USS ''Gyatt'' (DD-712/DDG-1), was a in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, named for U.S. Marine Corps Private Edward E. Gyatt, a

Marine Raider The Marine Raiders are special operations forces originally established by the United States Marine Corps during World War II to conduct amphibious light infantry warfare. " Edson's" Raiders of 1st Marine Raider Battalion and " Carlson's" Rai ...

killed in the

Battle of Guadalcanal The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the ...

Namesake

Edward Earl Gyatt was born on 4 September 1921 in Syracuse, New York. He enlisted in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

on 28 January 1942. Private Gyatt was serving with the

1st Marine Raider Battalion The Marine Raiders are special operations forces originally established by the United States Marine Corps during World War II to conduct amphibious light infantry warfare. " Edson's" Raiders of 1st Marine Raider Battalion and " Carlson's" Rai ...

during the Battle of Tulagi, part of the initial landings of the Guadalcanal campaign. Part of the invasion force that went ashore on

Tulagi Tulagi, less commonly known as Tulaghi, is a small island——in Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Ngella Sule. The town of the same name on the island (pop. 1,750) was the capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate from 1 ...

on 7 August 1942, Gyatt reported the approach of a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

counterattack force on his advanced position that night, he remained at his post and inflicted heavy damage on the enemy until he was killed by a hand grenade. Gyatt was posthumously awarded the Silver Star. The

destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...

USS Gyatt (DE-550) was named for him but construction was cancelled in 1944 before it could be completed.

Service history

''Gyatt'' was built by

Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company The Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company was a United States shipyard, active from 1917 to 1948. It was founded during World War I to build ships for the United States Shipping Board. During World War II, it built ships as part of the U.S. Gov ...

Kearny, New Jersey Kearny ( ) is a town in the western part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States and a suburb of Newark. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 40,684,Caribbean, ''Gyatt'' reported to Norfolk, Virginia for a variety of duties along the East Coast. In addition to local operations and training exercises, she participated in training operations with aircraft carriers in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

and the Caribbean. Departing Norfolk on 24 January 1947, ''Gyatt'' sailed south to represent the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

at the inauguration of the new

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

an President Berres at Montevideo from 27 February 1947 to 6 March 1947. Before returning to Norfolk on 21 March 1947, she made goodwill visits to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

and Port of Spain,

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

Operations

''Gyatt'' sailed 20 November 1947 to deploy with the 6th Fleet in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

and returned to Norfolk on 2 March 1948. She participated in six subsequent deployments to Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. Other operations took her north from Norfolk to

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

and

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and south into the Caribbean Sea.

Guided missile destroyer conversion

USS Gyatt (DDG-1) launching Terrier missile c1957

''Gyatt'' entered the Boston Naval Shipyard on 26 September 1955, and decommissioned on 31 October for conversion into the world's first

guided missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers who have a prim ...

. In addition to twin Terrier guided missile launchers, she received the Navy's first Denny-Brown stabilization system with two 45 square foot (4 m²) retractable fins extending out from midships well below the waterline to greatly reduce pitch and roll on the sea). Her hull classification was changed to DDG-712 on 1 December 1956. ''Gyatt'' recommissioned two days later. The new guided missile ship spent nearly three years doing intensive evaluation and development work along the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

coast. On 23 May 1957 her hull number was changed to DDG-1 in recognition of her pioneering position. She sailed to join the 6th Fleet on 28 January 1960 and was the first guided missile destroyer to deploy with an overseas fleet. By the time of her arrival back in Charleston, her new home port on 31 August 1960, ''Gyatt'' had participated in fleet readiness and training operations throughout the Mediterranean.

Space program

On her return, ''Gyatt'' joined in America's

space program A space program is an organized effort by a government or a company with a goal related to outer space. Lists of space programs include: * List of government space agencies * List of private spaceflight companies * List of human spaceflight prog ...

. Taking nose-cone recovery station from 5–10 November 1960 and from 24–26 April 1961 to aid in

Project Mercury Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Un ...

, she pioneered another area of expanding seapower. With another world crisis pending over the status of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, she again sailed 3 August 1961 to bolster the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. She remained on alert posture with the "steel gray stabilizers" in the Mediterranean until 3 March 1962, then resumed training along the eastern seaboard out of Charleston, South Carolina.

Overhaul

''Gyatt'' entered the

Charleston Naval Shipyard Charleston Naval Shipyard (formerly known as the Charleston Navy Yard) was a U.S. Navy ship building and repair facility located along the west bank of the Cooper River, in North Charleston, South Carolina and part of Naval Base Charleston. H ...

on 29 June 1962, for an overhaul that included the removal of her missile system and installation of newly developed equipment that prepared her for specialized service with the

Operational Test and Evaluation Force The Operational Test and Evaluation Force (OPTEVFOR) serves as an independent and objective agency within the United States Navy for the operational testing and evaluation (OT&E) of naval aviation, surface warfare, submarine warfare, C4I, crypt ...

. Her classification changed from guided missile destroyer DDG-1 back to conventional destroyer DD-712 on 1 October 1962. Her preparations were complete by 1 January 1963 when ''Gyatt'' arrived in Norfolk for continuing experimental work under the Operational Test and Evaluation Force commanded by Captain Chester "Chet" M. Lee from 1963 to 1964, which extended into the Caribbean Sea. ''Gyatt'' continued to operate along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean into 1967. She performed patrol and ASW duty and trained the officers and men of the Navy in guided missile destroyer tactics. She was especially active in testing and evaluating new equipment and helping to improve the efficiency and modernity of the Navy.

Sinking

''Gyatt'' was transferred to the Select Reserve and switched homeports to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

in 1968. After being stricken on 22 October 1969, ''Gyatt'' was sunk as a target off

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

on 11 June 1970.

References

External links

''Gyatt'' Association
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gyatt (DD-712) World War II destroyers of the United States Cold War destroyers of the United States Ships built in Kearny, New Jersey 1945 ships Ships sunk as targets Shipwrecks of the Virginia coast Gearing-class destroyers of the United States Navy Maritime incidents in 1970