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USS BENFOLD DDG-65

Home » Ships » DDG-65

Hull Number: DDG-65

Launch Date: 11/09/1994

Commissioned Date: 03/30/1996

Call Sign: NECB


Class: ARLEIGH BURKE

ARLEIGH BURKE Class

Namesake: RICHARD LANSING CONOLLY

RICHARD LANSING CONOLLY

Wikipedia (as of 2024)

Edward Clyde Benfold (January 15, 1931 – September 5, 1952) was a United States Navy hospital corpsman third class who was killed in action while attached to a Marine Corps rifle company during the Battle of Bunker Hill (1952) in the Korean War.

He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism above and beyond the call of duty on September 5, 1952.

Benfold was born in Staten Island, the son of Edward and Glenys Benfold. His father served as a Merchant Marine Officer (1st engineer) during World War II and was killed in action serving on the Honduran ship Castilla on June 7, 1942, when the ship was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-107 near Cuba.[1][2][3]

Benfold grew up in Haddon Heights, New Jersey, and lived in nearby Audubon, where he graduated from Audubon High School in 1949.[4]

Benfold enlisted in the United States Navy on June 27, 1949, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[5] He completed Navy recruit training in Great Lakes, Illinois, in December and was selected for “A” school training there at the Naval Hospital Corps School.[6] He was promoted to hospital apprentice in 1949. In April 1950, he was transferred to the Naval Hospital at Newport, Rhode Island.

He was promoted to hospital corpsman third class on August 12, 1950.[7] On June 9, 1951, he was married to Dorothy Groff.[8] In July 1951, he was transferred to the Fleet Marine Force (FMF), Field Medical Service School at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, for combat field training, graduating in September[9] as a Field Medical Service Technician (HM-8404).[10] He was then assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines, 3rd Marine Division (was the 3rd Marine Brigade until January 1952), Fleet Marine Force, as a FMF corpsman, at Camp Pendleton, California.[11] In March 1952, he was transferred to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, 3rd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, at Camp Pendleton until July 1952.[12] On July 21, he was assigned to the 1st Marine Division in Korea,[13] where he was assigned to E Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.[14]

Benfold was killed in action on September 5, 1952, while saving the lives of two wounded Marines he was aiding in a crater from two enemy hand grenades at “Outpost Bruce” which was held by Marines of I Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines[15][16] in North Korea during the Battle of Bunker Hill (September 5–15, 1952) in western Korea.[17][18]

Benfold was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. On July 16, 1953, The medal was presented by Rear Admiral John H. Brown Jr., Commandant of the 4th Naval District, to his one-year-old son, Edward Joseph, who was his next of kin (NOK) as his wife remarried.[19][20]

Benfold was buried with full military honors in Beverly National Cemetery, New Jersey. His grave can be found in the Distinguished Service Section, Grave 12.

Benfold’s Medal of Honor citation reads:

The President of the United States in the name of The Congress takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously to

HOSPITAL CORPSMAN THIRD CLASS EDWARD C. BENFOLD
UNITED STATES NAVY

for service as set forth in the following

CITATION:

For gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Hospital Corpsman, attached to a company in the First Marine Division during operations against enemy aggressor forces in Korea on September 5, 1952. When his company was subjected to heavy artillery and mortar barrages, followed by a determined assault during the hours of darkness by an enemy force estimated at battalion strength, HC3c. BENFOLD resolutely moved from position to position in the face of intense hostile fire, treating the wounded and lending words of encouragement. Leaving the protection of his sheltered position to treat the wounded when the platoon area in which he was working was attacked from both the front and the rear, he moved forward to an exposed ridge line where he observed two Marines in a large crater. As he approached the two men to determine their condition, an enemy soldier threw two grenades into the crater while two other enemy charged the position. Picking up a grenade in each hand, HC3c. BENFOLD leaped out of the crater and hurled himself against the onrushing hostile soldiers, pushing the grenades against their chests and killing both the attackers. Mortally wounded while carrying out this heroic act, HC3c. BENFOLD, by his great personal valor and resolute spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of almost certain death, was directly responsible for saving the lives of his two comrades. His exceptional courage reflects the highest credit upon himself and enhances the finest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for others.

