USS BIDDLE DLG-34 Ship History
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, February 2006
The fourth Biddle (DLG-34) was laid down on 9 December 1963 at Bath, Maine, by the Bath Iron Works; launched on 2 July 1965; sponsored by Mrs. Pearle Jean Bates; and commissioned on 21 January 1967 at the Boston Naval Shipyard, Capt. Maylon T. Scott in command.
Over the next five months, Biddle completed preparations for her final acceptance trials, concluded those trials, and conducted shakedown training out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. She completed shakedown on 29 May and headed, via Yorktown, Va., to Boston. The guided-missile frigate arrived in Boston on 2 June and began post-shakedown availability at the Boston Naval Shipyard five days later. Biddle completed the availability on 30 October and got underway for her new home port, Norfolk, Va., the following day. The warship entered Hampton Roads early in November, but remained only four days, putting to sea on the 7th for the first in a series of exercise and weapons-qualifications cruises to the West Indies. Those at-sea periods occupied her until mid-December when she began holiday standdown and preparations for overseas movement.
On 22 January 1968, Biddle put to sea bound ultimately for the combat zone off the coast of Vietnam. Along the way, she transited the Panama Canal and made stops at Pearl Harbor and Guam before reaching her base of operations at Subic Bay in the Philippines on 24 February. After an availability, the guided-missile frigate departed Subic Bay for Vietnamese waters on 3 March. She entered port at Danang, South Vietnam, on the 5th and, the following day, was on her way for a PIRAZ (Positive Identification Radar Advisory Zone) station. For the next four months, Biddle alternated between periods at sea, either carrying out PIRAZ duty, serving as an antiair warfare (AAW) picket, or acting as a sea-air rescue (SAR) vessel, with time in port at Subic Bay or Yokosuka, Japan.
On 14 July, the warship completed her final tour of duty off the coast of Vietnam. She returned to Subic Bay for the period 16 to 19 July and then got underway for the voyage home. During the voyage, she completed a circumnavigation of the world and visited such diverse places as Singapore, Lourenco Marques in Mozambique, the Cape Verde Islands, Lisbon in Portugal, and Copenhagen in Denmark. The warship arrived back in Norfolk on 12 September and remained in port until mid-November. On the 15th, Biddle got underway for missile exercises in the West Indies. She returned to Norfolk on 25 November and remained there through the end of the year.
On 13 January 1969, she got underway from Norfolk bound for Philadelphia. The warship spent five days there for fire fighting and damage control training, returning to Norfolk on 20 January. Biddle‘s sojourn at Norfolk lasted until 28 March when she put to sea, bound for the West Indies. While there, the warship conducted tests on recent modifications to her radar made six missile shoots. Returning to the Hampton Roads area, she loaded missiles, torpedoes, and ammunition at Yorktown, Va., on 30 April before reentering Norfolk on 1 May.
On 26 May, Biddle departed Norfolk on her way to the western Pacific. She transited the Panama Canal on 31 May and 1 June and then set a course for Hawaii. The guided-missile frigate stopped at Pearl Harbor from 10 to 12 June before resuming her voyage. She made a brief stop at Guam for fuel on the 20th and arrived in Subic Bay on 24 June. After a four-day stop, Biddle stood out of Subic Bay on her way to South Vietnam. The warship made a brief stop at Danang on 30 June before relieving Chicago (CG-11) on 1 July as strike-support and search-and-rescue ship. The guided-missile frigate kept watch off the Vietnamese coast for the next month. The only event of note occurred near the end of the month when she rescued several North Vietnamese fishermen adrift in their boat.
Relieved by Chicago on 1 August, Biddle dropped the fishermen off at Danang and then headed for the Philippines. The warship spent a week at Subic Bay and three days at Manila before heading back to Vietnam on the 13 August. On the 15th, she relieved Chicago on station in the Gulf of Tonkin. She served as strike-support and search-and-rescue ship until 22 August when she relieved Chicago as PIRAZ ship. The warship alternated between those two tasks until 10 September when she was relieved on PIRAZ station by Jouett (DLG-29). The guided-missile frigate entered Yokosuka Japan on 14 September after a brief stop at Subic Bay to disembark her helicopter detachment.
