USS HENDERSON DD-785

A Tin Can Sailors Destroyer History

USS HENDERSON DD-785

The Tin Can Sailor, July 1995

By Dick Sierra

The USS HENDERSON (DD-785) is the first ship of the fleet to bear that name in honor and memory of Major Lofton R. Henderson, U.S. Marine Corps, who gave his life for his country in the battle of Midway on 4 June 1942. Major Henderson fearlessly dove his burning plane at a Japanese carrier. Henderson Air Field of Guadalcanal was also named after this Marine hero as a tribute to his devotion to Country and Corps.

The HENDERSON, a long hull Gearing class destroyer, was built at the Todd Shipyard in Seattle, Washington and was commissioned on 4 August 1945. She began her eventful life with the fleet as a part of operation “High Jump” with Task Force 68 in the Antarctic where she recorded an unbroken period of 102 days at sea. The ship wears the Antarctica Service Medal awarded for participation in operation “High Jump.”

At the outbreak of the Korean action she became a part of Task Force 77 in the Formosa Straits on the Taiwan Patrol. Later she participated in Korean operations including the United Nations landings at Inchon, Korea on 15 September 1950 for which she was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation.

In 1957 the ship joined the USS PRINCETON (CVS-37) and USS SOUTHERLAND (DDR-743) in providing relief in the form of food and medical supplies to the more than 300,000 persons made homeless in flood-stricken Ceylon.

After the Korean War the HENDERSON each year, spent six months operating out of her homeport of San Diego and six months with the Seventh Fleet in Far Eastern waters. During these years her duties included plane guarding for carriers, fast attack carrier task force operations, anti-submarine training exercises, Taiwan Patrol and type training. Her cruises to the Far East permitted visits to such ports as Pearl Harbor, Pago Pago, Sydney, Colombo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Manila, Subic Bay, Yokosuka and Sasebo.

HENDERSON entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard in June 1961 to undergo conversion and overhaul under the Navy’s FRAM MK I Program and emerged from the yard 11 months later an entirely “new” ship in terms of weapons and years of use for active service.

Since FRAM, HENDERSON has divided her time between operations in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, where she operates out of Long Beach, California, and operations with the Seventh Fleet in the Western Pacific. HENDERSON now numbers the Vietnam Service Medal among her many decorations, having returned in January 1966 from a long and arduous tour of combat after firing more than 1800 rounds of ammunition in anger.

A Tin Can Sailors Destroyer History

USS HENDERSON DD-785

The Tin Can Sailor, July 2006

The GEARING-class destroyer HENDERSON (DD-785) was launched on 28 May and commissioned at Seattle on 4 August 1945. Following operations out of Pearl Harbor and San Diego, she got underway on 2 December 1946 for the Antarctic and Operation High Jump. The historic operation was meant to test navy clothing and equipment and to map polar regions and track the weather. Her duties in Antarctica complete, she left for San Diego with a welcome stop in Sydney, Australia, in March 1947.

She spent two long cruises in the Pacific supporting the U.S. occupation forces in Japan, and, then, on 5 August 1950 left San Diego to join the United Nations forces in Korea. During that tour of duty, she screened the fast carriers whose planes were flying in support of forces on the ground and on other missions. The HENDERSON was in Task Group 90.6 organized to provide gunfire support for the invasion of Inchon on 15 September 1950. At 0700 on the 13th, the group headed up Flying Fish Channel leading to Inchon’s harbor. The MANSFIELD (DD-728) took the lead, followed by the DEHAVEN (DD-727), LYMAN K. SWENSON (DD-729), COLLETT (DD-730), GURKE (DD-783), and HENDERSON. Behind them were the cruisers ROCHESTER (CA-124), and TOLEDO (CA-133).

At 1010, the group entered Inchon’s outer harbor with the incoming tide, which had not yet covered the mine field that lay between them and their bombardment positions. Because the minesweepers were two days behind the pre-invasion force, the HENDERSON was detached to destroy as many mines with her gunfire as she could. The other ships continued to Wolmi Do, site of heavy artillery guarding the harbor at Inchon.

