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USS Sampson (DDG 10)

USS SAMPSON was the 9^th ship in the CHARLES F. ADAMS - class of guided missile destroyers and the third ship in the Navy to bear the name. USS SAMPSON was stricken from the navy list on November 20, 1992, and was then berthed at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF), Philadelphia, PA. On December 16, 1994, SAMPSON was sold for scrap.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS SAMPSON. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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Accidents aboard USS SAMPSON:

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About the Ship's Name:

William Thomas Sampson, born on 9 February 1840 in Palmyra, N.Y., entered the United States Naval Academy on 24 September 1857. After graduating 1st in his class four years later, he served as an instructor at the Academy. In 1864, he became the executive officer of the monitor PATAPSCO of the South Atlantic Blockading Station and engaged in sweeping torpedoes off Charleston. He survived the loss of that ironclad on 15 January 1865, when she struck a torpedo, exploded, and sank with a loss of 75 lives.

Following duty in the steam frigate, COLORADO, on the European Station, another tour as instructor at the Naval Academy, and in the Bureau of Navigation of the Navy Department, he served in the screw sloop, CONGRESS. He then commanded ALERT, practice ship MAYFLOWER, and SWATARA while on duty at the Naval Academy.

During the next years, he was Assistant to the Superintendent of the Naval Observatory, then Officer-in-Charge of the Naval Torpedo Station, Newport, R.I. On 9 September 1886, he became Superintendent of the Naval Academy. He was promoted to Captain on 9 April 1889, reported to the Mare Island Navy Yard to fit out SAN FRANCISCO, and assumed command when that protected cruiser was commissioned on 15 November 1889. He was detached in June 1892 to serve as Inspector of Ordnance in the Washington Navy Yard and was appointed Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance on 28 January 1893. He assumed command of battleship IOWA, on 15 June 1897. On 17 February 1898, he was made President of the Board of Inquiry to investigate the destruction of battleship MAINE. On 26 March 1898, he assumed command of the North Atlantic Station, with the temporary rank of Rear Admiral.

The United States declared war against Spain on 21 April 1898; and, eight days later, Admiral Cervera's fleet sailed from the Cape Verde Islands for an uncertain destination. Admiral Sampson, in flagship NEW YORK, put to sea from Key West in search of the Spanish Fleet and established a close and efficient blockade on that fleet in the harbor of Santiago on 1 June 1898. On the morning of 3 July 1898, Cervera's fleet came out of the harbor and was completely destroyed in a running sea battle lasting five hours. The next day, Rear Admiral Sampson sent his famous message: “The Fleet under my command offers the nation as a Fourth of July present, the whole of Cervera's Fleet!”

He was appointed Cuban Commissioner on 20 August 1898 but resumed command of the North Atlantic Fleet in December. He became Commandant of the Boston Navy Yard in October 1899 and transferred to the Retired List on 9 February 1902. Rear Admiral Sampson died in Washington, D.C., on 6 May 1902 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

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History of USS SAMPSON:

USS SAMPSON was laid down on 2 March 1959 by the Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, Maine; launched on 14 May 1960, sponsored by Mrs. John S. Crenshaw, and commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard on 24 June 1961, Comdr. Forrester W. Isen in command.

Following shakedown off Guantanamo Bay in September, SAMPSON tested and evaluated the Tartar Missile System off Puerto Rico. Homeported at Norfolk she conducted further tests and trials in early 1962 before joining Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 18 and Destroyer Division (DesDiv) 182 in July. Composed completely of missile ships, DesRon 18 was then the most modern squadron in the Navy. Further radar and missile tests followed in 1963; and, in July, SAMPSON operated in the Midshipman Training Squadron. Finally, in January 1964, SAMPSON fired two Tartar missiles under simulated combat conditions. During 1964, she also underwent her first regular overhaul and received missile replenishment at sea from helicopters.

In January 1965, SAMPSON sailed for her first Mediterranean deployment, but an electrical fire on the night of 14 January caused extensive damage to her fire control capability and forced her to abbreviate her deployment and enter the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for repairs on 15 March.

