USS MULLINNIX DD-944

1967
Pre-Unitas VIII

From Jane's Fighting Ships



1967 Mullinnix Deck Logs
(Missing Feb Mar Jun Sep Nov Dec)

January 1967 (PDF)
February 1967 (Coming Soon)
March 1967 (Coming Soon)
April 1967 (PDF)
May 1967 (PDF)
June 1967 (Coming Soon)
July 1967 (PDF)
August 1967 (PDF)
September 1967 (Coming Soon)
October 1967 (PDF)
November 1967 (Coming Soon)
December 1967 (Coming Soon)



Excerpt from "The Last Gun Ship - History of USS Mullinnix DD-944"
A Historical Novel By Frank A. Wood
Mullinnix spent January at D&S Piers working perventive maintenance and giving the crew some down time in their home port.

February and March are a bit of a mystery (to date) as the deck logs are temporarily MIA. That said, after a welcomed leave and upkeep period she sailed on 10 February for operations with the Fleet Sonar School, Key West Florida returning to Norfolk on 27 February.

During March-May, Mullinnix participated in Spring board Exercises and also Clovehitch III, the large amphibious opreation that took place on the southern coast of Puerto Rico.

The April deck log states Mullinnix started this month moored in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Ship was underway from San Juan on 3 April. She spent her time operating in the San Juan Operating Area before achoring in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands, leaving on 6 April for Norfolk. She arrived home on 10 April.

She left D&S Piers again on 14 April to the Puerto Rico Operating Area. On 25 April, the ship anchored in Exercise Clovehitch III Fire Support Area II in 10 fathoms of water. After a brief stop, she steamed towards and anchored at Bahia De Rincon Bay, Puerto Rico.

Rincon Bay is the widest bay in the southern coast of Puerto Rico, located along the coasts of the municipalities of Salinas and Santa Isabel. The bay receives the flow of many rivers and creeks such as the Cayures, Jueyes and Nigua rivers. The bay is home to a number of small islands and keys covered in mangrove forests (protected as the Punta Petrona Nature Reserve and the Aguirre State Forest) which serve as the habitat to numerous species such as the West Indian manatee.



On 1 May, Mullinnix moored at US Naval Weapons Station, Yorktown, Virginia. Later that day, she moved to D&S Piers. She left Norfolk again on 9 May, steaming towards Charleston, SC, arriving on 10 May. While in Charleston, MT 52 was removed for maintenance.

FTG2 Carl Wallace remembers: "Mt 52 was removed because it was not usable when we got home (from last outing). We used parts from it to keep the other two working. One bright sunny day MT 52 failed to fire with a foul bore and a hot barrel. I had the firing key in my hand and I got real uncomfortable. We heard when we took it off it would be replaced with a missile".

Once again, she was underway on 18 May, headed back to D&S Piers, arriving 19 May. She stayed in Norfolk for the remainder of the month. The picture at the right is of "Enroute back to Norfolk from Charleston Shipyards after having MT52 removed for maintenance'.

GO TO 1967 Pictures to see More Pics of MT 52 Being Removed

Mullinnix spent the summer months of 1967 under operational congrol of COMCRUDESLANT and during this time remained in Norfolk assigned TAV. Due to missing deck log, June is a wee bit of a mystery. She spent the month of July and first half of August at home at D&S Piers.

She steamed out of Norfolk on 14 August. She anchored in dense fog at Brenton Reef Light at Brenton Point on 17 August. The ship's normal work was made even worse by the rolling heavy yellow fog, great trails and wisps of it caught against the damp bulkheads and decks like the remnants of a rotten shroud. A distant foghorn sounded a single, doom-filled note.

Once the sun burned away most of the fog, Mullinnix tied up to Pier 1 in Newport, Rhode Island. While in Newport, she was host ship to 150 high school science students from all over the United States. She didn't stay long. Later that afternoon she steamed away from Newport, returning to Norfolk on 18 August.

She left Norfolk again on 19 August, returning to D&S Piers the same day. In the late part of August 1967, Mullinnix, in conjunction with NASA Program, participated in three day's of tests on the newest Apollo Space Capsule. Various tests were conducted in the water to determine the reliablity of the new capsule for future manned space projects. On 22 August, she left D&S Piers to participate in Apollo Recovery Detail, returning on 23 August. The following day, she was at sea again. At 1222, she placed the Apollo Capsule in the water. Returned home on 25 August.

GO TO Liberty Call Newport, Rhode Island 1967

From 11 September to 21 September 1967, Mullinnix again returned to Newport, this time as host ship for the "Americas Cup" Races.

On 27 September, she left Norfolk to participate in Unitas VIII with Navies from several South American countries.

To be continued...

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The following is from the "History of the USS Cone DD-866"

The 16th saw Cone and her new C.O. in route to the San Juan Op-Area and OPERATION CLOVEHITCH III. Cone's hull numbers and stern numbers were painted out for OPERATION CLOVEHITCH III and her only identifying marking was a 3'x3' orange square painted on the wings of the bridge. False lighting arrays were strung to disguise Cone as a merchant steamer, tug, or pleasure liner. These guises proved their worth during the operation as Cone successfully simulated sinking several units of the BLUE forces, including Columbus (CG 12), Mullinix (DDG 994) [has to be our beloved USS Mullinnix DD944 right?], Ingraham (DD 694), and the better part of BLUE amphibious forces. Deception was used to the maximum on voice circuits, enabling Cone to dispatch BLUE force screen units to "wild goose chases" and similar ruses. The amount of tactical intelligence gleaned from monitoring BLUE force nets enabled Cone to pinpoint units of BLUE force screens, main bodies, and authenticate when required.

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Desron 32 Change of Command 28 Jan 1967 (PDF)


GO TO 1967 Unitas III Cruise
GO TO Liberty Call Newport, Rhode Island 1967
GO TO 1967 Pictures to see More Pics of MT 52 Being Removed

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