By 1300, the other five destroyers were in position, some less than half a mile from the island, when they opened fire. An initial lack of response was followed by heavy fire from the enemy’s 75-mm shore batteries aimed primarily at the destroyers closest in, the SWENSON, COLLETT, and GURKE. All three were hit, the COLLETT worst of all, taking nine hits. Three struck the GURKE, and an officer on the SWENSON was killed by a near miss. The destroyers continued their fire until 1347 and, then, moved on down the channel, as the cruisers moved in to take up the bombardment.

The damaged COLLETT was sent to replace the HENDERSON, which rejoined the group for the next day’s bombardment. This time, the cruisers began the bombardment, and at 1255, the destroyers took over, firing point blank until 1422, when the cruisers returned to pound the enemy positions. Shortly after midnight on the 15th the gunfire support group was back in Flying Fish Channel, leading the advance attack group, with the cruisers in the rear. At 0545, the HENDERSON and the other destroyers began shelling enemy positions to the north and south of the landing area, softening it for the marines who would go ashore at 0630. The HENDERSON remained on fire support duty at Inchon until 1 October and, then, returned to screening duty along the coast of Korea and in the Formosa Strait. She left Keelung for San Diego on 20 March.

The HENDERSON’s second tour of duty in Korea began on 16 February 1952 when she joined the blockade of Hungham and the coastal areas to the north. She went on to provide gunfire support and bombard industrial sites and, on 23 February, received superficial damage from a shore battery. Her gunfire support duties ended on 7 March, when she joined the screen of the carrier BATAAN (CV-29) off the coast of Japan and went on to operate with fast carrier task forces around Korea and in the Formosa Strait until her return to San Diego in August 1952.

Routine operations took the HENDERSON up to 22 March 1953, when she got underway for her third Korean tour. She took part in the siege of Wonsan Harbor, supporting South Korean troops with continuous gunfire. During the siege, the patrolling destroyers were under steady fire from shore batteries, and on 17 June the HENDERSON was peppered with 80 rounds but suffered only superficial damage. She engaged in coastal patrol around Korea until an armistice was declared on 27 July 1953 and was back in San Diego in October after a total of 22 months of Korean duty.

Following Korea, the HENDERSON made more than a dozen cruises to the Far East, including patrol of the Quemoy Islands in September 1954 and relief of Ceylonese flood victims in January 1958. Beginning on 11 August 1964, the HENDERSON began yearly tours of duty in Vietnamese waters, supporting Seventh Fleet amphibious and shore bombardment operations, and guarding the carriers as their planes made their fast, hard-hitting attacks. She returned to Long Beach on 16 December 1964 for her modernization overhaul, then, returned to the increasingly intense struggle against the Communist forces in South Vietnam on 10 July 1965. During the next 5 months she ranged across the South China Sea and Gulf of Tonkin while screening the ORISKANY (CV-34) and pounding Vietcong positions. In December 1965, she steamed to the Gulf of Siam, where she blasted Vietcong coastal targets on the Ca Mau Peninsula. As escort for the BON HOMME RICHARD (CV-31), the veteran destroyer returned to Long Beach on 13 January 1966.

The HENDERSON spent the next year as an ASW school ship out of San Diego and took part in squadron exercises out of Long Beach. Late in July she joined the unsuccessful search for the Hawaii‑bound aircraft carrying army Brigadier General Joseph W. Stilwell, Jr. She returned to the troubled waters of Southeast Asia in January 1967, where, over the next four months, she supported attack carrier operations and conducted intensive shore bombardment assignments.

Her career continued with regular WesPac deployments and operations along the West Coast until 30 September 1980 when she was struck from the navy’s list and transferred to Pakistan, where she was renamed the TUGHRIL

USS HENDERSON DD-785 Ship History

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, September 2020

The second Henderson (DD-785) was laid down on 27 October 1944 at Seattle, Wash., by Todd Pacific Shipyards, Inc.; launched on 28 May 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Alexander R. Early, Jr,; and commissioned at Seattle 4 August 1945, Cmdr. Halford “A” Knoertzer in command.

