USS Hanson (DD/DDR-832) was a of the United States Navy named after first lieutenant Robert M. Hanson of the United States Marine Corps squadron VMF-215.
Construction and career USS Hanson was launched on 11 March 1945, by the Bath Iron Works Corporation, in Bath, Maine, on the Kennebec River, sponsored by Mrs. Harry A. Hanson, mother of Lt. Hanson, and commissioned 11 May 1945.
Service in the United States Navy After shakedown in the Caribbean and conversion to a picket destroyer at Boston Navy Yard, USS Hanson sailed for the Pacific on 7 November 1945, via the Caribbean, the Panama Canal, then north to refuel at San Diego and then on to Pearl Harbor. From Pearl Harbor, USS Hanson headed for Tokyo as part of a twelve-ship squadron. After about three days, the squadron encountered a typhoon that lasted four days. Severe damage was discovered later at Yokosuka Naval Base, and all the emergency rafts were lost and several of the 40mm shields had buckled. She spent most of the following year operating in support of occupation forces in Japan, with a September period of fleet maneuvers off the Chinese coast.
Reporting to the Atlantic Fleet at the Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia on 6 February 1947, USS Hanson trained along the East Coast until sailing in late January 1948 for her first tour of duty with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean.
She was designated with the title DDR-832 (radar picket destroyer) 8 March 1949. During her second deployment to the Mediterranean, in the summer of 1949, USS Hanson took part in two diplomatic missions to establish peace in the region. As a station ship to the United Nations General Assembly at the Isle of Rhodes, she was the only American warship present when Greece received control of the long-contested Dodecanese Islands. USS Hanson then carried United Nations mediator Dr. Ralph Bunche to Beirut, Lebanon, for peace negotiations over Israel.
Korean War After extensive training in the Caribbean, USS Hanson returned to Newport, Rhode Island. On 6 January 1950, USS Hanson headed across the Atlantic in convoy with elements of the Sixth Fleet, including , and at least two cruisers ( was among these), twelve destroyers in all, including the and support auxiliaries. This would be USS Hansons third Mediterranean deployment. Port calls included Rota (Spain), Gibraltar, Libya, Sicily, France, Alexandroupolis, Pisa, Livorno, Trieste and Taranto . In May 1950, USS Hanson returned west from Gibraltar after ending the Mediterranean deployment, arriving at her home port on June 1, 1950. Once USS Hanson returned, she was ordered to change home ports to San Diego. However, on 25 June 1950, armed conflict broke out on the Korean peninsula. USS Hanson was scheduled to travel to Korea, bypassing her new home port of San Diego and heading straight to Pearl Harbor and becoming part of T.F.77, bound for Pusan, Korea, escorting US Marines to the war zone.En route to and when departing from Pusan, Hanson provided plane guard for the carriers, acted as a beacon for returning aircraft (bird dog operations), completed shore bombardment missions and sought out enemy planes with her air search radar. In her first major deployment in the war Hanson, along with 300 other warships, participated in the amphibious operations at Inchon on 15 September 1950. The tides at Inchon changed as much as 30 to 40 feet, and the currents were fierce, making it exceedingly difficult for the troops to get ashore. Anti-ship mines were a great hazard and extra lookouts were posted to locate and destroy them using her 40 mm anti-aircraft guns. The North Korean army would tie two mines together using a length of cable causing the two mines to draw together against a passing ship, setting off the mines and damaging or sinking the vessel. North Koreans would also place mines and fishermen in fishing vessels to trick US ships into helping the people aboard; the mines would detonate, damaging or sinking the Navy ship. Hanson on two occasions encountered such fishing boats full of people and mines, but stayed clear and fired its anti-aircraft guns on the vessels causing them to explode and sink taking the boats' crews down with them. The North Koreans also let mines float freely on the open ocean, which was against the Geneva Conventions. Hanson headed to Sasebo, Japan, her temporary home port about two weeks before Thanksgiving of 1950. On Thanksgiving Day Hanson left Sasebo and headed back to Korea. Hanson provided fire cover for the successful evacuation of Hŭngnam and Wonsan, just before Christmas that year. With the Mediterranean operation and her participation in the Korean war, Hanson sailed for 254 days in 1950. Hanson would stay at sea until mid-January 1951, before returning to Sasebo. Hanson would finally reach her new home port of San Diego in April 1951.