The destroyer returned to fleet duties on 24 June. While conducting gunnery exercises, on 17 July, SAMPSON spotted the 50-foot sailing sloop, CECELIA ANNA, flying distress signals and rescued her 6 crewmen and mascot puppy moments before the sloop sank. In 1966, SAMPSON conducted gunnery exercises and escort duties near Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; then, in March, she deployed to the Mediterranean for extensive operations with the 6th Fleet. She returned to Norfolk in August. On 28 November, following three weeks of exercises in the Caribbean and additional tests, SAMPSON got underway to participate in exercise "Lantflex 66" in which she provided ASW and AAW services for the ASW carrier, WASP (CVS 18), and conducted exercises in the Puerto Rico operating area before returning to Norfolk in December.

SAMPSON deployed to the Mediterranean in mid-1967. While there, a SAMPSON radarman rescued a German seaman from the harbor at El Ferrol de Caudillo, Spain. Leaving the 6th Fleet at the end of August 1967, SAMPSON steamed back to the United States, and soon shifted to her new home port of Charleston.

SAMPSON operated out of Charleston in the Atlantic and Caribbean during 1968 until again deploying to the Mediterranean in October. She returned to Charleston in January 1969 and resumed operations in the Atlantic and the Caribbean until redeploying to the Mediterranean in October of that year. After six months with the 6th Fleet, she returned to Charleston on 28 March 1970.

SAMPSON operated out of Charleston in the western Atlantic until 23 September, when, after only two days notice, she got underway for special operations in the Mediterranean. She spent the month of October cruising first with JOHN F. KENNEDY (CVA 67), then with SARATOGA (CV 60), during the latest Levantine crisis. On 1 November, she stood out of Barcelona, Spain, to return to the United States. SAMPSON entered the mouth of the Cooper River on the 12th, moored at Charleston, and began a leave and upkeep period.

She ended 1970 and began 1971 in Charleston. During the first three months of the new year, she operated in the vicinity of the British West Indies; then prepared for overseas movement. On 9 April, following exercises and type training, SAMPSON steamed out of Charleston, passed Fort Sumter, and headed for the Mediterranean. She cruised with the 6th Fleet for six months, participating in exercises with both American and NATO forces. By 16 October, the guided missile destroyer was back in port at Charleston. She spent the rest of 1971 preparing for regular overhaul.

For four months, from 4 January until 4 May 1972, SAMPSON underwent the first Compressed Regular Overhaul ever attempted on a DDG. From mid-May until 9 July, she was underway for post-overhaul trials, exercises, and refresher training. She was in Charleston during the period 9 July to 18 August, at which time SAMPSON stood out for her new home port, Athens, Greece. She stopped at Rota, Spain, ten days later and entered Phaleron Bay on 3 October. The guided missile destroyer remained in the Mediterranean, based at Athens, throughout 1973 and into 1974.

Beginning in 1974, USS SAMPSON was forward-deployed to the Mediterranean from her Athens, Greece homeport. On 21 March 1974 she completed a Distillate Fuel Conversion at Hellenic Shipyards, Skaramangas, a change that simplified engineering logistics for extended operations. Through the spring she paired routine Sixth Fleet evolutions with missile work - photography from 24 April 1974 records her crew preparing TARTAR missiles for a firing exercise in the Mediterranean - and on 19-21 June she participated in Operation Flaming Lance. On 19 July Commander Robert L. Whitmire assumed command. On 22 November the destroyer carried out a notable rescue, safely recovering three crewmen from a downed SH-3D helicopter of USS INDEPENDENCE (CV 62) and towing the aircraft back to the carrier.

In 1975, SAMPSON received the Battle Efficiency "E" for Destroyer Squadron 12 and continued routine Sixth Fleet patrols punctuated by emergencies and humanitarian actions. On 22 March she rescued and towed the Liberian fishing vessel EL GRECO COMMANDER into Augusta Bay, Sicily, and on 30 May a shipboard diving accident at Taormina, Sicily, claimed the life of Ensign Frederick R. Minier as he aided another diver in distress. During the summer the forward-deployed posture ended: on 28 July she departed Athens for Philadelphia, arriving 20 August and officially shifting homeport to Philadelphia on 25 August to begin extended maintenance.

She spent all of 1976 in a regular dry-docking availability at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Commander Albert L. Bartels took command on 30 September as the work packaged modernization and preservation for a return to high-tempo operations.

