USS Agerholm (DD-826) - Vietnam

Vietnam

In August, the destroyer got underway for the western Pacific where she spent six months patrolling off the coast of Vietnam and in the Taiwan Strait. Upon her return to her home port early in 1965, Agerholm underwent a brief overhaul and in August embarked midshipmen for a cruise to Hawaii. With the escalation of American involvement in Vietnam, the destroyer prepared for another cruise to that area.

Agerholm began her next deployment in January 1966 when she departed San Diego for Vietnam. There, her assigned duties included Naval Gunfire Support (NGFS), anti-submarine warfare (ASW), carrier escort, and search and rescue (SAR). In May during NGFS off the South Vietnamese coast, Agerholm provided call fire for a Marine Corps air spotter who was drawing heavy gunfire. The destroyer silenced the Viet Cong machinegun nest with just four rounds from her 5 inch (127 mm) guns. On 17 June Agerholm aided a South Vietnamese patrol boat and took off 12 badly wounded men while on a SAR mission in the Gulf of Tonkin. The ship visited Subic Bay, Yokosuka, Kaohsiung, Hong Kong and Pearl Harbor before returning to San Diego in July.

Agerholm began another modernization overhaul at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard in August. She received new 5 inch gun mounts, and advanced radar and sonar gear, as well as communications systems and engineering plant alterations. The destroyer left the shipyard in December to spend the holiday season in her home port.

With the advent of 1967, Agerholm once again prepared for deployment to the Far East. On 15 May, she departed for the Gulf of Tonkin, joining USS Intrepid at Subic Bay. The ships sailed to "Yankee Station" where they arrived on 20 June. For the next four months, Agerholm provided plane guard assistance for Intrepid, Constellation, and Coral Sea.

When a major fire broke out on Forrestal on 29 July all ships in the area, including Agerholm, aided in the rescue operations and stood by until the damaged carrier was able to steam under her own power for Subic Bay. The destroyer departed "Yankee Station" on 1 October and arrived in San Diego on 25 October.

Agerholm spent most of 1968 on training cruises for United States Naval Academy and ROTC midshipmen. In May, she participated in tests conducted off San Clemente Island by the China Lake Naval Weapons Testing Center, and fired the new rocket-assisted projectile (RAP). Two days before the year was out, Agerholm sailed from San Diego on her 16th WestPac cruise. During the transit to the Gulf of Tonkin via Pearl Harbor and Subic Bay, the destroyer escorted Kitty Hawk, and subsequently served as plane guard for that carrier's first combat launch from "Yankee Station" during the new year 1969.

From 28 January to 10 February, Agerholm served as escort for William H. Standley in the positive identification radar advisory zone (PIRAZ). She then proceeded to the Southern SAR station to ride shotgun for Fox. The destroyer shifted to the gunline on 23 March, and provided naval gunfire support to troops in the Viet Cong-dominated Rung Sat Special Zone (RSSZ). Anchored in the shallow restricted water with the Viet Cong less than 6000 yards (5.5 km) away, Agerholm was vulnerable to enemy fire, underwater swimmers, and mines. On 25 March the destroyer first fired both RAP and conventional ammunition into the RSSZ with great accuracy. On 13 April, she retired from NGFS to visit Singapore, Hong Kong, and Kaohsiang. Agerholm returned to the gunline on 15 May, conducting shore bombardments off Phan Thiet until 23 May. She then reported to Chicago on PIRAZ station in the Gulf of Tonkin for her last assignment. On 10 June, the warship was relieved and ordered to Subic Bay to prepare for her return voyage. After port visits to Brisbane, Australia, and Auckland, New Zealand Agerholm set a course for San Diego, where she arrived on 24 July.