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Photo # NH 98258:  USS Turner Joy steaming off the coast of South Vietnam, April 1968

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Turner Joy (DD-951), 1959-1991

USS Turner Joy, a 2850-ton Forrest Sherman/Hull class destroyer, was built at Seattle, Washington. After commissioning in August 1959 she cruised down the Pacific coast to visit South America. In May of the next year the destroyer steamed across the Pacific to begin the first of a dozen deployments to Asian waters. Her return to the U.S. in November 1960 was followed by a year and a half of duty in the eastern Pacific, then another Seventh Fleet tour during the last half of 1962. Turner Joy's third Western Pacific cruise, between March and October 1964, was historic. While serving with the aircraft carrier Ticonderoga on 2 August she was sent to reinforce the destroyer Maddox after the latter was attacked by North Vietnamese motor torpedo boats. Two days later, on the night of 4 August, the two ships believed they were again under attack and took vigorous countermeasures. This Gulf of Tonkin Incident was an important preliminary to the United States' long and painful combat experience in Southeast Asia.

Turner Joy's next six Seventh Fleet deployments, in 1965-66, 1966-67, 1968, 1969-70, 1971 and 1972-73, included intense involvement in the Vietnam conflict. In addition to screening carriers in nearby waters and undertaking patrol duties, she actively used her guns to support Allied forces ashore. One such mission, in October 1965, ended in tragedy when a shell accidently detonated in one of her five-inch gun mounts, killing three of her crew. During another bombardment, off North Vietnam on 7 April 1967, Turner Joy was hit by return fire, but was not seriously damaged. Following the January 1973 agreement that temporarily ended the fighting, the destroyer took part in Operation "Endsweep", the clearance of U.S. mines from North Vietnamese waters.

During the next decade Turner Joy went to the Western Pacific three more times, in 1974, 1975-76 and 1980. The '75-76 deployment carried her to the Arabian Sea, an area that in future years would become an increasingly important destination for U.S. Navy ships. While there, she took part in an exercise with the British, Iranian and Pakistani navies. In November 1982, as the Navy was in the process of taking all the ships of her class out of service, USS Turner Joy was decommissioned. She spent over seven years in the Pacific Reserve Fleet before being stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in February 1990. However, in April 1991 she embarked on a new career as a museum and memorial ship. Ever since, Turner Joy has been on exhibit at the city of Bremerton, Washington, as an enduring representative of the Cold War Navy.

USS Turner Joy was named in honor of Admiral Charles Turner Joy (1895-1956), whose long career included command of U.S. Naval forces in the Far East during the first two years of the Korean War.

This page features, and provides links to, all the views we have related to USS Turner Joy (DD-951).

For more images related to this ship, see:

  • USS Turner Joy (DD-951), 1959-1991 -- Part II; and
  • USS Turner Joy (DD-951) -- National Archives Photographs;


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 98254

    USS Turner Joy (DD-951)


    Underway soon after completion, circa the late 1950s or early 1960s.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 113KB; 740 x 610 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 98255

    USS Turner Joy (DD-951)


    Underway soon after completion, circa the late 1950s or early 1960s.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 89KB; 740 x 600 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 98256

    USS Turner Joy (DD-951)


    At sea, 25 August 1962, seen from USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31).
    Photographed by PH3 R.C. Orlofske.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 108KB; 740 x 605 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 98257

    USS Turner Joy (DD-951)


    Underway at sea, 9 May 1964.
    Photographed by PH1 Moen, of USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63).

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 109KB; 740 x 525 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 98258

    USS Turner Joy (DD-951)


    Steaming on the Gunline off the coast of South Vietnam, April 1968.
    Photographed by JO1 Willard B. Bass, Jr.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 107KB; 740 x 605 pixels

     
    Photo #: KN-18396

    USS Turner Joy (DD-951)


    Underway off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, 24 November 1969.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph.

    Online Image: 115KB; 740 x 615 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system as Photo # 428-KN-18396.
    Though reproductions of this photo from the Naval Historical Center's collections are available in black & white only, those from the National Archives should be available in color.

     
    Photo #: NH 98259

    USS Turner Joy (DD-951)


    Underway in the Pacific Ocean, November 1980.
    Photographed by PH3 Wilcox, of squadron VC-1.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 88KB; 740 x 600 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 98260

    USS Turner Joy (DD-951)


    Underway in the Pacific Ocean, November 1980.
    Photographed by PH3 Wilcox, of squadron VC-1.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 97KB; 740 x 600 pixels

     

    For more images related to this ship, see:

  • USS Turner Joy (DD-951), 1959-1991 -- Part II; and
  • USS Turner Joy (DD-951) -- National Archives Photographs.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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    Page made 12 January 2003