Henderson conducted shakedown cruise out of San Diego, Calif., then departed Seattle on 31 October 1945 for the Territory of Hawaii. Upon her arrival on 7 November she screened escort carriers in Hawaiian waters and conducted experimental sonar tests with submarines before returning to San Diego on 23 April 1946. After divisional exercises off California she departed on 2 December 1946 for Operation High Jump, an Antarctic exploration and test program. This important operation included tests of clothing and equipment as well as mapping and weather work. Henderson reached Sydney, Australia, on 13 March 1947 and San Diego on 6 April.

After two long cruises to the Pacific in support of U.S. occupation forces in Japan. Henderson departed San Diego on 5 August 1950 to join the United Nations forces in Korea. Arriving at Yokosuka on 19 August she served as a screening ship for fast carrier task forces whose planes flew ground support and other missions in Korea. As U.S. forces prepared to leap northward with the historic Inchon invasion, Henderson was with the assault forces. She steamed up Flying Fish Channel on 13 September, destroying mines and bombarding the Inchon waterfront preparatory to the invasion. The destroyers also traded blows with Communist shore batteries. The gunfire support group again entered the channel into Inchon Bay 14 to 15 September, softening up shore defenses. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur soon signaled as the marines landed that day: “The Navy and Marines have never shone more brightly than this morning.” Henderson remained on fire support duty at Inchon until 1 October.

The destroyer returned to screening duty after Inchon, first along the coast of Korea and then in the Formosa Strait. This duty continued until she departed Keelung on 20 March 1951, arriving at San Diego on 7 April. After coastwise exercises and a cruise to Hawaii for training, Henderson sailed on 4 January 1952 for her second tour of duty in Korea. She arrived off Hungnam on 16 February to take part in the blockade of that port and the coastal areas to the north. Her duties included gunfire support and bombardment of industrial sites until 7 March, when she screened the small carrier Bataan (CVL-29) off the coast of Japan. For the remainder of her tour Henderson operated with the fast carrier task forces around Korea and in the Formosa Strait. She departed Yokosuka on 25 July and reached San Diego on 10 August.

Henderson conducted training exercises off San Diego until 22 March 1953, when she departed for her third Korean tour. She took part in the siege of Wonsan harbor, supporting Korean troops with accurate and continuous gunfire, and conducted antisubmarine operations off Okinawa. The destroyer engaged in the vital coastal patrol, maintaining Allied control of the seas around Korea, until after the Korean armistice in July 1953. She arrived at San Diego on 19 October 1953, after a total of 22 months of Korean duty.

Following Korea, Henderson established a pattern of cruises to the Far East, cruising to various crisis spots in the western Pacific for the next decade. Highlights of this phase of her service include protection of the Quemoy Islands from Communist aggression in September 1954, relief of Ceylonese flood victims in January 1958, and important fleet and individual exercises during her periods at sea.

Commencing on 11 August 1964, Henderson began annual cruises in Vietnamese waters, supporting Seventh Fleet amphibious and shore bombardment operations, and guarding aircraft carriers on Yankee Station. She returned to Long Beach, Calif., on 16 December, underwent modernization overhaul and intensive shore bombardment training, and returned to the intensified struggle against Communist aggression in South Vietnam on 10 July 1965. During the next five months she ranged the South China Sea and Gulf of Tonkin while screening Oriskany (CVA-34) and serving on the gun line. In December she steamed to the Gulf of Siam, where she conducted shore bombardment missions against Viet Cong positions on the Ca Mau Peninsula. As escort for Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) the veteran destroyer departed Hong Kong on 26 December, the day after Christmas, and arrived Long Beach on 13 January 1966.

Henderson spent the next year serving as an antisubmarine warfare (ASW) school ship out of San Diego and taking part in squadron exercises out of Long Beach. Late in July, she joined in a massive but unsuccessful air-sea search for the Hawaii-bound aircraft carrying Brigadier General Joseph W. Stilwell, Jr., USA. After completing preparations for another WestPac deployment, she returned to the troubled waters of Southeast Asia in January 1967. Over the next four months she supported attack carrier operations and conducted more shore bombardment assignments. Henderson returned to Long Beach in mid-June, conducted ASW refresher training that summer and fall.