Harry S. Truman


Ship History

USS BENFOLD DDG-65 Ship History

Wikipedia (as of 2024)

USS Benfold (DDG-65) is a Flight I Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. She is a multi-mission platform capable of anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) with the powerful Aegis Combat System suite and anti-aircraft missiles, anti-submarine warfare (ASW), with towed sonar array, anti-submarine rockets, anti-surface warfare (ASUW) with Harpoon missiles, and strategic land strike using Tomahawk missiles. Benfold was one of the first ships fitted with the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System and during the 2010 Stellar Daggers exercise was the first ship to simultaneously engage a ballistic missile and a cruise missile.[4]

Former Benfold commanding officers include Admiral Mark Ferguson, Admiral Michael Gilday, Vice Admiral Thomas H. Copeman III, and author D. Michael Abrashoff.[5]

Built by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation in Pascagoula, Mississippi, Benfold is the 15th of a planned 90 Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers. Named for posthumous Korean War United States Marine Corps Medal of Honor recipient Hospital Corpsman Third Class Edward Clyde Benfold, she joined the U.S. Pacific Fleet for service on 30 March 1996.[6]

Equipped with the Aegis air-defense system and the Mark-41 Vertical Launch System for multiple types of guided missiles, Benfold is capable of defensive and offensive operations against warplanes, anti-ship missiles, surface ships, submarines, and shore targets. In addition to her missiles, she carries one 5-inch rapid-fire naval gun for action against surface ships and for shore bombardment. She also carries anti-submarine torpedoes, and two Phalanx CIWS anti-missile guns. She has a flight deck for MH-60R/S Seahawk Helicopters and is capable of refueling and re-arming these helicopters, but she does not have a hangar for storing and maintaining helicopters.

In 2011, Benfold entered drydock at BAE Systems, San Diego to receive an extensive $32 million mid-life upgrade. The hull mechanical and electrical (HM&E) upgrades included a fully integrated bridge, improved machinery and damage control, quality of life improvements, an advanced galley, and commercial-off-the-shelf computing equipment.[7]

In 2013, Benfold underwent extensive combat systems upgrades to include the installation of Aegis Baseline 9C, Ballistic Missile Defense version 5.0, A(V) 15 SONAR Suite, and also became Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) capable.

      • Deployments[edit]

        • 14 August 1997 to 19 February 1998 – Persian Gulf
        • 18 June 1999 to 17 December 1999 – Pacific Ocean/Persian Gulf
        • 13 March 2001 to 15 September 2001 – Persian Gulf
        • 18 October 2004 to 1 March 2005
        • 13 September to 2006 13 March 2007
        • 4 May 2008 to 3 November 2008
        • 8 September 2009 to 16 March 2010
        • 15 June 2012 to 11 January 2013 – Persian Gulf
        • 2 October 2015 to present – U.S. 7th Fleet, Yokosuka, Japan

        Naval exercises 2012[edit]

        In 2012, USS Benfold was the first San Diego-based naval ship invited to participate in the Koa Kai naval exercises. Benfold conducted integrated flight operations, anti-surface and anti-submarine training, dynamic ship maneuvers, ballistic missile defense, small boat attacks and Maritime Interdiction Operations (MIO) utilizing the Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) team.[8]

        On 19 November 2017 Benfold was involved in a minor collision with a Japanese commercial tug off Sagami Bay. The tug lost power and drifted into Benfold, causing damage described as minimal, with some scraping to the ship’s side. There were no injuries reported on either vessel; Benfold continued at sea, while the tug was towed to Yokosuka.[9]

        Benfold has conducted the following Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPS) in the South China Sea:

        On 6 August 2023, Benfold and three other destroyers responded to a joint Chinese-Russian patrol in international waters near Alaska. The Chinese-Russian flotilla left without incident.[15]

        On 9 August 2023, The Navy announced plans to extend the ship’s service life beyond the initial 35 years, intending to keep Benfold in service until at least 2036.[16]

        Awards[edit]

        Benfold has been awarded the Navy Battle “E” for the following years: 1997,[20][19] 1999,[20][19] 2001,[19] 2003 (listed as “BENFOLD DDG 76” on awards site, year of Benfold DDG-65 / Higgins DDG-76 “Sea Swap”),[19] 2004,[19] 2005,[19] 2007,[19][21] 2009 &[19] 2018.[22]

        [22]