 30 day tour of duty on her SAR station.

Still engaged in SAR duties at the beginning of 1966, Brinkley Bass was not relieved of that mission until 5 February 1966. That relief occurred as a result of damage to her bow which she suffered in a collision with Waddell (DDG-24) on the night of 4 and 5 February. After a stop at Danang where the damage was inspected, the destroyer moved on to Subic Bay where she received a false bow. On 7 March, the warship departed Subic Bay on her way to the United States and permanent repairs. Following stops at Guam, Midway, and Pearl Harbor, she arrived in Long Beach on 8 April. About a month later, the destroyer began repairs at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard. She left the drydock on 21 June and, soon thereafter, began normal west coast operations. That employment carried her through most of the remainder of 1966.

On 27 December 1966, Brinkley Bass stood out of Long Beach to return to the Far East. She made the usual stopover at Pearl Harbor and arrived in Yokosuka, Japan, on 15 January 1967. Four days later, the destroyer began the transit to Subic Bay where she arrived on the 24th. Following gunfire support training at the Tabones range early in February, she shaped a course for the south SAR station in company with Richmond K. Turner (DLG-20). The two warships arrived on station on 6 February. Over the next month, Brinkley Bass participated in one gunfire support mission and four SAR incidents. Relieved by Mansfield (DD-728) on 5 March, the destroyer headed for the northern fire support area of I Corps zone where she conducted one fire support mission on 8 March. She then steamed in company with Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) on Yankee Station before putting into Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on 19 March.

The warship remained at Kaohsiung until 27 March at which time she headed back to Vietnam. On the 29th, she relieved Waddell as gunfire support ship in the I Corps zone. She joined Bigelow (DD-942) in supporting the closing phase of Operation "Beacon Hill," a combination vertical and horizontal amphibious assault on Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces threatening the Marine Corps artillery base at Gio Linh. That operation ended on 1 April; and, the next day, Brinkley Bass relieved McCaffery (DD-686) along the shores of the II Corps zone. She spent the next six days supporting the 9th Republic of Korea (ROK) Regiment's Operation "Pang Ma Tao." On 7 April, the destroyer joined the screen of Enterprise (CVAN-65) on Yankee Station. That assignment lasted until 13 April when she transferred to a task group built around Ticonderoga. Ten days later, the warship returned to gunfire support missions in the northern portion of the II Corps zone.

Relieved of that duty on 27 April, she joined Ticonderoga and Waddell on the 25th for the passage to Subic Bay. Stops at Subic Bay, Hong Kong, and Yokosuka occupied her during the first half of May. On 19 May, Brinkley Bass departed Yokosuka on her way back to the United States. The warship arrived back in Long Beach on the 29th. After the usual post-deployment standdown period, she began normal operations out of Long Beach. That employment lasted until 1 September when the destroyer began preparations for her overhaul. She entered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard on 17 October and remained there through the end of the year.

I was Discharged and departed the Bass - February 12, 1968

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Bill 'Smokey' Stover

USS Brinkley Bass DD-887

FTGSN  to  FTG2

12/15/1964  to  02/12/1968

GQ Station - Gun Fire Control Director

White Hats and Dog Tags