 |
USS Noa DD 841 (Gearing Class) |
| |
USS Noa DD 841 (Gearing Class) |
Builder: Bath Iron Works - Bath, Maine Laid Down: March 26, 1945 Launched: July 30, 1945 Commissioned: November 1, 1945 Fate: To Spain - October 31, 1973 |
| We are seeking information on the USS Noa and her crews. Files and photos may be emailed to us and we will incorporate them into this page. When enough information has been assembled we will then build the ship her own section. |
The Gearing Class as Constructed
Displacement: 2,616 tons (3,460 tons full load)
Length: 390 feet 6 inches
Beam: 40 feet 10 inches
Draught: 14 feet 4 inches (mean)
Machinery: four Babcock & Wilcox boilers;
2-shaft G.E.C. geared turbines
Performance: 60,000 shp for 36.8 knots
Bunkerage: 740 tons
Range: 4,500 nautical miles at 20 knots
Guns: six 5 inch DP; twelve 40 mm;
eleven 20 mm
Torpedoes: ten 21 inch in two mounts
|
USS Noa DD 841
Photo courtesy CDR Robert E. Karas, USN
USS Noa DD 841
(Bridge photo is a detail of the previous photo)
Photo courtesy CDR Robert E. Karas, USN
USS Noa DD 841
Photo courtesy CDR Robert E. Karas, USN
Reunion notice for 2000
The Year 2000 NOA reunion will be held 16-20 March 2000, at the Best
Western, Charleston International Airport, 7401 Northwoods Blvd, Charleston,
SC. 29406. Hotel rates $69.00 plus tax, single or double, phone (843) 572-2200.
Brief itinerary as follows: Thursday - Check in and hospitality room open.
Friday - Breakfast, Tours and Dinner. Saturday - Breakfast, Business meeting
and Banquet Dinner. Sunday - Breakfast and Departure Day. Hotel rates good
for three days before and after reunion. Additional information available
from the Association Secretary, Mrs. Wilma Rascoe, at 129 Willow Drive, Lake
Helen, FL 32744-3121, phone (904) 228-3366. Contact Bob Karas at e-mail
[email protected] to be placed on e-mail
list and reunion address list.
Listing of Commanding Officers of the USS NOA (DD 841)
USS NOA SHIPS HISTORY VOICE CALL : STEEL HEAD Loveman NOA graduated from the Naval Academy in 1900. In the fall of 1901 the young midshipman from Chattanooga., Tennessee found himself far from home. He was assigned to USS MARIVELES in the Pacific. On October 26 MARIVELES stopped her engines and put off a small boat to watch for smugglers running between the islands of LEM and SAMAR. The small boat began its patrol. In it were an armed crew of six men with Loveman NOA as officer in charge, while off SAMAR the wind turned against them and the boat was forced to land in a small cove. While scouting a nearby woods Loveman NOA was stabbed by Filipino insurgents. He died before aid could reach him. The United States Navy names her destroyers after men like Loveman NOA, and a torpedo boat destroyer, USS NOA (DD 343)., soon sailed the seas bearing his name. The first USS NOA distinguished herself during the "Nanking Incident on March 24, 1927 when its crew members ashore helped 52 besieged westerners from Nanking. This was the most spectacular of the Patrol's clashes in China. The NOA carried an aircraft during the period 1941-42, the first and probably only destroyer to do so. She was later converted to APD-24 and was sunk during the Battle of Pelelia.. Palau Islands on September 12th 1944. Less than a year later the keel for a new NOA was laid. The United States Ship NOA (DD 841) was launched on July 30., 1945 and commissioned on November 2nd of the same year. She was a Gearing Class Destroyer propelled by two 30.,000 S.H.P., geared steam turbines., and capable of speeds up to 32 knots. She was 391 feet long, had a 41 foot beam and displaced 2,420 tons. After a shakedown cruise at Guantanamo Bay.. Cuba., NOA departed for her first tour of duty with the Mediterranean Fleet. In August 1953 NOA set sail on her longest tour of duty. With others of her squadron, NOA steamed 42,000 miles on an around-the-world cruise. Arriving in the Far East on October 3, 1953 the NOA commenced operations with Task Force 77 for four months, taking part in maintaining an alert patrol during the truce period of the Korean War. On May 25, 1960 NOA entered the U.S. Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, for an extensive overhaul called FRAM I (Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization) which was intended to extend the life of the WW II ship. The latest weapons systems were installed on the NOA, including ASROC (Anti-submarine Rocket System). NOA rejoined the fleet on May 2, 1961. Starting in early February 1962 NOA prepared for her eventual recovery of Astronaut John Glenn in his Friendship 7 Capsule. The capsule was lifted to the deck of the NOA after splash down from his three orbits of the earth on Tuesday, February 20, 1962. Upon completion of the operation NOA headed back to her home port of Mayport, FL.. NOA operated off the East Coast of the U.S. and in the Mediterranean Sea during the intervening years of 1962-1969. On January 30, 1969 NOA departed Mayport, Florida for her first Vietnam Cruise with three destroyers from DESDIV 142. The ship transited the Panama Canal on February 4, 1969 arriving in the Tonkin Gulf in mid March having made brief stops at Rodman, C. Z., San Diego, CA., Pearl Harbor, Midway, Yokosuka and Okinawa. NOA's contributions while a carrier escort and also while on the Gun line, especially in support of Operation Daring Rebel, brought praises from Fleet Commanders and Administrative Commanders as well. The ship departed West Pac for home on August 15, 1969. NOA was transferred to the Spanish Navy Officially in ceremonies held at Mayport on October 31, 1973. During the ceremony LCDR. Raymond A Helbig, USN turned over the 28 year old ship to CDR. Juan Luis Sobrino; the stars and stripes were hauled down and the Spanish Red and Yellow hoisted. The newly christened "Blas de Lezo" (D65) began her service at her homeport of El Ferrol, Spain. Any shipmate desiring to be placed on the reunion mailing list can contact Robert E. Karas at : 452 Wilmington Circle or by e-mail at [email protected]". We are always looking for a few good shipmates to join a really great group. |