After a short restricted availability in early 1968, Henderson returned to Vietnam in April and resumed her familiar gunline and escort duties in the South China Sea. Interspersed with visits to Hong Kong, Subic Bay and Japan, Henderson remained there until 26 September when she sailed for Long Beach. She received a regular overhaul alongside the destroyer tender Isle Royale (AD-29) later in the year and a dry dock period at San Francisco January through March of 1969, where she received new sonar and communications equipment.

After completing the overhaul in May 1969, Henderson spent the summer and fall conducting refresher training before deploying to the Far East on 18 November. Caught in a storm near Midway Island, the destroyer suffered damage to her forward 5-inch gun mount and diverted to Yokosuka for repairs. After a brief yard period, the destroyer then spent several weeks on patrol off the Korean peninsula, as tensions remained high following the downing of a U.S. reconaissance aircraft the previous year. Henderson then spent three months off Vietnam, supporting riverine operations and participating in Operation Ringmaster I. During this period, the destroyer also rescued six passengers from an SH-3 helicopter that splashed while enroute from Da Nang to Constellation (CVA-64).

Returning to Long Beach on 8 May 1970, Henderson underwent several months of inspections and certifications, which ultimately kept the warship in service in contrast to the mass 1970s decommissioning of many of her war-built sister ships. Following training and preparations that fall, Henderson departed for her sixth Vietnam deployment on 26 January 1971. Arriving in theater on 22 February, she served on the gunline and on Yankee Station, both familiar assignments. In a change of pace, the destroyer participated in an ASW exercise at one point and successfully fired an exercise torpedo against diesel-electric submarine Sailfish (SS-572). In April, Henderson conducted a variety of duties, including serving as naval gunfire support school ship at the Tabones range in the Philippines, conducting a short surveillance patrol in the Paracel Islands and visiting ports in Taiwan. Departing the region on 30 June, the destroyer swung south for visits to Manus Island, Papua, New Guinea; Cairns and Sydney, Australia; Auckland, New Zealand; and Pago Pago, American Samoa; before arriving home in Long Beach on 10 August.

The destroyer began another major overhaul at Long Beach that winter and began pre-deployment preparations starting in July 1972. The warship sailed on her seventh Vietnam tour on 16 November, arriving in Da Nang harbor on 14 December. She spent the next few weeks conducting naval gunfire support missions, including one gunnery duel with an enemy battery on Christmas Eve that earned her the Combat Action Ribbon. On New Years’s Eve, the destroyer’s motor whaleboat rescued four cremen from a crashed SH-3 helicopter. After port visits to Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong during truce talks, Henderson steamed into the Gulf of Tonkin for Operation End Sweep in April 1973. After helping minesweepers clear Haiphong harbor, the warship sailed for home, reaching Long Beach on 26 May.

After participating in two fleet exercises that summer and fall, Henderson was retired from active duty and assigned to the Naval Reserve Fleet in Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 27 on 1 October 1973. She then moved into Long Beach Naval Shipyard for conversion to Navy distillate fuel. The active duty crew was also reduced in number and the ship only reached a full complement on drill weekends.

Henderson spent the next six years conducting reserve training operations out of Long Beach. The destroyer spent the majority of her time sailing in local operating areas, though the warship also conducted reserve unit training cruises to Pearl Harbor or the Pacific Northwest on an annual basis. Highlights of this period included visits to the Portland [Oregon] Rose Festival (where the ship was “streaked” on one occasion by two young women on a nearby cabin cruiser), being struck by a practice torpedo fired by Salmon (SS-573) and a series of excellent inspections that extended the service life of the destroyer through the end of the decade.

Henderson was decommissioned on 30 September 1980 and was stricken from the Navaal Vessel Register that same day and sold to Pakistan. The destroyer served in the Pakistani Navy as Tughril (167) until transferred to Pakistan’s Maritime Security Agency in 1998 and renamed Nazim, serving actively until decommissioned in 2001.

Henderson received eight battle stars for Korean War service and seven battle stars for Vietnam War service.