From 7-10 February 1977, SAMPSON shifted homeport again, this time to Mayport, Florida, and in April completed combat systems qualifications and refresher training in the Caribbean and at Guantanamo Bay. On 29 May she briefly grounded at the entrance to San Juan, Puerto Rico; tugs and ship's power freed her within an hour, with only minor sonar-dome damage. In September she returned to the Mediterranean, calling at Malaga, Gaeta, Naples, and Catania and conducting two periods of Black Sea operations in November. She then visited Ashdod, Israel (23-28 November) and Alexandria, Egypt (16-19 December), becoming - on that single cruise - the first U.S. Navy ship to visit both Israel and Egypt, a reflection of the region's cautious thaw after the 1973 war.

In early 1978, she continued Sixth Fleet duty, including time in Athens, then returned stateside. On 25 April she was back in Mayport. Commander Ted P. Fenno took command on 28 July, and from 31 July to 18 August SAMPSON executed COMPTUEX 4-78 in the Caribbean, launching fourteen SM-1MR missiles as a missile-school ship while embarking firing teams from USS CONYINGHAM (DDG 17), USS SELLERS (DDG 11), and USS JULIUS A. FURER (FFG 6).

Through January-February 1979 she worked up during READEX 1-79, then on 13 March deployed to the Mediterranean with the USS AMERICA (CV 66) carrier group, visiting Lisbon, Barcelona, Toulon, and Trieste. In early June, SAMPSON and USS BARRY (DD 933) transited the Suez Canal en route to the Middle East Force, reflecting growing U.S. attention to the Red Sea and Persian Gulf as regional instability rose after the Iranian Revolution. From 6 June to 24 August she operated in the Southern Red Sea and Persian Gulf, visiting Djibouti and Bahrain, then returned via Rota to Mayport on 22 September. She received another Battle "E" for the year's performance on 10 December.

In 1980, SAMPSON conducted READEX 1-80 in the Caribbean (14 January-1 February), took part in Boston's OPSAIL '80 (26 May-4 June) with Commander Second Fleet embarked, completed COMPTUEX 4-80 (4-21 June), and joined NATO's Teamwork '80 in the North Atlantic (10-24 September) before returning to Mayport on 3 November and earning another Battle "E". She then entered an extensive 1981 overhaul at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, receiving AN/SQQ-23 PAIR sonar and an AN/SPS-40D air-search radar in place of SPS-37.

Back in service by March 1982, SAMPSON ran weapons and shore-bombardment qualifications plus refresher training in the Caribbean and at Guantanamo Bay from 4 June to 13 August. On 19 July she rescued six civilians from the sailing boat SO FINE while en route to Guantanamo. In August she embarked a Coast Guard Tactical Law Enforcement Team for anti-smuggling patrols, then from 1-15 October joined READEX 3-82 with USS NIMITZ (CVN 68). On 10 November she deployed with USS CLIFTON SPRAGUE (FFG 16) to the Persian Gulf as part of the Middle East Force, reflecting sustained U.S. presence at the closing phase of the Iran-Iraq War's "Tanker War".

In 1983, SAMPSON transited the Suez Canal and Red Sea, visited Djibouti and Karachi, and from 1-10 January monitored Soviet operations by the carrier MINSK and cruiser TASHKENT in the Indian Ocean. She then shifted to the Eastern Mediterranean for multinational peacekeeping support off Beirut between 22 February-16 March and 31 March-16 April, a period that included the 8 April bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. She returned to Mayport on 20 May, changed command on 9 June, conducted canal-area operations on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal from 1-27 October, and participated as CTU 28.1.1 in Operation URGENT FURY, the Grenada intervention, from 3-23 November, returning to Mayport on 30 November.

During 1984, she spent most of the year in pre-deployment workups - COMPTUEX 2-84, intensive training at Guantanamo, and READEX 2-84 - then deployed on 13 October with USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN 69). From 8 November to 16 December SAMPSON conducted contingency operations in the Eastern Mediterranean off Lebanon as the civil war persisted.

In 1985, she executed surveillance of Soviet naval units during Operation Eagle Eye, performed additional Eastern Mediterranean contingency operations from 14 February to 5 April, and on 2 March rescued the crew of the Turkish fishing vessel BILAL OGULLARI in heavy weather. Her port calls that deployment included Trieste, Genoa, Naples, Syracuse, Palma de Mallorca, Valencia, and Haifa. She returned to Mayport on 7 May, shifted command on 15 August, and entered a Selected Restricted Availability in Mayport from 15 September through year's end.

