DE-1047 - Tin Can Sailors

Hull Number: DE-1047

Launch Date: 02/04/1965

Commissioned Date: 11/25/1966

Decommissioned Date: 09/23/1989

Call Sign: NZXQ

Other Designations: FF-1047

Class: GARCIA

GARCIA Class

Namesake: RICHARD GEORGE VOGE

RICHARD GEORGE VOGE

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, November 2015

Richard George Voge, born on 4 May 1904 in Chicago, Ill., completed the course at Harrison Technical High School in Chicago in 1921 and entered the Naval Academy later that year. He graduated on 4 June 1925 and received his ensign’s commission.

His first assignment, three years in Pittsburgh (CA-4), took him first to European waters for a year when his ship served as the flagship for the Commander, Naval Forces, Europe. During the last two years of that tour, he cruised the western Pacific while Pittsburgh carried the flag of the Commander in Chief, Asiatic Fleet. That cruise afforded Voge his first hint of action in April and May of 1927 when Nationalist Chinese attempted to take Shanghai from the hands of the foreign forces which held the city. Voge served with the landing forces put ashore to deter the attack. Though the Chinese quickly captured the native sections of the city, they demurred at taking on the American and European forces protecting the International Settlement.

In early 1929, Voge returned to the United States from the Far East to attend the Submarine School at New London, Conn. After completing that course and qualifying for submarine duty, he spent the bulk of his remaining time at sea in submarines.

In January 1931, he went to the Far East to serve in S-29 (SS-134) until June 1932 when he returned to the United States for war plans and intelligence training at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station. That assignment lasted from July 1932 to September 1933 when he became an instructor in marine engineering at the Naval Academy. In June 1935, Voge assumed command of S-18 (SS-123) at Pearl Harbor. He remained in Hawaii (in command, first of S-18 until May 1937, and then of S-33) until June 1937 when he departed in the latter submarine, bound for the east coast. S-33 was decommissioned at Philadelphia in August 1937, and Voge was reassigned to the Naval Ordnance Plant at Baldwin on Long Island.

A four-month tour of duty as commissioning executive officer of Rowan (DD-405) from late September 1939 to late January 1940 followed the two years ashore at Baldwin. In mid-February 1940, Comdr. Voge returned to the Asiatic Fleet and assumed command of Sealion (SS-195), based at Cavite in the Philippines, and commanded that submarine until the opening day of American participation in World War II.

At the outbreak of hostilities on 8 December 1941 (West Longitude Time), Voge suffered the double ignominy of having his command caught in overhaul and, three days later, of losing her to enemy bombs while still at Cavite Navy Yard. Voge, however, quickly recovered from that blow, assumed command of Sailfish (SS-192) on 17 December, and led her on five successful war patrols during the first eight months of 1942. Until the Battles of Coral Sea and of Midway in May and June, respectively, only Pacific Fleet submarines like Sailfish were able to fight to impede the Japanese onslaught; and their war patrols provided the one bright spot for the Allied cause in the Pacific.

In August 1942, upon the completion of his fifth war patrol in Sailfish, Voge received orders to join the staff of Commander, Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet, as operations and combat intelligence officer. He retained that position, in which he was promoted to captain to date from 20 July 1943, until late in the war, when he was ordered to Washington, D.C., to serve in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.

On 1 November 1946, Capt. Voge was retired from the Navy and advanced to the rank of rear admiral. A little over two years later, Rear Admiral Voge died at the United Hospital at Port Chester, N.Y.

Disposition:

Stricken 12/15/1992. Sold for scrapping on 25 July 1995, but was repossessed by the Navy from the scrapper. A contract to scrap the ship was finally issued on 26 May 2000 to the Metro Machine Corp. of Philadelphia, Pa for $2,600,000 with the contract being completed on 16 January 2001.

TCS Ship History

A Tin Can Sailors Destroyer History

USS VOGE DE-1047

The Tin Can Sailor, January 2005

The USS VOGE (DE-1047) was named for World War II submarine commander Richard G. Voge, and was commissioned in 1966 at the Boston Naval Shipyard. Designed for antisubmarine warfare, she was equipped with the latest computerized ASW Ship Command and Control Systems and took an active part in developing and testing ASW equipment and tactics aimed at detecting, tracking, and, if necessary, destroying enemy submarines.In April 1969, the VOGE left her home port, in Newport, Rhode Island, for a brief cruise to Northern Europe before joining ASW hunter/killer exercises with ships of the Spanish and Portugese navies. The first real test of her capabilities came en route to Newport, when she made sonar contact with a Soviet YANKEE-class ballistic-missile submarine. Using hold-down tactics, she forced the submarine to surface, a successful conclusion that earned her a Meritorious Unit Commendation. Back in Newport, routine operations and ASW testing occupied her until August 1970, when she entered the Boston Naval Shipyard for her first regular overhaul.