Biddle completed a two-week tender availability on 27 September and departed Yokosuka for the combat zone. Steaming by way of Subic Bay, she arrived back on Yankee Station on 2 October. Between the 2d and the 6th, Commander, Destroyer Squadron (ComDesRon) 3, rode in Biddle and served as antiair warfare coordinator for Task Force (TF) 77. On the 6th, the warship resumed PIRAZ duty, relieving Jouett. For almost a month, she operated alternately as PIRAZ ship and as strike-support and search-and-rescue ship. Relieved by Long Beach (CGN-9) on 27 October, Biddle put into Hong Kong on the 29th for a six-day liberty call. The guided-missile frigate departed Hong Kong on 4 November, made a fuel stop at Subic Bay, and then headed back to Vietnam.
She arrived back in the Gulf of Tonkin on 7 November and spent the next six days serving as plane guard for Coral Sea (CVA-43). On 13 November, the warship cleared Vietnamese waters. She stopped at Subic Bay from 15 to 18 November and then embarked on the long voyage home. After a brief fuel stop at Guam and a three-day liberty call at San Francisco, Calif., Biddle arrived in the Canal Zone on 16 December. She completed the canal transit on the 17th and shaped a course for Norfolk. Upon her arrival in Norfolk on 21 December, her crew began a combination post-deployment and holiday standdown.
Biddle spent the first three months of 1970 in port at Norfolk. During that period, she underwent several inspections and received modifications to some of her equipment, notably to her radar. On 13 April, the guided-missile frigate stood out of Norfolk on a five-week cruise to the West Indies for training and for technical evaluation of her new and modified radar equipment. She returned to Norfolk on 5 June and remained in the area until the end of July getting ready for her first regular overhaul. She entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard on 31 July and spent the remainder of 1970 undergoing overhaul.
The guided-missile frigate completed overhaul in mid-January 1971. On 19 January, she got underway for post-repair trials in the Virginia capes operating area and returned to port the following day. For the next four months, Biddle spent most of her time in port at Norfolk, getting underway infrequently for brief drill sessions in the immediate vicinity. On 1 June, she departed Norfolk for two months of refresher training in the West Indies. The warship reentered Norfolk on 1 August. For the remainder of the year, Biddle operated out of Norfolk conducting training missions and technical evaluations on equipment. The most notable training mission came late in September when she joined several other Navy ships, a Canadian ship, and a Dutch ship in a NATO seapower review.
The warship began 1972 with several more periods of technical evaluations at sea in January and February. In March, she entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard to be modified to carry a LAMPS (light airborne multi-purpose system) helicopter. That work came to a conclusion early in April; and, on the 12th, Biddle departed Norfolk on her way back to southeast Asia. Along the way, she transited the Panama Canal and visited Pearl Harbor and Guam before arriving in Subic Bay on 11 May. On the 14th, the warship put to sea for the combat zone. She entered the zone on 15 May and, the following day, relieved Sterett (DLG-31) on the northern SAR station. Biddle spent over a month on station operating as a SAR picket and directing antiair warfare before returning to Subic Bay on 26 June.
On Independence Day, the warship got underway for her second tour of duty off Vietnam. After a week on the northern SAR station, she relieved Sterett again on 13 July, but this time as PIRAZ ship. On the night of the 19th, five MiG’s attacked Biddle in two raids. In the first raid, the guided-missile frigate’s Terrier missiles destroyed one of the intruders. She claimed a possible kill in the second raid and credited it to her gun batteries. The warship drove off the remaining attackers and suffered no damage herself.
Biddle remained on station serving as either SAR picket or PIRAZ ship until early in August. She visited Hong Kong from 12 to 15 August and was in Subic Bay from the 17th to the 20th. The guided-missile frigate returned to duty on the northern SAR station on 22 August. Thereafter, she again alternated between SAR and PIRAZ assignments until mid-September. Long Beach relieved her for the last time on 17 September, and Biddle unloaded equipment at Subic Bay between 20 and 24 September. On the 24th, she began the long voyage back to Norfolk. Following stops at Guam, Pearl Harbor, and San Diego, she transited the Panama Canal on 22 October and arrived back at Norfolk on 26 October to close out the year in port.
Throughout 1973 and the first five months of 1974, Biddle operated out of Norfolk conducting training missions and technical evaluations. During those operations, she visited not only waters of the western Atlantic but also those of the West Indies and the Caribbean Sea. Late in the fall of 1973, the warship participated in a joint exercise with other elements of the Atlantic Fleet and with ships of the Canadian Navy.
