USS ''Robert L. Wilson'' (DD/DDE-847) was a of the United States Navy, named for

Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

Private First Class

Robert L. Wilson Robert Lee Wilson (May 21, 1920 – August 3, 1944) was a United States Marine who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for heroism at the cost of his life on August 3, 1944, in the Marianas. Early life Robert Lee Wilson was born on May 21, ...

(1920–1944), who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for "conspicuous gallantry" in the Battle of Tinian. ''Robert L. Wilson'' was laid down by the Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, Maine, on 2 July 1945; launched on 5 January 1946; sponsored by Mrs. Joe Wilson; and commissioned in the Boston Navy Yard on 28 March 1946.

Service history

1946–1960

Following shakedown in Cuban waters, ''Robert L. Wilson'' sailed from

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

on 23 July 1946 for a six-month tour of duty with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. Returning to the United States in February 1947, she spent the next two years based at Newport, Rhode Island, operating off the Atlantic Coast and in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. After overhaul at Boston Navy Yard, she stood out of

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...

on a midshipman cruise to

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, England;

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, France; and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. On 4 March 1950 ''Robert L. Wilson'' was redesignated an

escort destroyer An escort destroyer with United States Navy hull classification symbol DDE was a destroyer (DD) modified for and assigned to a fleet escort role after World War II. These destroyers retained their original hull numbers. Later, in March 1950, th ...

DDE-847. She finished out the year with a midshipman training cruise to

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other g ...

, duty in the Mediterranean which included special

antisubmarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are typic ...

(ASW) demonstrations, and hunter-killer (HUK) operations along the eastern seaboard from Norfolk. On 1 January 1951, as the result of a fleet reorganization, ''Robert L. Wilson'' became a unit of Escort Squadron 4 (

CortRon 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 of ...

4), and hoisted the pennant of Commander, Escort Division 42. By 30 June 1960, she had completed eight tours of service in the Mediterranean since commissioning, provided training for

cadet A cadet is an officer trainee or candidate. The term is frequently used to refer to those training to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. Its meaning may vary between countries which can include youths in ...

s of the United States Military Academy along the eastern seaboard; and conducted the annual summer midshipmen cruises for the United States Naval Academy, stressing antisubmarine tactics. On 1 July 1956, she was assigned to the newly established Destroyer Squadron 36 ( DesRon 36), composed of destroyer escort types specially configured for anti-submarine missions and yet maintaining the capability to handle all destroyer missions. During the last week of November and the early part of December 1959, ''Robert L. Wilson'' and two other escort destroyers participated in Operation "Monsoon," manning

sea-air rescue Air-sea rescue (ASR or A/SR, also known as sea-air rescue), and aeronautical and maritime search and rescue (AMSAR) by the ICAO and International Maritime Organization, IMO, is the coordinated search and rescue (SAR) of the survivors of emergenc ...

stations for the Presidential flight to Europe from the United States. She then operated in the western Atlantic and Caribbean until a Norfolk Navy Yard overhaul in the summer of 1960.

1961–1974

Returning to Caribbean and Atlantic operations, in January 1961 ''Robert L. Wilson'' pursued the Portuguese

liner A low-ionization nuclear emission-line region (LINER) is a type of galactic nucleus that is defined by its spectral line emission. The spectra typically include line emission from weakly ionized or neutral atoms, such as O, O+, N+, and S+. ...

SS ''Santa Maria'' which had been seized by a group of revolutionaries. An eight-day chase took ''Wilson'' and across the

equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...

to Recife, Brazil. Returning to Norfolk, ''Robert L. Wilson'' underwent a month of preparation, then departed on 8 June for her ninth Mediterranean cruise. She spent the fall and winter of 1961 operating in the western Atlantic out of Norfolk. In January 1962, ''Robert L. Wilson'' participated in recovery operations for a Project Mercury manned space capsule. ''Robert L. Wilson'' deployed with Task Group Bravo to Northern Europe in February, returning to Norfolk in mid-June 1962. On 1 August 1962 she was again classified DD-847. In September 1962, ''Wilson'' and the other ships of Destroyer Division 362 deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as a unit under the command of the Naval Base Commander for the purpose of base defense, and was at Guantanamo and in adjacent waters during the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...