Her overhaul complete, the VOGE resumed operations out of Newport and returned to the Eastern Atlantic for another round of ASW training exercises with Spanish and Portuguese naval ships. The VOGE got underway in June 1972 for her first deployment to the Mediterranean where the Sixth Fleet was keeping a close watch on Soviet surface ships and submarines, especially the ECHO-class submarines armed with cruise missiles. In addition to exercises with Sixth Fleet and NATO ships, she operated with hunter/killer groups dogging Soviet submarines entering and leaving the Med. She ended her cruise on 10 December 1972 with a turnover to the USS DU PONT (DD‑941).

The VOGE resumed normal East Coast operations in January 1973, and, then, in mid-August, changed her home port to Mayport, Florida. Local operations out of Mayport kept her busy until January 1974, when the VOGE left Mayport for the Mediterranean where she relieved the CLAUDE V. RICKETTS (DDG‑5). Returning home after six months of NATO exercises and port visits, she entered the Charleston Naval Shipyard in September to begin a ten‑month overhaul, from which she emerged on 1 July 1975 as a fast frigate. Re-designated FF‑1047, she was one of the U.S. Navy’s most advanced antisubmarine warfare surface vessels.

Over the ensuing months, the VOGE engaged in training and naval gunfire support exercises and exercises in the Caribbean with units of the Netherlands and British navies. During her third Mediterranean deployment, which began in April 1976, she took part in an amphibious evacuation of U.S. citizens during political unrest in Lebanon. Late in her deployment, she resumed surveillance duties, keeping tabs on Soviet naval forces. In the sometimes crowded waters of the Mediterranean, ships and submarines of the U.S. and Soviet navies often came dangerously close to each other as they monitored one another’s activities.

Such a situation occurred on 28 August 1976. The VOGE was operating with the USS MOINESTER (FFT-1097) in the Ionian Sea off Crete, when a Soviet ECHO‑II‑class guided-missile submarine, later identified as the KRASNOGVARDEYETS (K-22), accidentally rammed her. (The event was described by Cyril Moriak in the October/November/December issue of this newsletter) The skipper of the Soviet sub, who had been tracking the MOINESTER for about two hours, was unaware of the VOGE’s presence. The VOGE, however, had the sub under surveillance, and some of her crew were on deck photographing the boat’s periscope, clearly visible in the choppy water. The sub’s skipper, who had lost track of the MOINESTER several times, lost her completely at 1815. Then, less than ten minutes later, he discovered that he was on a collision course with the VOGE and ordered an “emergency dive.” It was too late. At 1825, the submarine’s bow and conning tower hit the VOGE’s port side near the stern, splitting bulkheads and buckling plating, which flooded her after steering compartment. The collision also ripped off part of a propeller and caused a sailor to be injured when he fell from the 01 level to the main deck.

The VOGE immediately reported the incident, and word of the collision sped through navy channels to the Soviet fleet commander who dispatched a Soviet ship to escort the K-22 out of the area. The VOGE, however, had to be towed by the MOINESTER (FF 1097) and the salvage ship PRESERVER (ARS 8) to Toulon, France, where she went into dry dock for repairs. The U.S. and Soviet Union both registered complaints. A subsequent investigation of the incident found both sides at fault. The VOGE remained in the Mediterranean for repairs until 20 November, when she returned to Mayport. She spent most of the ensuing seven months in port, and, then, in July 1977, headed back to the Mediterranean with the SARATOGA (CV‑60) and the KOELSCH (FF-1049). Her voyage was interrupted, however, when contaminated potable water tanks required her to turn back. With the problem corrected, she was back at sea and after crossing the Atlantic, alone, finally arrived on 3 August 1977. Port visits and exercises occupied her until 12 December when she headed for home.

She spent the first five months of 1978 in training exercises out of Mayport, leaving in June for submarine operations in the Bahamas. From there, she went on to offload ammunition at Charleston before proceeding to Boston for overhaul at the Braswell Shipyard from July to October 1979. Her overhaul was followed by refresher training in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and preparation for another deployment. She left in June 1980 to join the Middle East Force spending long periods in the harsh environment of the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. The war that erupted between Iran and Iraq in October 1980 increased her deployment’s difficulty but did not deter the VOGE from fulfilling her mission. Her crew was awarded the Navy Expeditionary Medal upon their return to Mayport in November 1980.