On 14 June 1974, Biddle stood out of Norfolk on her way to the Mediterranean Sea. She arrived in Rota, Spain, on 24 June and relieved Conyngham (DDG-17). On 26 June, the warship departed Rota and entered the Mediterranean in company with Task Group (TG) 60.2. After about a month of 6th Fleet operations and port visits, Biddle was dispatched to waters adjacent to Cyprus on 22 July to join in special operations. On 1 August, the warship received orders to the area north of Crete and later operated to the west of that island. On 19 August, the United States ambassador to Cyprus was assassinated; and, soon thereafter, Biddle joined a special task group off the island to assist in the event of an evacuation of American citizens.
That eventuality did not come to pass, and the special task group was dissolved on 23 August. The guided-missile frigate then headed for Naples, Italy, where she arrived on the 24th. Biddle remained at Naples until 5 September at which time she resumed operations the eastern Mediterranean. Between 8 and 10 September, the warship joined in the unsuccessful search for survivors from a TWA Boeing 707 that had crashed in the Ionian Sea. Following that mission, she resumed her schedule of 6th Fleet operations and port visits. After five days at Civitavecchia, Italy, for liberty in Rome, Biddle got underway for the eastern Mediterranean and a transit of the Straits of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. She operated in the Black Sea for five days and retransited the Straits on the 11th. Training exercises and port visits kept her busy until early December. She completed turnover procedures at Rota on 5 December and then put to sea to return to the United States. Biddle arrived back in Norfolk on 14 December and remained in port for the rest of the year.
The warship spent the first three months of 1975 at various locations around Hampton Roads preparing for an extended overhaul. On 15 April, she got underway for Bath, Maine, arriving there on the 18th. The overhaul began immediately and lasted through the end of 1975 and into 1976. On 30 June 1975, Biddle was reclassified a guided-missile cruiser and redesignated CG-34. On 15 March 1976, Biddle got underway for Bayonne, N.J., where she arrived on the 17th. At Bayonne, she continued her overhaul in drydock. On 24 April, the guided-missile cruiser left the drydock and, after some tests, headed south to Norfolk. She arrived at Yorktown, Va., on the 26th and began loading ordnance. Two days later, the warship reentered Norfolk. During the ensuing four months, Biddle conducted post-overhaul tests, drills, and refresher training along the east coast and in the West Indies.
On 3 September, the guided-missile cruiser departed Norfolk and headed for the waters of northern Europe and the Baltic Sea. She arrived in Scapa Flow, the British naval base in the Orkney Islands located north of Scotland, on 14 September. After a series of amphibious exercises in Norwegian waters, the warship visited Copenhagen, Denmark, from the 25th to the 28th. On the latter day, she departed Copenhagen for a further series of multi-national exercises in the Baltic Sea. At the end of those maneuvers, Biddle made port visits at Hamburg in Germany, Antwerp in the Netherlands, and Cherbourg in France before getting underway for home on 29 October. She arrived back in Norfolk on 9 November and, except for a brief underway period on 18 and 19 November, remained in port for the rest of 1976.
During the first six months of 1977, Biddle operated out of Norfolk along the eastern seaboard and in the West Indies. Those operations included various drills and exercises as well as evolutions with warships of NATO nations and South American countries. On 11 July, she stood out of Norfolk on her way to join the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. That deployment brought visits to ports throughout the Mediterranean basin and a variety of training missions, often conducted in company with units of Allied and friendly navies. She completed the cruise on 22 December when she arrived back in Norfolk.
Over the first nine months of 1978, Biddle operated out of Norfolk. While in port, she underwent a series of inspections and examinations for the purpose of assessing various aspects of the ship’s operation. At sea, the warship ranged from the New England coast south to the West Indies participating in multiship exercises, conducting independent ship’s drills, and making missile and gun shoots. On 3 October, Biddle exited Chesapeake Bay and embarked upon the third Mediterranean deployment of her career. She arrived in Lisbon Portugal, on the 14th and relieved Harry E. Yarnell (CG-17). On the 18th, the guided-missile cruiser left Lisbon with units of TG 60.2 and entered the Mediterranean.
After about a month of 6th Fleet operations and port visits, Biddle transited the Straits of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles and entered the Black Sea once again. On 22 November, she entered port at Constanta, Romania, to begin what was characterized as a highly successful goodwill visit. The guided-missile cruiser departed Constanta on 27 November and completed her retransit of the Straits on the 28th. She resumed normal 6th Fleet operations, conducting multiship drills and exercises and making goodwill visits to ports in the Mediterranean. That employment carried her into March of 1979. She completed turnover procedures between 23 and 25 March and then began the voyage home. The warship arrived in Norfolk on 5 April and spent the rest of the month in post-deployment standdown.
