The BROWNSON (DD-868)
was commissioned at New York on 17 November 1945 and in November 1946
took part in the polar expedition led by Admiral Richard E. Byrd. Her
first deployment with the Sixth Fleet was in 1948.
On 8 November 1950,
the BROWNSON and CHARLES H. ROAN (DD-853) were engaged in night
operations some 265 miles off Bermuda. At 0103 the task group
commander ordered the two destroyers to change station, a maneuver
that required them to cross paths. Steaming at twenty knots and
running dark, the ships were on a collision course before anyone could
take action to avoid disaster. At 0110, with sirens blaring a warning,
they collided. The BROWNSON’s bow tore a large hole in the ROAN in the
area of the after engine room and machine shop. Within fifteen seconds
the ships had broken clear of each other revealing that the collision
had sheared away a large section of the BROWNSON’s bow and several
forward ordnance storage compartments were flooding. Aboard the ROAN,
a sailor in the machine shop went into the sea through the hole torn
in the hull, but within minutes the BROWNSON’s boat had recovered him.
He was a lucky one. As a result of the collision, five of the ROAN’s
crew died—three instantly, two later— and several were injured, two
requiring hospitalization.
Among those on hand
to assist the stricken ships were the DENNIS J. BUCKLEY (DDR-808),
MYLES C. FOX (DDR-829), and SAMUEL B. ROBERTS (DD-823). At 1445, with
flooding under control and the forward bulkhead shored up, the
BROWNSON got underway for Bermuda with the quickly assembled task
group. The ROBERTS, which was later relieved by the LUISENO (ATF-156),
followed with the ROAN in tow. Her injured crewmen were sped to
Bermuda aboard the PALAU (CVE-122) and BENNER (DDR-807). The BROWNSON
and the task group reached Bermuda on 11 November. The ROAN reached
port on the 12th.
Following repairs,
she returned to a normal routine. NATO exercises in the Atlantic and
Mediterranean, cruises to South America and the Caribbean, duty in the
Far East, and a tour in the Persian Gulf carried her through 1956. Two
years later, the BROWNSON joined Destroyer Development Group Two whose
task was to develop, test, and evaluate new equipment.
She took part of the
Cuban quarantine in October 1962 and in June 1963 underwent fleet
rehabilitation and modernization (FRAM) conversion. Following her 1964
Mediterranean deployment, the BROWNSON was outfitted with two DASH
helicopters. In 1965, she operated along the East Coast, participated
in NATO exercises in the North Atlantic, and visited thirteen ports in
Northern Europe. During 1966 she served as a destroyer school ship
with the GAINARD (DD-706) and HARLAN R. DICKSON (DD-708) conducting
training exercises in Narragansett Bay and the Caribbean.
In October 1966, the
BROWNSON got underway for the Western Pacific and on 21 November, with
the CHARLES P. CECIL (DD-835), joined the FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
(CVA-42) on Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin. Completing plane
guard duties on 29 November, she proceeded to the I Corps area of
South Vietnam to conduct gunfire support operations, shelling enemy
positions. She returned to plane guard duty until 26 December when she
conducted antisubmarine warfare exercises with the STODDARD (DD-566)
and CARBONERO (SS-337). While in Kaohsiung Harbor, Taiwan, the
BROWNSON’s crew helped fight a fire in the hold of the Panamanian
merchant ship SS ORIANA. She was back in Vietnamese waters in January
1967, firing on Vietcong buildings, troops, and bases in the III Corps
area.
Back home in April
1967, she conducted midshipmen and destroyer school training cruises in
the Caribbean with the HARLAN R. DICKSON and HUGH PURVIS (DD-709). She
was involved in tests of experimental sonar equipment during much of
1968 and then got underway for a Sixth Fleet deployment in 1969,
steaming east in company with the WILLIAM R. RUSH (DD-714) and O’HARE
(DD-889). That summer she operated in Northern Europe and the Arctic
Circle with the WASP (CVS-18), VOGE (DE-1047), KOELSCH (DE-1049),
O’HARE, BORDELON (DD-881), and WILLIAM V. PRATT (DLG-13). In the
Caribbean in September 1969, as plane guard for the FRANKLIN D.
ROOSEVELT, she rescued two men overboard from the carrier. A day later,
the destroyer helped search for two A4 pilots involved in a mid-air
collision near St. Croix. Fishermen recovered one pilot, but all that
could be found of the other was his flight helmet.
Over the next two
years, she engaged in operations out of Newport and exercises in the
Caribbean and off the Virginia Capes with the BASILONE (DD-824), CHARLES
P. CECIL (DD-835), GARCIA (DE-1040), KOELSCH, BARRY (DD-933) and BELKNAP
(DLG-26). A transfer to Mayport, Florida, Mediterranean deployments,
exercises in the North Atlantic, surveillance of Soviet antisubmarine
warfare exercises, a Caribbean cruise, and a final tour of duty to
Africa, Pakistan, and the Persian Gulf ended her career. She was
decommissioned and stricken from the navy’s list on 30 September 1976
and sold for scrap in June 1977. |
