STATUS:
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Awarded: ?
Laid
down: August 26, 1960
(as DLG 23)
Launched: January 15, 1962 (as DLG 23)
Commissioned: July 20, 1963 (as DLG 23)
Redesignated
CG 23: June 30, 1975
Decommissioned: January 28, 1994
Fate: Sold for scrap to International Shipbreaking
LTD, Brownsville, Texas.
Scrapping
completed November 30, 2003.
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Fleet
Admiral William Frederick Halsey, jr. (1882 - 1959):
William Frederick Halsey,
Jr., was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on October 30, 1882, the son of the
late Captain William F. Halsey, U. S. Navy. As a Navy junior, he made the
usual round of schools prior to his appointment to the Naval Academy.
President McKinley gave him an appointment in 1900.
While at the Naval Academy he distinguished himself in class committees and
athletics, but not in scholarship. He was a member of the "Lucky
Bag" yearbook staff, won his letter in football as a fullback and was
president of the Athletic Association. As a First Classman, he had his name
engraved on the Thompson Trophy Cup as the Midshipman who had done the most
during the year for the promotion of athletics.
Upon graduation in February 1904, he was assigned to USS Missouri and later
transferred to USS Don Juan de Austria in which he was commissioned an Ensign
after having completed the two years at sea -- then required by law. In 1907,
he joined USS Kansas and made the famous World Cruise of the Fleet in that
battle ship.
For the next almost 25 years practically all his sea duty with the Fleet was
in destroyers, starting in 1909 with command of USS DuPont (TB-7 commissioned
in 1897), USS Lamson, USS Flusser and USS Jarvis. In 1915 he went ashore for
two years of duty in the Executive Department at the Naval Academy.
During WWI he served in the Queenstown Destroyer Force in command of USS
Benham and USS Shaw. From 1918 to 1921 he continued his destroyer service in
command of USS Yarnell, USS Chauncey, USS John Francis Burnes and Destroyer
Division Thirty-two. In October of 1920 he assumed command of USS Wickes and
of Destroyer Division Fifteen. At that time a destroyer division commander
also commanded the division flagship. Another shore cruise sent him to duty
in the Office of Naval Intelligence, in Washington, -- which was his only
duty assignment in that city. In October 1922, he was ordered as Naval
Attache at the American Embassy in Berlin, Germany. One year later, he was
given additional duty as Naval Attache at the American Embassies in
Christiana, Norway; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Stockholm, Sweden.
On completion of that cruise he returned to sea duty, again in the destroyers
in European waters, in command of USS Dale and USS Osborne. Upon his return
to the U.S. in 1927, he served one year as Executive Officer of the
battleship USS Wyoming -- and then for three years in command of USS Reina
Mercedes, station ship at the Naval Academy. He continued his destroyer duty
on his next two-years at cruise starting in 1930 as Commander Destroyer
Division Three of the Scouting Force. In 1932 he went as a student to the
Naval War College.
Then in 1934, he embarked on his aviation career when he reported to the
Naval Air Station, Pensacola for flight training. He was designated a Naval
Aviator on 15 May 1935, and went in command of the carrier USS Saratoga for
two years, followed by one year in command of the Naval Air Station,
Pensacola. In 1938, when he reached flag rank, he held successive commands of
Carrier Division Two in USS Yorktown and Carrier Division One in Saratoga. In
1940, he became Commander Aircraft Battle Force with the rank of Vice
Admiral. He was in USS Enterprise in that command when World War II broke
out. In April 1942 he was designated Commander Task Force Sixteen, in Enterprise
to escort the carrier USS Hornet to within 800 miles of Tokyo to launch the
Army planes for the initial bombing of Japan.
In October l942 he was made Commander South Pacific Forces and South Pacific
Area. With the rank of Admiral, and for the next 18 months he was in command
of that area during the offensive operations of the U. S. Forces. In June
1944 he assumed command of the Third Fleet, and was designated Commander
Western Pacific Task Forces. As such, he operated successfully against the Japanese
in the Palaies, Philippines, Formosa, Okinawa and South China Sea. Subsequent
to the Okinawa campaign in July 1945, his forces struck at Tokyo and the
Japanese mainland. The last attack of his forces was on 13 August 1945.
Admiral Halsey's flag was flying on USS Missouri on 2 September in Tokyo Bay
when the formal Japanese surrender was signed onboard.
Immediately thereafter, 54 ships of the Third Fleet, with his four-star flag
in USS South Dakota, returned to the United States for annual Navy Day Celebrations
in San Francisco on 27 October 1945. He hauled down his flag in November of
that year and was assigned special duty in the office of the Secretary of the
Navy. On December 11, 1945, he took the oath as Fleet Admiral becoming the
fourth and last officer to hold the rank.
