Further Cruises
The destroyer entered Hunters Point Naval Shipyard on 11 September for overhaul, which was completed on 19 December. Agerholm returned to San Diego the next day for the Christmas holidays. Agerholm got underway on 26 January 1970 for type training, followed by eight weeks of refresher training. On 15 April, the destroyer completed the exhausting round of drills and commenced preparations for overseas deployment.
Agerholm departed San Diego on 6 July and steamed via Pearl Harbor, Midway, and Guam, to Subic Bay, arriving on 28 July. From there, the destroyer served on the gunline, on the northern SAR station, as PIRAZ escort, and as plane guard. On 14 October, Agerholm was detached for independent transit to Hong Kong. En route, the destroyer passed within 60 miles (100 km) of the center of Soper Typhoon Joan in the South China Sea. For two tense days, the crew was uncertain of surviving the 60 knot (100 km/h) winds and 40 foot (12 m) seas, but the destroyer began to open the typhoon center late on 16 October. The remainder of her deployment was spent at PIRAZ station until 4 December when Agerholm cleared the area for Guam, Midway, and Pearl Harbor. The ship arrived back in San Diego on 20 December and spent the remainder of the year in her home port.
Agerholm spent the first six months of 1971 in port at San Diego or operating off the California coast. On 29 June, the destroyer began another WestPac cruise, taking up gunline duties near Binh Thuy, South Vietnam, on 6 August. In addition to NGFS, Agerholm served as planeguard and SAR ship before departing the area on 4 December. She returned to San Diego for the holidays, and closed out the year with post-deployment standdown.
Local exercises and inspections occupied Agerholm until 24 July 1972 when she entered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard for a five-month overhaul. The destroyer departed the shipyard on 21 December and steamed to San Diego, where she began preparations, both at sea and in port, for refresher training on 7 February 1973. After seven weeks of continuous drills, Agerholm successfully completed refresher training and qualified in NGFS at San Clemente Island.
On 26 April, Agerholm set sail in company with Stein for the western Pacific. She arrived off the coast of Vietnam at "Yankee Station" on 28 May to serve as plane guard for Constellation. The destroyer then underwent a two-week availability alongside Ajax in Sasebo, Japan commencing 8 June. Upon completion of those repairs, she put to sea for radar picket duty in the Gulf of Tonkin. Another two weeks at "Yankee Station" followed by two weeks on PIRAZ station brought her Vietnam service to an end. On 30 August, Agerholm departed the Gulf of Tonkin en route to MacKay, Australia, for liberty.
After that port visit, the destroyer sailed to Auckland, New Zealand to join the other ships participating in Operation Longex 73, a joint surface, air, and submarine warfare exercise. From 25 September to 3 October Agerholm drilled in ASW and anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) exercises — including night surface attacks on the task groups. Upon completion of the drill, she steamed to Sydney, Australia; Suva, Fiji; and Pearl Harbor, before arriving back in San Diego on 1 November.
Upon arrival, Agerholm commenced a post-deployment readiness improvement program of schools, on board training, and a repair availability. On 25 February 1974, the warship got underway for readiness exercises in the southern California area until 17 September, when she departed San Diego on her 20th WestPac cruise. Remaining primarily in the Subic Bay operating area, Agerholm participated in gunnery, ASW, AAW, and ship handling drills until 13 December, when she shaped a course for Apra Harbor, Guam. She ended the year at the ship repair facility there. The destroyer visited Hong Kong and Singapore for liberty, but received orders on 8 February 1975 to join Operation Eagle Pull, the evacuation of the American embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Agerholm arrived in San Diego on 8 April and spent the rest of 1975 and 1976 on the west coast participating in local operations and midshipman training cruises, and eventually landing a role in the movie Airport '77. The year 1977 began the same way with only a drydock period at Todd Pacific Shipyards in San Pedro from May to July to interrupt the routine. On 6 September, the destroyer made her 21st and last WestPac cruise. Agerholm conducted NGFS training, ASROC test firings, and participated in Exercise Fortress Lightning, a full-scale amphibious landing on Mindoro Island in the Philippines. She stopped for liberty calls at Suva, Auckland, Whangarei, and Nelson, New Zealand, Newcastle and Devonport, Australia, before returning: to San Diego early in 1978 to resume a local operation schedule.
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