| DE | 387 | Destroyer Escort |
| WDE | 487 | Coast Guard Destroyer Escort |
| DER | 387 | Destroyer Escort Radar Picket |
These pages encompass USS Vance 1943 - 1985
| In the mid-1960's, with the advent of improved
radar and early-warning capabilities, the radar picket
escort ship was rapidly approaching obsolescence.
However, as the United States stepped up its efforts to
aid the South Vietnamese government in countering
internal and external communist aggression, the ship
received a new lease an life. In Vietnam, a ship of this
nature could be invaluable for coastal patrol work.
Accordingly, in February 1965, Vance was ordered to the
Western Pacific (WestPac). On 25 March 1965, she sailed
from Pearl Harbor, in company with Brister; (DER-327) and
Forster (DER-334), as Task Group (TG) 52.8, bound for the
Philippines. En route from Subic Bay to waters off the coast of Vietnam, Vance rescued Capt. Leland D. Holcomb, USAF, who had ejected from a burning F-100 Super Sabre fighter plane. Vance took station in Operation "Market Time" on 11 April 1965. From that day until the 24th, she operated near the 17th parallel as a part of Task Unit (TU) 71.1.1. During the assignment, she maintained communications between airborne Convair EC-121K Constellations and Commander, TU 71.1.1, in John W. Thomason (DD-760). Subsequently from 15 May to 4 June, Vance returned to "Market Time" surface surveillance - this time in the Gulf of Thailand near the border dividing South Vietnam from Cambodia. She operated in company with small minesweepers (MSO's) and embarked a Vietnamese Navy liaison officer to aid in the ship's "visit and search" activities.. She continued these activities until sailing for Hawaii early in September and arrived at Pearl Harbor on the 18th. |
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