FACTS ABOUT VANCE FACTS 5

On 1 June 1958, the radar picket escort ship's home port was changed to Pearl Harbor and she began operating with CortRon 7. One month later, she departed Hawaiian waters for a 29 day patrol on the mid-ocean picket lines which provided radar coverage from Alaska to Midway Atoll. Vance thus became the first ship on the Distant Early Warning (DEW) line in the Pacific and the first to sail under the newly organized Pacific barrier patrol. In mid January 1959, routine overhaul and refresher training at Pearl Harbor, Vance again took station on the mid Pacific stretch of ocean on her second DEW-line deployment. Return to Pacific Barrier September, 1958

Vance continued to conduct regular DEW-line patrols until May of 1960, when CortRon 7 was dissolved. At that time, she rejoined CortDiv5 and served with her old unit into 1961. On occasion, the picket ship took Russian trawlers under surveillance-undoubtedly while the communist vessel was returning the compliment.

Early in 1961, Vance's communications capabilities were extensively augmented during an overhaul at Pearl Harbor. After resuming DEW-line patrols late in the spring, the ship received orders in August 1961 designating her an ocean station vessel with TF-43, Operation "Deepfreeze 62." Temporarily based at Dunedin, New Zealand, Vance served as a communication relay ship for aircraft bringing in vital supplies to the Antarctic stations from New Zealand. She remained on station in the cold, bleak, southern waters into March 1962, when she headed home via Melbourne, Australia, and Papeete, Tahiti, to Pearl Harbor. She soon resumed duties on the DEW-line and--but for periodic interruptions for maintenance, replenishment, and training-devoted herself to the task of operating mainly off the Aleutian Islands through February 1965.
Return to Pacific Barrier September, 1958

DE	387	Destroyer Escort
WDE	487	Coast Guard Destroyer Escort
DER	387	Destroyer Escort Radar Picket