Later, Fleet Admiral Halsey made a goodwill flying trip through Central and
South America covering nearly 28,000 miles, and 11 nations. He was relieved
of active duty in December 1946, and upon his own request transferred to the
retired list on 1 March 1947. Upon retirement, he joined the board of two
subsidiaries of the International Telephone and Telegraph Company and served
until 1957. He was active in an unsuccessful effort to preserve the USS
Enterprise as a national shrine, and was an elected Honorary Vice President
of the Naval Historical Foundation.
He died on 16 August 1959 at Fishers Island Country Club.
PROMOTIONS
Graduated from Naval Academy - Class of 1904
Ensign - February 2, 1906
Lieutenant (junior grade) - February 2, 1909
Lieutenant - February 2, 1909
Lieutenant Commander - August 29, 1916
Commander - February 1, 1918
Captain - February 10, 1927
Rear Admiral - March 1, 1938
Vice Admiral - June 13, 1940
Admiral - November 18, 1942
Fleet Admiral - December 11, 1945
DECORATIONS AND AWARDS
Navy Cross
Distinguished Service Medal with three gold stars
Army Distinguished Service Medal
Presidential Unit Citation
Mexican Service Medal
Victory Medal, Destroyer Clasp
American Defense Service Medal with Fleet Clasp
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Philippine Liberation Medal
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USS
Halsey (DLG 23 / CG 23):
HALSEY
(DLG-23/CG-23), launched 15 January 1962 at San Francisco Naval Shipyard; sponsored
by Mrs. Margaret Denham and Miss Jane Halsey, granddaughters of the late
Fleet Admiral; commissioned 20 July 1963, Captain H. H. Anderson, USN, in
command. The ceremonies included a eulogy by Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz,
USN, on Fleet Admiral Halsey's illustrious career.
HALSEY departed San Francisco on 25 November 1963 for Dabob Bay and Carr
Island to conduct ASW system alignment tests and acoustical noise surveys
until 7 December. She arrived at her home port of San Diego on 11 December
1963.
HALSEY was assigned to Destroyer Squadron 7, Destroyer Division 71 on 13
December, and participated in a special sea power demonstration for the
Secretary of the Navy, acting as screen commander from 15-18 December. She
conducted her weapons qualification trials from 15 January to 14 February
1964, and fired her first missiles on the Pacific Missile Range on 10
February 1964.
After a shakedown cruise from 16 March to 1 May, she returned to the San
Francisco Naval Shipyard on 15 May 1964; and concluded her post-shakedown on
17 July 1964.
During her first years of active service, HALSEY experimented with a unique
system of internal organization, combining all the aspects of the weapons
systems and CIC under a combat officer; and separate hull and communications
administration departments.
In 1966, HALSEY was assigned to Destroyer Squadron 7, Destroyer Division 71,
in the Pacific Fleet. On 2 July, she left San Diego for Subic Bay,
Philippines. By August, she was conducting air-sea rescue and ASW operations
in the South China Sea. During this period, HALSEY rescued some 16 airmen in
two cruises in the Gulf of Tonkin. On 5 December, the frigate departed
Yokosuka, Japan, for the West Coast, arriving San Diego 21 December
The first quarter of 1967 was spent in training cruises off the West Coast.
On 10 April, HALSEY left San Diego for an overhaul period at San Francisco
Bay Naval Shipyard that continued into August. By September, HALSEY was again
involved in further exercises testing her vital capabilities.
Reclassified a guided missile cruiser, CG-23, on 30 June 1975, HALSEY was
decommissioned and stricken from the Navy Register on 28 January 1994 at San
Diego. Transferred 7 March the same year to the Maritime Administration, she
was laid up at the Suisun Bay, CA. reserve.
Later sold for scrap to International Shipbreaking LTD, Brownsville, Texas.
Scrapping completed November 30, 2003.
Commanding Officers:
Captain H.H. Anderson - 20 Jul 63 - 07 Oct 64
Captain G.W. Ringenburg - 07 Oct 64 - 10 Sep 65
Captain J.J. LeBourgeois - 10 Sep 65 - 06 Jul 67
Captain V.L. Murtha - 06 Jul 67 - 14 Oct 68
Captain W.E. Harper, JR. - 14 Oct 68 - 10 Dec 69
Captain J.A. Hooper - 10 Dec 69 - 04 Nov 71
Captain J.D. Nolan - 16 Dec 72 - 22 Nov 74
Captain W.F. McCauley - 22 Nov 74 - 18 Mar 77
Captain S.J. Hostettler - 18 Mar 77 - 19 May 79
Captain R.R. Tarbuck - 19 May 79 - 12 May 81
Captain R.L. Wyatt - 12 May 81 - 27 May 83
Captain P.D. Moses - 27 May 83 - 29 Aug 85
Captain D.R. Conley - 29 Aug 85 - 08 Jan 88
Captain R.D. Pacek - 08 Jan 88 - 13 Sep 89
Captain G.A. Klein III - 13 Sep 89 - 02 Apr 92
Captain L.P. Amborn - 02 Apr 92 - 28 Jan 94
> more ship’s history wanted …
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