View source for USS Lynde McCormick

{{short description|Charles F. Adams-class destroyer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Lynde McCormick (DDG-8) underway in 1974.JPEG
|Ship caption=USS ''Lynde McCormick'' underway in 1974
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1989}}
|Ship name=''Lynde McCormick''
|Ship namesake= [[Lynde D. McCormick]]
|Ship ordered=28 March 1957
|Ship builder=[[Defoe Shipbuilding Company]]
|Ship laid down=4 April 1958
|Ship launched=28 July 1959
|Ship acquired=29 May 1961
|Ship commissioned=3 June 1961
|Ship decommissioned=1 October 1991
|Ship reclassified=DDG-8, 23 April 1957
|Ship identification=*[[Maritime call sign|Callsign]]: NHXD
*{{ICS|November}}{{ICS|Hotel}}{{ICS|Xray}}{{ICS|Delta}}
*[[Hull number]]: DD-958
|Ship struck=20 November 1992
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship honours=
|Ship motto=*''Sine Timore''
*(Without Fear)
|Ship fate=[[Target ship|Sunk as target]], 14 February 2001
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge= [[File:USS Lynde McCormick (DDG-8) insignia, in 1989.png|150px]]
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Charles F. Adams|destroyer}}
|Ship displacement=3,277 tons standard, 4,526 full load
|Ship length={{convert|437|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|47|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught=
|Ship draft={{convert|15|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*2 × [[General Electric]] steam turbines providing {{convert|70000|shp|MW|abbr=on}}; 2 shafts
*4 × [[Babcock & Wilcox]] {{convert|1275|psi|abbr=on}} boilers
|Ship speed={{convert|33|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range={{convert|4500|nmi|km}} at {{convert|20|kn|km/h}}
|Ship complement=354 (24 officers, 330 enlisted)
|Ship sensors=*AN/SPS-39 3D air search radar
*AN/SPS-10 surface search radar
*[[AN/SPG-51]] missile fire control radar
*AN/SPG-53 gunfire control radar
*AN/SQS-23 Sonar and the hull mounted SQQ-23 Pair Sonar for DDG-2 through 19
*AN/SPS-40 Air Search Radar
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*1 [[Mk 11 twin missile launcher]] for [[RIM-24 Tartar]] [[Surface-to-air missile|SAM]], and later the [[RIM-66 Standard]] (SM-1) and the [[(RGM-84) Harpoon (missile)|Harpoon antiship missile]] The magazine held 40 missiles with a typical load-out of 34 SAM and 6 Harpoon missiles.
*2 × [[5"/54 caliber Mark 42 gun|5"/54 caliber Mark 42 (127&nbsp;mm) gun]]
*1 × [[MK-112 ASROC]] Launcher with 8 RUR-5 Missiles
*6 × 12.8 in (324&nbsp;mm) ASW Torpedo Tubes (2 x [[Mark 32 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes]])
|Ship armour=
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''USS ''Lynde McCormick'' (DD-958/DDG-8)''' was a [[Charles F. Adams class destroyer|''Charles F. Adams''-class]] [[destroyer]] in the [[United States Navy]].

== Construction and career ==
''Lynde McCormick'' (DDG-8) was laid down 4 April 1958 by [[Defoe Shipbuilding Company]], [[Bay City, Michigan]]; launched 28 July 1959; sponsored by Mrs. Lillian McCormick, wife of Admiral McCormick; and commissioned at Boston 3 June 1961.

''Lynde McCormick'' departed Boston 23 August 1961 for her home port, [[San Diego]], arriving 16 September.  Early in 1962, she tested her missiles and [[antisubmarine]] weaponry in the Pacific missile range.  Exercises and experiments continued in preparation for deployment to the western Pacific, for which she sailed 19 November 1962.

She arrived at [[United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka|Yokosuka]] on 6 December and within a week was on station with a [[7th Fleet]] task group, taking up her part in the schedule of readiness training and exercises. Returning to San Diego 15 June 1963, she proceeded to Sacramento to help initiate its new deepwater port.  All‑encompassing refresher training followed overhaul and modification at [[Hunters Point Drydocks|Hunters Point]] early in 1964, increasing her antiair warfare capabilities.

Vietnam War

A high state of readiness had been achieved when the [[Gulf of Tonkin incident]]s of 2 and 4 August escalated the [[Vietnam War]].

In company with CruDesFlot 11, ''Lynde McCormick'' departed 5 August for a 6-month deployment along the Vietnamese coast, primarily in the screen for [[USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31)|''Bon Homme Richard'']] and other [[aircraft carriers]].  She returned to San Diego 6 February 1965. ''Lynde McCormick'' spent the remainder of the year conducting coastal exercises, a successful competitive firing of her, missiles, and a summer cruise to Hawaii training midshipmen.

After [[anti-submarine]] exercises with the [[Royal Canadian Navy]] in January 1966, ''Lynde McCormick'' prepared for a third tour of duty in WestPac.