Biddle resumed 2d Fleet operations in May. Over the next three months, she put to sea a number of times to train Naval Academy and NROTC midshipmen. Early in August, she participated in a joint Navy/Air Force electronics warfare exercise. The latter part of the month, she spent at sea taking part in simulated war exercises. Upon her return to Norfolk, Biddle began preparations for her regular overhaul. On 24 September, the guided-missile cruiser departed Norfolk and shaped a course for Philadelphia. She arrived at her destination on the 25th and, three days later, entered the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard to commence her extended repair period.
The overhaul lasted more than a year, taking up the remainder of 1979 and apparently all of 1980. January 1981 found Biddle conducting post-overhaul shakedown. On 4 February, she stood out of Chesapeake Bay on her way to refresher training in the West Indies. The guided-missile cruiser completed refresher training on 6 April and reentered Hampton Roads on the 14th. During the following three months, Biddle operated out of her home port both in the Virginia capes operating area and in the West Indies. On 4 August, the warship put to sea for another tour of duty with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. She passed through the Strait of Gibraltar on 11 August. Between 17 and 20 August, she was part of the task group that conducted freedom-of-navigation operations in the Gulf of Sidra off the Libyan coast in defiance of the Libyan leader, Col. Muamar Qaddafi, who claimed sovereignty over the area. During that operation, Soviet-built Libyan Sukhoi Su. 7 interceptors fired on American naval aircraft. In response F-14’s from Nimitz (CVN-68) shot down two of the attackers. Later that month, Biddle entered the Black Sea for the third time.
Back in the Mediterranean on 4 September, she resumed normal 6th Fleet operations–multiship exercises and port visits. In mid-October she joined a contingency force off the northern coast of Egypt in the wake of the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. Coontz (DDG-40) relieved her on 23 October and, after a stop at Rota from 27 to 29 October, Biddle headed home. She arrived back in Norfolk on 8 November and, except for two brief periods at sea early in December, remained in port for the rest of the year.
The first five months of 1982 brought a return to normal operations along the east coast and in the West Indies. On 8 June, the warship embarked upon another deployment to the 6th Fleet. Biddle changed operational control to the 6th Fleet on 18 June. By mid-July, she was on PIRAZ station in the eastern Mediterranean with the contingency force supporting Marine Corps troops ashore in Lebanon. The guided-missile cruiser departed the area in company with Estocin (FFG-15). After crossing the Aegean Sea and transiting the Straits of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, the two warships entered the Black Sea on 1 August. They completed their Black Sea operations on 5 August and anchored at Istanbul for a four-day port visit.
On 9 August, Biddle and her colleagues headed back to the contingency force off Lebanon. Between 21 and 28 August, she served as escort for Palestinian Liberation Organization refugees leaving Beirut for Tunisia on board the Cypriot merchantman SS Sol Phryue. Port visits and exercises occupied her time until mid-September when the situation in Lebanon began to break down again. Biddle returned to PIRAZ station on 18 September and remained there until 23 November. After a visit to Athens, she moved west to rendezvous with Nimitz for another freedom-of-navigation operation in the Gulf of Sidra. Biddle then set out for home early in December and reached Norfolk on the 22d.
The guided-missile cruiser completed post-deployment standdown in mid-January 1983 and resumed operations out of her home port. During the first five months of the year, Biddle operated along the east coast and in the West Indies. On 26 May, the warship put to sea for NATO Exercise “United Effort/ Ocean Safari 83.” At the conclusion of that exercise, she commenced a series of port visits alternated with operations in the Baltic Sea. After leaving the Baltic on 7 July, Biddle visited Leith, Scotland, and participated in a joint British-American exercise. Following another four-day visit to Leith, she got underway for home on 26 July. The guided-missile cruiser arrived back in Norfolk on 5 August and resumed normal east coast operations. That employment lasted until 14 October when she began a selected restricted availability at the Norfolk Shipbuilding Co. Those repairs occupied her time for the remainder of 1983.
Updates pending for 1983 to 1993.
Biddle was decommissioned on 30 November 1993 and struck from the Navy list on that date. She was disposed of by scrapping on 2 January 2002.
