USS
Hamner
(DD-718)
Gearing Class Destroyer
- Displacement 3460 Tons (Full),
Dimensions, 390' 6"(oa) x 40' 10" x 14'
4" (Max)
- Armament 6 x 5"/38AA (3x2), 12 x 40mm AA, 11 x
20mm AA, 10 x 21"
tt.(2x5).
- Machinery, 60,000 SHP; General Electric Geared
Turbines, 2 screws
- Speed, 36.8 Knots, Range 4500 NM@ 20 Knots
- Crew 336
- Laid down by Federal Shipbuilding, Newark NJ.
April 25 1945.
- Launched November 24 1945 and commissioned July
12 1946.
- Decommissioned (?).
- Stricken October 1 1979.
- Sold to Taiwan December 17 1980, renamed ROCS Yun
Yang.
- Reclassified as Guided Missile Destroyer DDG-927
- Decommissioned December 16 2003.
- Fate Sunk by Hai Hu (SS-794) as a target
off Ping Tung
0900
September 6 2005.
My Duties with USS Hamner
Jun
1977 - May 1979
In
1977 I decided to return to the Navy under the NavVet program, however,
because I
had been separated from the service for quite some time and because I
advanced to
PO3 (E=4) and PO2 (E-5)
as a
reservist, I
was reduced in grade to STGSN (E-3). I
thought that I would have no
problem regaining my rank and accepted the reduction.
I was not aware of the new "push
button" programs that
automatically advanced people out of school and that made it all but
impossible to make rate from the fleet.
I was
assigned to the USS Hamner, a
reserve ship home ported at the Reserve
Center, Portland OR.
I PNA'd (Passed, but Not Advanced) the STG
advancement
exam several
times.
About this same time I met Rick Burris, a QM3 and the
leading
QM. I was a geographic bachelor and lived on board. I spent
most of my spare time
with Rick, helping him with QM duties and I found it to be very
interesting. The QM gang was short handed and I requested
to work and stand watch as a QM when my ST duties allowed
and the command approved. I qualified as
Quartermaster
of the Watch (QMOW) in 3
days! (Unheard of! Rick taught me well.)
For a while I had 3 GQ stations. Condition 1 (General Quarters) -
I reported to the
bridge as a navigator, Condition 1AS (GQ, Anti-Submarine) - I
reported to Sonar Control as a , Condition 1AA (GQ - Gunfire Support) -
I was
the POIC (Petty Officer In Charge) of the upper
handling room of gun mount 51.
I really liked my navigation duties and I
officially applied to convert from
STG to
QM. A few months later the Commanding Officer called me in and
told me that I
had passed the exam and was advanced to STG3. He then said that my
conversion to QMSN had also been
approved, so
I had a choice - take the advancement or the conversion. I told
him
that I would rather be a QM and he said "That's all I wanted to hear,
congratulations QM3!" and he command advanced me on the spot. I
was also selected as "sailor of the quarter" with my own parking spot.
(Would have been better if I had a car.)
Rick and I
did it all. We didn't realize that we were doing the work of a
QM1
or QMC. We just logically doing what needed to be done.
The Hamner was a close knit crew. Where most ships would sponsor
a
single bowling team at a local league, Hamner had it's own 12 team
league. (I was league secretary) Each gang fielded a team with
names like Screw Crew, BT Steamrollers, Cannon Cockers, Banana Bunch,
etc. Our team didn't win, but I was most improved handicap.
Frustrated over the lack of re-enlistment bonuses for QMs, I left
active
duty, but I stayed with the reserves and joined the SelRes Crew of USS Rodgers (DD-876).
Post Script - As of 2010
Rick Burris and I remain close and regularly keep in touch via cel
phone, e-mail and Facebook
