USS William V. Pratt, a 4150-ton Farragut class guided missile frigate, was built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania. Commissioned in November 1961, she cruised in the West Indies on shakedown and then joined the Atlantic Fleet. After participating in an exercise in European waters in 1963, early in the next year she deployed to the Mediterranean Sea for the first of a career total of more than a dozen Sixth Fleet assignments. Over the following two years, William V. Pratt followed what would be an enduring pattern: alternating Sixth Fleet tours with Second Fleet work in the western Atlantic, Caribbean area and off Northern Europe.
Between July and December 1967, William V. Pratt interrupted this arrangement to take part in Vietnam War operations in the Western Pacific. Her next Mediterranean deployment took place during the first half of 1969, followed by another in 1970 that included providing Naval presence during the Jordanian civil war. She had two more spells with the Sixth Fleet before decommissioning in September 1972 for an extensive modernization. Returning to active service a year later, she visited the Mediterranean in October 1974 - March 1975. In July of the latter year, William V. Pratt was reclassified as a guided-missile destroyer, with the new hull number DDG-44.
Soon after that reclassification, William V. Pratt went south to join several Latin American navies for several months of UNITAS XVI exercises. On 4 July 1976, she participated in the United States' Bicentennial Naval Review off New York City. The rest of the '70s saw her return once to the Mediterranean and make another UNITAS cruise, this time voyaging completely around South America. She received further combat systems updates in 1979-80, operated with the Sixth Fleet and visited Northern European waters in 1981, and took part in Lebanon Crisis actions in 1982, including providing gunfire support for U.S. Marines at Beirut.
William V. Pratt had three more major deployments during the last six years of the decade, operating in the Mediterranean and Red Seas in 1984, the Mediterranean alone in 1987 and again in 1989. Bracketing her 1989 Sixth Fleet cruise were major exercises off Norway and in the North Sea - English Channel area. In 1990 she worked with the U.S. Coast Guard on law enforcement service in the Caribbean Sea. William V. Pratt's final overseas tour was a important one, involving participation in the short, but intense war that drove Iraq out of Kuwait during the first months of 1991. She was decommissioned in September 1991, stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in November 1992 and sold for scrapping in 1995.
USS William V. Pratt was named in honor of the Navy's fifth Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral William V. Pratt (1869-1957).
This page features all the views we have concerning USS William V. Pratt (DLG-13, later DDG-44).
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 98023 USS William V. Pratt (DLG-13) Underway in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, 22 December 1967. Photographed by Ph1/AC W.A. Clayton. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 91KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 98024 USS William V. Pratt (DLG-13) Underway off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii, 22 December 1967. Photographed by Ph3/AC D.R. Hyder. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 100KB; 740 x 610 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 98025 USS William V. Pratt (DLG-13) Underway in the Mediterranean Sea, 27 May 1969. Photographed by Ph2 G.G. Cottrill, of USS John F. Kennedy (CVA-67). Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 130KB; 740 x 595 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 98026 USS William V. Pratt (DLG-13) Underway in the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Florida, 7 July 1972. Photographed by Ph3 Thomas E. Faught. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 83KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: USN 1173585 Operation "Unitas XIX", September 1978 Ships of Task Group 138 underway in the Atlantic during the operation. They are (from left to right): USS William V. Pratt (DDG-44); USS DuPont (DD-941); and USS Bowen (FF-1079). Official U.S. Navy Photograph. Online Image: 119KB; 740 x 605 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system as Photo # 428-N-1173585. |
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Photo #: NH 98027 USS William V. Pratt (DDG-44) Steaming in the Mediterranean Sea, 15 January 1984. Photographed by Ph1(AC) David C. MacLean. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 113KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 98028 HH-3 "Jolly Green Giant" U.S. Air Force rescue helicopter Hovering over the after deck of USS William V. Pratt (DLG-13) on either 7 or 18 August 1967, while the ship was on Vietnam War duty in the Gulf of Tonkin. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 101KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: USN 1172266 USS William V. Pratt (DDG-44) Ensign William H. Cheatham stands bridge watch as Officer of the Deck, during a General Quarters drill, 13-26 May 1978. The ship was then taking part in Operation "Solid Shield 1978". Ensign Cheatham also serves as William V. Pratt's Naval Tactical Data System Maintenance Officer. Official U.S. Navy Photograph. Online Image: 118KB; 600 x 765 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system as Photo # 428-N-1172266. |
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Photo #: USN 1172271 USS William V. Pratt (DDG-44) Ensign William H. Cheatham, Officer of the Deck, checks the radar scope for surface contacts during his bridge watch, 13-26 May 1978. The ship was then taking part in Operation "Solid Shield 1978". Ensign Cheatham is wearing a Special Warfare pin. Official U.S. Navy Photograph. Online Image: 89KB; 515 x 765 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system as Photo # 428-N-1172271. |
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Photo #: USN 1172267 USS William V. Pratt (DDG-44) Chief Personnelman Julius B. Simmons logs reports of simulated damage on a damage control plan of the ship, during a General Quarters drill, 13-26 May 1978. The ship was then taking part in Operation "Solid Shield 1978". Official U.S. Navy Photograph. Online Image: 100KB; 740 x 500 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system as Photo # 428-N-1172267. |
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Photo #: USN 1172236 USS William V. Pratt (DDG-44) Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Charles A. Hill (left) and Lieutenant Commander Anthony A. Karnas, Engineering Officer, at work in the Main Propulsion Control spaces, May 1978. Official U.S. Navy Photograph. Online Image: 96KB; 510 x 765 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system as Photo # 428-N-1172236. |
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Photo #: NH 68599-KN (Color) Insignia: USS William V. Pratt (DLG-13) Cloth jacket patch featuring the ship's emblem adopted after a shipboard design competition in 1961. It was designed by Seaman Apprentice Henry M. Bernard III, USN. The design features an eagle and an "old-fashioned" anchor, symbolic of the Nation and the traditions of the Navy. These are surrounded by missiles in orbital paths, representing the modern technical Navy. The four stars below the anchor indicate the rank of the ship's name source, Admiral William Veazie Pratt, USN. The motto, translated "lethal when danger comes", is derived from an address delivered by Admiral Pratt in 1927. The square knots in the border symbolize the unslipping strength of the Navy. Courtesy of Captain G.F. Swainson, USN, 1969. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 172KB; 650 x 675 pixels |
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If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 2 August 2002
New image added 9 December 2006