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U.S.S. ROBISON

(DDG-12)

IN WAR...IN PEACE...IN READINESS

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The USS ROBISON (DDG-12), a Charles F. Adams-class guided missle destroyer, was commissioned on 9 DEC 1961. USS ROBISON was built at Defoe Shipbuilding Company in Bay City, Michigan, commissioned in Boston, then initially homeported in San Diego. the end of 1963 began the regular deployments that marked ROBISON's career. Her 1960s deployments usually placed her as part of a screening force around the aircraft carriers at Yankee Station. ROBISON, when the opportunity arose, provided shore bombardment and destroyed light enemy supply craft in Vietnamese waters. After Vietnam, ROBISON resumed a regular cycle of "West Pacs", standing her "watches" in the Far East. USS ROBISON made a total seventeen deployments always "In War...In Peace...In Readiness". USS ROBISON served her country for 29 years, 9 months and 22 days, until decommissioned on 1 OCT 1991. The hulk of ROBISON was sold to Consolidated Minerals for conversion into a "power barge", but the scheme failed to pan out and she was scrapped in 1996.

The USS ROBISON (DDG-12) deployment history and significant events of her service career follow:

DDG-12 Deployments - Major Events

Add a DDG-12 Shellback Initiation Add a DDG-12 Deployment - Major Event
Month Year to Month Year Deployment / Event
APR1959-Keel Date: 28 APR 1959
at Consolidated Steel Corporation Orange TX
APR1960-Launch Date: 27 APR 1960
DEC1961-Commissioned: 9 DEC 1961
NOV1962-JUN1963West Pac
NOV1963-DEC1963West Pac-Viet Nam
NOV1963-DEC1963West Pac-Viet Nam
AUG1964-FEB1965West Pac
AUG1964-FEB1965West Pac-Viet Nam
AUG1964-FEB1965West Pac-Viet Nam
JAN1966-JUL1966West Pac
JAN1966-JUL1966West Pac-Viet Nam
JAN1967-JUL1968West Pac
APR1967-APR1970West Pac-Viet Nam
JUL1967-FEB1968West Pac
JUL1967-FEB1968West Pac-Viet Nam
AUG1967-JAN1968Sea Dragon
JUN1968-AUG1969West Pac-Viet Nam
JUN1968-AUG1969West Pac-Viet Nam
JAN1969-JUL1969West Pac
JAN1969-JUN1969West Pac-Viet Nam
JAN1970-JAN1972West Pac-Viet Nam
JUN1970-DEC1970West Pac-Viet Nam
JAN1971-JAN1972West Pac-Viet Nam
JUN1971-DEC1971West Pac-Viet Nam
JAN1972-DEC1972West Pac-Viet Nam
JUN1972-DEC1972West Pac-Viet Nam
JUL1974-JAN1975West Pac-Viet Nam
AUG1974-JAN1975West Pac-Viet Nam
JAN1976-AUG1976West Pac
MAR1976-AUG1976West Pac
MAR1976-JAN1980west pack
JUL1978-OCT1978SouthPac Goodwill Cruise
FEB1979-SEP1979West Pac-Indian Ocean
APR1979-Shellback Initiation - 10 APR 1979 - Pacific Ocean
MAY1980-Shellback Initiation - 23 MAY 1980 - Indian Ocean
AUG1980-JAN1981West Pac
MAR1983-SEP1983West Pac-Indian Ocean
OCT1984-MAR1985Mediterranean-Indian Ocean-Persian Gulf
FEB1985-Shellback Initiation - 6 FEB 1985 - Pacific Ocean
SEP1985-FEB1986West Pac
SEP1986-MAR1987West Pac-Indian Ocean-Persian Gulf
JAN1987- Shellback Initiation - 22 JAN 1987 - Pacific Ocean
JAN1987- Shellback Initiation - 22 JAN 1987 - Indian Ocean
JUN1988-DEC1988West Pac-Indian Ocean-Persian Gulf
JUN1989-NOV1989West Pac-Indian Ocean-Persian Gulf
JUN1989-NOV1989West Pac-Indian Ocean
FEB1990-JUL1990West Pac-Indian Ocean-Persian Gulf
OCT1991-Decommissioned: 1 OCT 1991

DDG-12 General Specifications

Class: Charles F. Adams-class guided missle destroyer

Named for: Samuel Shelburne Robison

Complement: 24 Officers and 330 Enlisted

Displacement: 3277 tons

Length: 437 feet

Beam: 47 feet

Flank Speed: 33 knots

Range: 4 500 nautical miles

Final Disposition:Sold for scrap on 20 June 1994



USS ROBISON (DDG-12)



Robison (DDG-12), a guided missile destroyer, was laid down 28 April 1959 by Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, Mich.; launched 28 April 1960; sponsored by Mrs. John H. Sides, wife of the Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet; and commissioned 9 December 1961 at the Boston Naval Shipyard, Comdr. D. V. Cox in command.