She left San Diego on 1 March and 1-month later was shelling [[Vietcong]] bunkers and gun emplacements in the [[Mekong Delta]].  In May, she sailed up the eastern coast to support Yankee Station carrier operations against [[North Vietnam]] until August, when she sailed for her home port, arriving at San Diego 26 October.  On 27 October, she entered drydock at [[Long Beach Naval Shipyard|Long Beach]] for a thorough overhaul.  This was completed 23 March 1967.

Refresher training began on 15 May, and was interrupted on 27 May when she rushed to the aid of a stricken crewmember of the ship ''88 Pacific Comet''.  ''Lynde McCormick'' continued operating out of San Diego until 17 August, at which time she departed for another WestPac deployment.

In October 1967 while shelling suspected North Vietnamese gun emplacements just north of the DMZ in company with the [[USS Newport News]], ''Lynde McCormick'' was taken under fire by North Vietnamese artillery. She and the Newport News departed the area while shells splashed around them. Film footage of the ''Lynde McCormick'' was taken showing this event and was featured on Walter Cronkite's Evening News. In January 1968, ''Lynde McCormick'' was ordered to the coast off of Hue to provide gunfire support during the Tet offensive. She remained on station firing in support of American forces there for about two weeks until her barrels were completely spent.

In March 1968 she was ordered to the [[Sea of Japan]] as part of the [[USS Kearsarge (CV-33)|USS Kearsarge battle group]] while a plan was considered about trying to retrieve the [[USS Pueblo (AGER-2)]], that was taken by the [[North Korean armed forces|North Korean forces]] in [[International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation|international waters]]. April found the ''Lynde McCormick'' headed back to San Diego completing her 67/68 deployment.

In June 1982, ''Lynde McCormick'' fired [[.50 BMG|.50 caliber]] rounds over Vietnamese boats after the boats had fired on {{USS|Turner Joy|DD-951}}during an incident reminiscent of the [[Gulf of Tonkin incident]].<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/23/world/vietnamese-boats-reportedly-fire-on-us-ship-in-south-china-sea.html |title= VIETNAMESE BOATS REPORTEDLY FIRE ON U.S. SHIP IN SOUTH CHINA SEA |newspaper= The New York Times |date= 23 June 1982 }}</ref>

=== 1983 Deployment ===
On 20 July 1983 the ''[[New York Times]]'' reported that ''Lynde McCormick'', along with seven other vessels in the [[USS Ranger (CV-61)|USS Ranger Battle Group]], left [[San Diego]] on Friday, 15 July 1983 and were headed for the western Pacific when they were rerouted and ordered to steam for Central America to conduct training and flight operations in areas off the coasts of [[Nicaragua]], [[El Salvador]] and [[Honduras]] as part of major military exercises planned for that summer.

The battle group was composed of the carrier ''Ranger'', battleship [[USS New Jersey (BB-62)|''New Jersey'']] (which joined the group in late August), cruiser [[USS Horne (DLG-30)|''Horne'']], the guided missile destroyer ''Lynde McCormick'', the destroyers [[USS Fletcher (DD-992)|''Fletcher'']] and [[USS Fife (DD-991)|''Fife'']], the frigate [[USS Marvin Shields (FF-1066)|''Marvin Shields'']], the oiler [[USS Wichita (AOR-1)|''Wichita'']] and the support ship [[USS Camden (AOE-2)|''Camden'']].

=== Operation Praying Mantis ===
In April 1988, the USS Lynde McCormick (DDG-8) was part of the largest combat action against another navy since WW-2. It was one of many ships of the [[U.S. Fifth Fleet|U.S. fifth fleet]] under SAG Bravo engaged in operations against the [[Iranian Navy]].  This included anti – ship, and mine operations, stopping small – boat attacks against Persian Gulf shipping & countering tactical operations by Iranian warships near the Strait of Hormuz. These operation was a resounding success and concluded in the freedom of navigation of commercial shipping in and out of the Persian Gulf.

=== Decommissioning ===
The ship was decommissioned 1 October 1991 and was sunk as a target ship on 14 February 2001.

== References ==
*{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/l/lynde-mccormick.html}}
*{{Naval Vessel Register|hull=DDG-8}}
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{navsource|05/01008}}
*[http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/ddg8.htm        hazegray.org: USS ''Lynde McCormick'']
*[http://www.usslyndemccormick.com/ USS ''Lynde McCormick'' Association] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415103532/http://www.usslyndemccormick.com/ |date=15 April 2012 }}
*[http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/destroyers/pages/uss_lynde_mccormick_ddg_8_page_1.htm MaritimeQuest USS Lynde McCormick pages]

{{Charles F. Adams class destroyer}}
{{2001 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynde McCormick (DDG-8)}}
[[Category:Cold War destroyers of the United States]]
[[Category:Vietnam War destroyers of the United States]]
[[Category:1959 ships]]
[[Category:Charles F. Adams-class destroyers]]
[[Category:Ships sunk as targets]]