Betweem December 1980 and early summer 1981, the VOGE participated in ASW exercises at the AUTEC Test Range in the Bahamas and operated in the Caribbean for READEX 1‑81 and COMPTUEX, a major fleet exercise. A second Mid‑East deployment lasted from August to December 1981. For most of the time thereafter, she operated closer to home, conducting counter drug and law enforcement operations in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.

The VOGE was decommissioned on 1 August 1989 and was stricken from the navy list on 15 December 1992. She was sold for scrap on 25 July 1995, a job that was finally completed in January 2001.

Ship History

USS VOGE DE-1047 Ship History

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, November 2015

Voge (DE-1047) was laid down on 21 November 1963 at Bay City, Mich., by the Defoe Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 4 February 1965; sponsored by Mrs. Alice Voge Getting, widow of Rear Admiral Voge; and commissioned at the Boston Naval Shipyard on 25 November 1966, Comdr. William F. Keller in command.

Voge remained at the Boston Naval Shipyard until 11 April 1967, completing her outfitting. On that day, she stood out of Boston, bound for her home port, Newport, R.I., whence she operated until mid-May. On 15 May, she departed Newport for her shakedown cruise, which lasted until 24 June and during which she operated out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The ocean escort returned to Newport on 24 June and conducted local operations from there through the end of July. On 1 August, she reentered the Boston Naval Shipyard for her post-shakedown availability. That yard period occupied her for the remainder of 1967 and during the first two months of 1968.

In March 1968, she rejoined Escort Squadron (Cort-Ron) 6 at Newport and began duty supporting the development and testing of sophisticated antisubmarine warfare tactics and related equipment. Her operations out of Newport continued through the end of 1968.

In February 1969, she began preparations for a brief cruise to northern Europe to participate in a NATO exercise. She departed Newport on 1 April and made her first port call, Lisbon, Portugal, later that month, after conducting hunter/killer ASW exercises with ships of the Spanish and Portugese navies. From Portugal, she moved to Spithead, England, for a Royal review of the NATO Fleet in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the treaty organization. In late Mayand early June, she made port visits to Cherbourg, France; Edinburgh, Scotland; and Bremen, Germany, conducting further hunter/killer exercises when at sea between ports.

From Bremen, Voge headed back to Newport and, en route home, encountered a submarine contact later confirmed as a Soviet “Yankee-type” submarine. Voge successfully applied hold-down tactics on the Russian submarine and later received the Meritorious Unit Commendation for her efforts. Upon completing the usual post-cruise leave and repair period, the ocean escort resumed her duties out of Newport, practicing and testing ASW tactics and testing newly developed ASW equipment. Such a routine occupied her until August 1970 when she entered the Boston Naval Shipyard for her first regular overhaul.

The warship completed her yard period late in January and spent February completing post-overhaul sea trials. After gunnery exercises in the Virginia capes operating area early in March, she got underway on the 12th for her refresher training cruise to the Guantanamo Bay operating area. The ocean escort returned to Newport on 10 May and, after a tender availability, resumed operations in the Narragansett Bay area. She continued that routine until the following spring when she crossed the Atlantic for bilateral United States-Spanish ASW exercises and another with ships of the Portugese Navy. Voge returned home through very heavy weather and reentered Newport on 24 April 1972.

The ocean escort immediately began preparations for her first deployment with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. On 13 June, the warship began her voyage to Rota, Spain, where she arrived on the 22d. During the ensuing six months, Voge joined other ships of the 6th Fleet in a series of unilateral and bilateral exercises and made port visits throughout the Mediterranean. Of special interest were her visit to the Turkish Naval War College on Heybeliada Island in the Sea of Marmara in early August and her participation in the multinational NATO Exercise “Deep Furrow” late in September. In early November, she was assigned special duty shadowing Soviet submarines reporting to and leaving the Mediterranean.

On one occasion, she followed a departing Soviet submarine some 300 miles into the Atlantic before breaking contact and returning to the Mediterranean. On 10 December, she completed turnover to her relief, Du Pont (DD-941), and set course for Newport where she arrived on the 18th.

After completing the usual month of post-deployment leave and repairs, Voge resumed normal east coast operations in January 1973. That routine occupied her through most of 1973 and included two major exercises in March, a brief tour as destroyer school ship in April, participation in bilateral exercises with ships of the French Navy in June, and a midshipman training cruise in July. She received orders changing her home port to Mayport, Pla., on 15 August; and, four days later, she got underway for the south. She arrived in Mayport on the 22d and began local operations which kept her busy until near the end of the year.