Robison steamed for the west coast 29 January 1962 via the Panama Canal. On 1 March she received a message diverting her to Clipperton Island, to rescue 10 stranded seamen from the tuna boat Monarch, which had capsized 20 days earlier.

Arriving at San Diego on 7 March, Robison underwent shakedown and then post-shakedown availability 14 June in San Francisco. Fleet Adm. Chester Nimitz, who had twice served on Admiral Robison's staff, visited the ship on 25 June.

Following completion of availability 31 July, Robison proceeded to Mare Island for ammunition, took on ASROC and Tartar missiles at Seal Beach, and then commenced 3 months of local training operations out of San Diego. She got underway with Cruiser-Destroyer Flotilla 11 on 13 November for her first WestPac tour of duty. Upon completion of this deployment, Robison arrived San Diego 21 June 1963 for coastal operations.

She departed San Diego 18 November in company with Parsons (DD-949) for escort duties. Calling at Pearl Harbor 23 November, she departed 2 days later in company with Midway (CVA-41). Upon detachment from Midway, she touched at Guam, and then escorted Hancock (CVA-19) eastward. Following fueling stops at Midway and Pearl Harbor, she arrived San Diego 19 December.

In January 1964 Robison entered Long Beach Naval Shipyard for regular overhaul. After missile qualifications and refresher training, she steamed 14 August for her second WestPac deployment. Following her successful participation in modern naval warfare training exercises and calls at various Far Eastern ports, she departed Yokosuka 24 January 1965 and arrived San Diego 6 February.

Local spring operations were followed by a midshipman training cruise from 10 June to 5 August. The latter month also brought a call at Portland, Oreg., and a visit, on the 24th, by the Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. David L. McDonald. In the fall she sharpened her ASW, AAW, and shore bombardment techniques during coastal operations. Early in the new year 1966, the destroyer prepared for her third tour of duty in support of 7th Fleet operations in WestPac.

That deployment ended with her return to San Diego 18 July 1966. Overhaul in San Francisco took her through the fall and into the winter months, culminating in her return to homeport on 3 February 1967. Refresher and type training filled the next 5 months, and 25 July saw Robison once again en route to the Orient.

After calling at Pearl Harbor 31 July and Yokosuka, Japan, 5 August, she commenced Tonkin Gulf operations 25 August in the screen for Coral Sea (CVA-43). In naval gunfire support and "Sea Dragon" operations during the period from 26 August 1967 to 9 January 1968, Robison was credited with the destruction of 78 waterborne logistics craft. Her remarkable degree of combat readiness during this period earned for her the Meritorious Unit Commendation.

Upkeep, availability, training, and operating off the west coast maintained Robison's state of readiness through the next 11 months. She steamed from San Diego for her fifth WestPac deployment on 30 December 1968 in company with carrier Kitty Hawk (CVA-63). The usual call at Pearl Harbor was followed by arrival at Subic Bay, 20 January 1969. After voyage repairs Robison joined Task Group 77.3 in Tonkin Gulf. The destroyer, flagship of her division, served in the screen of both Kitty Hawk and Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31). She also provided naval gunfire support to troops ashore in the I Corps Zone.

Robison returned to San Diego on 6 July 1969, remaining there until 2 October, when she arrived at the San Francisco Naval Shipyard, Hunters Point, for overhaul. Work was completed 4½ months later, and Robison returned to her homeport of San Diego 27 February 1970, ready for refresher training and yet another WestPac deployment.

With the advent of 1970, Robison began a cycle of deployments which endured for three years. She spent the spring of each year on the west coast of the United States and then, in late spring or early summer, she deployed to WestPac. This cycle continued until 1973. During that year she remained on the west coast, engaged in normal operations out of San Diego, where she is berthed as of January 1974. The guided missile destroyer decommissioned on 1 October 1991, was struck from the navy list on 20 November 1992 and sold to Consolidated Metals, Inc., for scrapping.

Robison earned seven battle stars for service off the Vietnamese coast. 19 October 2005

[Note: The above USS ROBISON (DDG-12) history may, or may not, contain text provided by crew members of the USS ROBISON (DDG-12), or by other non-crew members, and text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]