Hansons second deployment to Korea, from September 1951 to May 1952, took her along Korea's east coast as a unit of the fleet bombarding strategic shore targets in support of ground troops. Hanson aided the rescue of the soldiers and marines of the Chosin Reservoir, referred to as the "Frozen Chosin". As part of a unit detached from Task Force 77, two destroyers — and Hanson — cruiser and battleship , were sent on a gun strike in Hŭngnam harbor. Hanson, along with the Helena, received instructions to destroy railroad movements along the Korean coast. Helena would bombard one end of a railroad tunnel as the train entered it and Hanson would bombard the other end once the train was within the tunnel. Immediately afterward North Korean work crews would descend upon the railroad tracks and tunnels to repair the damage. Hanson would then call in carrier planes armed with napalm to bomb the work crews. At another time, Earnest G. Small and Missouri stayed a few miles off shore. Helena and Hanson were firing at targets close to the harbor, taking instructions from spotters on shore. As evening approached Hansons gyro was failing which meant Hanson could not fire on targets accurately. Earnest G. Small was ordered to take over Hansons close in position and Hanson move out to the position of Missouri. Earnest G. Small steamed toward Hansons former position and less than 5 minutes at 18:01 hours 7 October 1951, Earnest G. Small struck a mine and lost 1/3 of their ship, with the entire bow blown off. Nine men were killed and 51 wounded. The ship had to retire to Sasebo by sailing astern to make repairs for return to the States. Hanson continued her practice of sinking minelayers disguised as fishing vessels. Hanson sank at least one such boat. On 22 October 1951, an AD-4W Navy aircraft of Composite Squadron VC-11 took a night landing wave off on the ; the aircraft lost power and crashed into the sea. Hanson rescued the three crew members. In December she also participated in the important Formosa Patrol and visited Hong Kong for leave. On the way to Hong Kong, Hanson encountered a huge typhoon, with 30-foot waves crashing in a north–south direction. The sonar team aboard Hanson also located a submerged vessel in the shallow portion of the Formosa Straits. Its location was reported to 7th Fleet command. Hanson was told that this was the WWII sub which was sunk by its own torpedo. With her leave in Hong Kong complete, she returned to Korea. Hanson would use her radar and ECM gear to help US Army rangers in their attempts to carry out operations behind enemy lines and give them naval gunfire support. On 25 December 1951, Hanson was back in Sasebo, Japan, for two days. On 27 December 1951, Hanson became part of Task Element 95.11, relieving the . The Task Element was made up of many British Commonwealth ships, including and , as well as the U.S. escort carrier . Operating in the Wonsan area on April 10, TF-77 carried out a coordinated strike using the guns of and Hanson.
Hanson was relieved of her deployment in the Korean War and she returned to Sasebo to start the journey to San Diego, arriving there in May 1952. After a respite at San Diego, Hanson returned to Korea in December 1952, for task force operations, screening the fast carriers as they launched their aircraft against enemy supply lines and positions. The battle-hardened destroyer also participated in shore bombardment, search-and-rescue (SAR) operations, and Formosa patrols before returning to the United States on 20 July 1953, shortly before the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement.
Subsequent years found Hanson making annual six-month deployments with the 7th Fleet to strengthen American defenses in the Pacific and to reinforce the American determination to keep the peace to possible aggressors. In addition to patrol, major portions of Hansons Pacific deployments were devoted to tactical maneuvers and battle exercises with United States and allied ships as well as intensive antisubmarine hunter-killer training. Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, Korea, and even Australia provided familiar ports of call for the destroyer on these deployments. Hanson was patrolling the Straits of Formosa in the fall of 1958, as shelling of the offshore islands of Quemoy and Matsu precipitated a major international crisis.
In the spring of 1962 and 1963, Hanson took part in the annual Australian celebration of the Battle of the Coral Sea, World War II's first carrier naval engagement in the Pacific.
When not deployed to the western Pacific, Hanson trained out of her home port, San Diego. Much of this training was centered on Hansons role as a radar picket destroyer, designed to provide early warning of approaching enemy air, surface, or submarine forces. On 1 April 1964, she was redesignated DD-832 and entered the San Francisco Naval Shipyard to undergo a Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM MK I) conversion designed to prolong her effective life as a fighting ship for many years.
Vietnam War With her conversion was completed on 6 December 1964, Hanson rejoined the Pacific Fleet early in 1965 as a unit of Destroyer Squadron 11 (DesRon 11), with her sister ship , which was also a recent convert from the DDR configuration. Hanson operated along the West Coast until heading to the Far East early in the summer to the Vietnam War. In July she shelled enemy targets ashore and patrolled and fought in Vietnamese waters until late in the autumn.
Returning to San Diego in December, she operated along the coast of California and Mexico until getting returning to Vietnam on 17 July 1966. She steamed via Hawaii, Midway, Guam, and Subic Bay to Vietnam and anchored in the Saigon River on 13 September. Except for some short visits to Hong Kong, Formosa, and the Philippines, Hanson was on deployment in Vietnam until she was relieved on 6 January 1967. During her deployment, her 5-inch guns fired over 9,000 rounds at NVA targets, mostly in direct support of ground forces. She also performed plane guard duty, patrolled close ashore to stop infiltration of supplies and men from the north, and refueled helicopters.
Back at San Diego on 11 February 1967, Hanson operated along the West Coast preparing for her next deployment. During this period, six months were spent in Long Beach Naval Shipyard undergoing repairs and overhaul.