in October. ''Robert L. Wilson'' returned to Norfolk in late November and operated locally until March 1963 when she entered the Philadelphia Navy Yard for a Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) I modernization. Emerging from her overhaul period in 1964, she continued to serve with the Atlantic Fleet for the balance of that year and throughout 1965. After serving as gunfire support ship at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in late January and early February 1966, ''Robert L. Wilson'' was assigned the abort station for the first unmanned Apollo space shot. In April and June she was rescue destroyer for , prime recovery ship for the

Gemini 9 Gemini 9A (officially Gemini IX-A) With Gemini IV, NASA changed to Roman numerals for Gemini mission designations. was a 1966 crewed spaceflight in NASA's Gemini program. It was the seventh crewed Gemini flight, the 13th crewed American flight ...

space mission. Following ASW exercises, she made her 12th deployment to the Mediterranean on 22 July 1966, returning to Norfolk 17 December. Following service as schoolship for the

Fleet Sonar School The Fleet Sonar School was a United States Navy facility located at Naval Station Key West, Florida for the training of Service personnel in Sonar techniques and equipment, and Anti-submarine warfare. The facility opened in 1940, after personnel w ...

in January and February, ''Wilson'' spent the rest of 1967 operating in the Atlantic and Caribbean. ''Robert L. Wilson'' continued these operations until May 1968 when she joined the search for nuclear

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

searching the continental shelf off the coast of Norfolk and then following the ''Scorpion''s track back to her last reported position southwest of the Azores without success. Returning to Norfolk on 13 June, ''Wilson'' operated in the Atlantic until steaming on 6 September for a western Pacific deployment. Touching at San Diego, Pearl Harbor, Midway, Guam, and Subic Bay, ''Robert L. Wilson'' took up a naval gunfire support mission 36 miles (67 km) south of Huế, the ancient capital of

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

. She then undertook search and rescue duty in the

Gulf of Tonkin The Gulf of Tonkin is a gulf at the northwestern portion of the South China Sea, located off the coasts of Tonkin (northern Vietnam) and South China. It has a total surface area of . It is defined in the west and northwest by the northern ...

after 28 October, destroying two

sampan A sampan is a relatively flat-bottomed Chinese and Malay wooden boat. Some sampans include a small shelter on board and may be used as a permanent habitation on inland waters. The design closely resembles Western hard chine boats like th ...

s with .50 caliber machine gun fire and

hand grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...

s. In early November ''Robert L. Wilson'' was assigned as plane guard for on " Yankee Station". She remained in the Far East through the end of the year. ''Robert L. Wilson'' returned to San Diego from the Far East on 27 March 1969, and operated off the

west coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

until transiting the Panama Canal and arriving Norfolk on 21 June. She then operated in the western Atlantic and Caribbean participating in Operation SPRINGBOARD until deploying to the Mediterranean on 5 March 1970. During this Mediterranean cruise, ''Wilson'' participated in two combined NATO exercises, DAWN PATROL and MEDTACEX, and was, for a time, diverted to the

Levantine Basin The Levantine Sea (Arabic: بحر الشام, tr, Levanten Denizi, el, Θάλασσα του Λεβάντε) is the easternmost part of the Mediterranean Sea. Geography The Levantine Sea is bordered by Turkey in the north and north-east co ...

due to another Middle East crisis. She returned to Norfolk on 16 September for a leave, upkeep, and training cycle which continued to the end of the year. Upon completion of overhaul, refresher training, and other operations in the Atlantic, ''Robert L. Wilson'' commenced another deployment to the

Sixth Fleet The Sixth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy operating as part of United States Naval Forces Europe. The Sixth Fleet is headquartered at Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy. The officially stated mission of the Sixth Fleet in ...

, departing from Norfolk on 17 September. After six months away from Norfolk, she returned on 17 March 1972 and completed the year operating out of that port. ''Robert L. Wilson'' decommissioned at Norfolk on 30 September 1974 and transferred to the inactive fleet facility at Philadelphia. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 30 September 1974 and sunk as a target as part of the Harpoon missile test program on 1 March 1980.

Awards

''Robert L. Wilson'' earned three battle stars for service in the Vietnam War.

References

External links