Late in December, the warship began preparations to return to the Mediterranean. On 4 January 1974, Voge stood out of Mayport on her way to join the 6th Fleet. She arrived in Rota on the 14th and relieved Claude V. Ricketts (DDG-5) before joining Task Group (TG) 60.1 near Golfe Juan, France, on the 19th. Again, the warship joined units of the 6th Fleet and of Allied navies in a series of unilateral and bilateral exercises as well as in at least one multilateral exercise. She again made port visits all along the Mediterranean littoral before she departed Rota on 24 June, for home.

After reentering Mayport on 3 July, the ship devoted July to post-deployment leave and upkeep; and a tender availability in Mayport, preparatory to regular overhaul, took care of August. On 4 September, she departed Mayport and, the following day, arrived in Charleston. She entered the Charleston Naval Shipyard late on the 6th and commenced a 10-month overhaul. While at Charleston, she was reclassified a frigate and redesignated FF-1047 on 1 July 1975.

A fortnight later, Voge’s overhaul was completed, and the frigate returned to Mayport. Refresher training and naval gunfire support exercises engaged her until October, at which time she returned to Charleston for a three-month restricted availability to correct problems in her main propulsion plant. Late in December, the warship returned to Mayport.

Voge remained at her home port until mid-February 1976 when she put to sea to participate in exercises conducted in the Caribbean with units of the Netherlands and British navies. Upon her return to port, the frigate began preparations for her third deployment to the Mediterranean. After a brief visit to Charleston, S.C., she departed that port on 14 April and headed for Rota where she arrived on the 26th. During much of that deployment, port visits all along theMediterranean punctuated a series of training exercises conducted with units of the 6th Fleet and from foreign navies. Late in the deployment, she also resumed surveillance duties on Soviet naval forces operating in the Mediterranean. On 28 August, while operating in the Ionian Sea near Greece, she collided with a Soviet E-2-class submarine and sustained serious structural demage that necessitated drydocking at Toulon, France. On 7 November, Voge successfully completed post-drydock sea trials and then headed for Rota for turnover. On the 20th, she stood out of Rota bound for Mayport. The frigate reentered her home port on 2 December.

Voge spent almost all of the ensuing seven months in port at Mayport, putting to sea only to test the main propulsion plant. On 11 July 1977, she headed back toward Rota in company with Saratoga (CV-60) and Koelsch (FF-1049) for duty with the 6th Fleet. However, she soon was ordered back to Mayport because of contaminated potable water tanks and reached home on the 13th. On the 27th, the frigate got underway and, after an independent transit of the Atlantic, finally arrived in Rota on 3 August. Again port visits and exercises (unilateral, bilateral, and multilateral) kept her busy during that tour of duty in the “middle sea.” On 12 December, she changed operational control back to the 2d Fleet at Gibraltar and headed back toward Mayport. The frigate arrived home two days before Christmas and began post-deployment stand-down.

Voge spent the first five months of 1978 engaged in training exercises out of Mayport. Early in June, she departed for the Bahamas where she provided services to submarines. The frigate then proceeded to Charleston to offload ammunition and continued on to Boston. On 12 July, Voge commenced a scheduled overhaul at Braswell Shipyard in South Boston which continued on into 1979.

(the following info is from Wikipedia)

ASW Ships Command & Control System (ASWSC&CS) was a Naval Tactical Data System (NTDS) system for antisubmarine warfare. It was implemented only on Voge, Koelsch and the ASW aircraft carrier Wasp in 1967. The ASWSC&CS allowed the development of improvements in antisubmarine warfare using digital computers, which were implemented in other ASW ship classes. The three ships operated together as a submarine hunter/killer group and gained the reputation as the best in the fleet. In 1969 Voge detected a submerged Soviet submarine and used hold-down tactics on the sub to the point that she forced the sub to surface. For this action Voge was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation. The two ASWSC&CS equipped destroyer escorts made a science of tracking Soviet subs and started a whole new concept of the ‘hold-down’ exercise which restricts the submarine’s maneuver and mission options. They had the capability to keep on tracking a Soviet sub until either she surfaced or the tracking ship ran out of power.^[5]

UNIVAC was contracted to define the hardware and develop the software to incorporate ASW functions.^[6]

After de-commissioning on 23 August 1989, Voge was put into mothballs at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Voge was sold for scrapping on 25 July 1995, but was repossessed by the Navy from the scrapper. A contract to scrap the ship was finally issued on 26 May 2000 to the Metro Machine Corp. of Philadelphia, Pa for $2,600,000 with the contract being completed on 16 January 2001.