In early 1986, SAMPSON was assigned to recovery operations off Cape Canaveral from 28 January to 3 February following the Space Shuttle Challenger accident, receiving a Coast Guard Unit Commendation for the multi-agency effort. After further training at Guantanamo (16 May-24 June), she sailed on 6 October to the Persian Gulf with the Middle East Force, crossing via Bermuda, the Azores, and the Suez Canal. Her mission set in the region centered on convoy escort and presence amid the Iran-Iraq War, with visits to Bahrain and Dubai before returning in spring 1987. On 4-5 January 1987, she made a port visit to Shuaiba, Kuwait - the first U.S. Navy port call in Kuwait in seven years - and paused at Gibraltar for three days en route home, reaching Mayport in early April. In May she supported Caribbean counter-drug surveillance and then from 19 August to 17 Dezember underwent a dry-docked Selected Restricted Availability at Charleston Naval Shipyard.

Through early 1988, SAMPSON rotated commanders and then from 23-31 March conducted law-enforcement operations and missile exercises in the Caribbean. From 19 July to 9 December she joined UNITAS XXIX with Commander, Destroyer Squadron 36 embarked, operating with Latin American navies down the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of South America. Port visits included Roosevelt Roads; La Guaira; Cartagena; the Panama Canal; Manta; Lima; Valparaiso and Punta Arenas; Montevideo; and Rio de Janeiro. Commander Albert Clinton Myers assumed command on 1 August during the cruise.

In 1989, she again paired with Coast Guard elements for law-enforcement operations in the Caribbean (6 February-16 March and 2-24 October) and ran limited team training at Guantanamo (21 August-1 September). SAMPSON closed the year with another Battle Efficiency "E". Imagery from the period shows her alongside USS NICHOLSON (DD 982) near Balboa on the Pacific side of the Panama Canal amid heightened U.S. activity in Panama that autumn.

After FLEETEX 1-90 BASIC in the Puerto Rico operating areas (2-9 February 1990) and a search-and-rescue role off Colombia during Operation Topkick (10-18 February) aligned to an anti-drug summit, she conducted weapons firings on 12 April and joined FLEETEX 3-90 ADVANCED with the USS SARATOGA (CV 60) carrier group (7-22 June). Commander William D. Sullivan took command on 3 August. Four days later, on 7 August, SAMPSON deployed from Mayport as the Gulf crisis unfolded after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Assigned to Sixth Fleet, she transited the Suez Canal and on 24 August joined forces in the Northern Red Sea as the Maritime Interception Force began enforcing U.N. sanctions. Between 22 August and 21 September she operated in the Red Sea, conducting fourteen merchant boardings. On 26 August she executed the first boarding of Operation Desert Shield, and on 28 August her search of a diverted vessel uncovered looted Kuwaiti vehicles, prompting diversion to Aqaba, Jordan. On 3 September she received the "Eight Ball Award" for interception performance, visited Hurghada, Egypt (15-18 September), then shifted on 21 September to NATO's Naval On-Call Forces Mediterranean for Exercise Display Determination 90 with Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, British, German, Turkish, and Hellenic units, celebrating the U.S. Navy's 215th birthday at Bari. She re-entered the Red Sea on 1 November, conducted additional boardings through 15 December, and carried out the first ASROC exercise in the Red Sea in concert with USS SARATOGA (CV 60) before retransiting Suez on 16 December.

From 1 January to 14 March 1991, SAMPSON remained with NATO's Naval On-Call Forces Mediterranean in support of Operation Desert Storm in the Eastern Mediterranean, earning the Navy Unit Commendation, the National Defense Service Medal, and the Southwest Asia Service Medal (with Bronze Star) for combined Desert Shield/Desert Storm service. She returned to Mayport on 28 March, completed a short in-port period, and was decommissioned on 24 June 1991, as the last CHARLES F. ADAMS-class destroyer in commission on the U.S. East Coast. She was stricken on 20 November 1992 and, after a failed first scrapping contract, was dismantled in Philadelphia in 2003. Her anchor survives on display in Greensboro, North Carolina.

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