USS Waddell ( DDG - 24 ) " USS Waddell " ( DDG - 24 ) was a Charles F . Adams class guided missile armed destroyer in the United States Navy . She was named for Captain James Iredell Waddell CSN ( 1824 - 1886 ) . " Waddell " was laid down by Todd - Pacific Shipbuilding at Seattle in Washington on 6 February 1962 , launched on 26 February 1963 by Mrs . Howard W . Cannon and commissioned on 28 August 1964 . " Waddell " served as plane guard for carriers on Yankee Station in the Tonkin Gulf , participated in Sea Dragon operations , patrolled on search and rescue duties and carried out Naval Gunfire Support missions during the Vietnam War . Pre - Vietnam War . Following trials from October 1964 to May 1965 , the new guided missile destroyer conducted shakedown off the west coast into July , before she participated in antiaircraft and electronic warfare Exercise " Hot Stove " from 26 August to 3 September . During this time , while serving as plane - guard for " Ticonderoga " ( CVA - 14 ) , " Waddell " rescued Comdr . C . H . Peters , whose plane had ditched off the coast of southern California . On 28 September 1965 , " Waddell " — in company with " Ticonderoga " and three destroyers , and acting as flagship for Commander , Destroyer Division ( DesDiv ) 132 — departed her home port , Long Beach , California , bound for her first tour of duty in the Western Pacific ( WestPac ) . After stopping at Pearl Harbor , she proceeded on toward the Philippines . While en route on 31 October , the American task group received a radio message reporting that Japan ese merchantman Tokei Maru had suffered an explosion on board . Detached to render assistance , " Waddell " sped to the scene and lowered her motor whaleboat containing the squadron doctor . The ship ' s rescue party arrived on board to find three men of Tokei Maru ' s complement already dead and another seriously burned . After providing medical assistance which saved the man ' s life and having left Tokei Maru a supply of medicine to suffice until the Japanese ship could make port , " Waddell " rejoined her consorts . Vietnam War . Only one day after reaching Subic Bay , " Waddell " got underway on 2 November for the coast of Vietnam and her first deployment to " Yankee Station " W - 5 , in the Tonkin Gulf . On station with Task Unit ( TU ) 77 . 0 . 2 until the 14th , the ship returned to Subic Bay for brief local operations before sailing back to the combat zone to take her post on the northern search and rescue station ( SAR ) from 29 November to 29 December . On 7 December , " Waddell " steamed alongside " Sacramento " ( AOE - 1 ) conducting an underway replenishment on the oiler ' s port side ; while " Brinkley Bass " ( DD - 887 ) replenish to starboard of the oiler . During the operation , " Brinkley Bass " reported a man overboard ; and " Waddell " executed an emergency break - away and doubled back to pick up the man . Upon completion of this SAR tour , the destroyer sailed via Sasebo to Buckner Bay , Okinawa . She conducted a missile shoot in Ryūkyū waters and then visited Hong Kong . On 31 January 1966 , she sailed for Da Nang , en route to a second deployment to the northern SAR area . At 1410 on 3 February 1966 , " Waddell " was notified that a pilot was possibly downed in their vicinity . While proceeding to investigate , the ship noted " surface action " to port and commenced shore bombardment at 1501 . Communist guns replied 14 minutes later . " Waddell " then trained her guns on the communist batteries . At 1545 , while still shelling the communist gun positions , " Waddell " was straddled by the enemy guns which had found the range . Radical maneuvers enabled the destroyer to retire without damage , and she emerged from the action unscathed . The following day , after receiving fuel from " Sacramento " in an underway replenishment while on station , " Waddell " collided with " Brinkley Bass " . The damage which " Waddell " sustained forced her to return to the Philippines for repairs . Back in Vietnamese waters in late February , " Waddell " provided gunfire support in the III Corps operating area from 27 February to 11 March , as part of TU 70 . 8 . 9 . She then returned — via Subic Bay , Guam , Midway , and Pearl Harbor — to her home port , Long Beach , where she arrived on 8 April . Following a yard period — during which the ship underwent structural repairs — " Waddell " participated in various fleet and independent exercises off the California coast . Two days after Christmas of 1966 , the ship got underway for another WestPac deployment . Early in 1967 , " Waddell " was again engaged off the Vietnamese coastline . From 2 March to 21 May 1967 , the ship displayed " exceptional readiness and effectiveness in all tasks assigned , " including gunfire support off South Vietnam ; interdiction of North Vietnam ese supply traffic along the coast ; and gunfire against selected targets in North Vietnam . Coming under hostile fire from shore on one occasion , " Waddell " returned the fire and inflicted maximum damage on enemy shore batteries while emerging without harm . During her second WestPac deployment in Vietnamese waters , the destroyer fired some 2 , 000 rounds of ammunition while winning the reputation of being " the busiest ship in the Tonkin Gulf " before heading home . " Waddell " made port at Long Beach on 29 May 1967 and operated briefly off the southern California coast . She entered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard on 4 August and commenced an extensive overhaul which lasted through the end of the year 1967 and into February 1968 . She returned to WestPac that summer — with logistics stops at Pearl Harbor and Midway en route — and arrived at her new home port of Yokosuka , Japan , on 1 August 1968 . She conducted three tours on the " gun line " off North and South Vietnam into the fall , as well as one tour as plane guard for the attack carrier strike group based around " Coral Sea " ( CVA - 43 ) and " Ranger " ( CVA - 61 ) . On 22 September while operating off the demilitarized zone ( DMZ ) in company with " St . Paul " ( CA - 73 ) , " Waddell " participated in a SAR operation . At 0145 , an attack bomber splashed near the ship . Both crew members had previously ejected from their stricken jet and parachuted to the sea . " Waddell " closed to within 5 , 000 yards of the mouth of the Cua Vet River and rescued the navigator / bombardier , while " St . Paul " picked up the pilot . After completing an overhaul at Yokosuka toward the end of December 1968 , " Waddell " got underway on 7 January 1969 , bound for the " gun line . " Between 17 and 30 January , she fired two gunfire support missions in the I Corps area for the Army ' s 101st Airborne Division and one for the 7th and 9th Divisions of the Republic of Vietnam ( ARVN ) units . After a quick trip via Buckner Bay to Yokosuka , " Waddell " sped back to the " gun line " in late February and resumed her gunfire support duties on 1 March . There , in the II Corps area , she fired 12 support missions with Task Force " South . " She subsequently conducted 79 more gunfire support missions including 12 for Australian units , 11 for ARVN units , and 15 in support of Operation " Sheridan " — in which the United States Army 101st Airborne and an ARVN regiment participated . During the first week of April , the downing by North Koreans of a Navy EC - 121 Connie early - warning intelligence aircraft in the Sea of Japan greatly increased tension in the Far East . " Waddell " departed the " gun line " at 22 knots , refueled at Buckner Bay , and arrived in the Strait of Tsushima to screen aircraft carriers " Ticonderoga " and " Ranger " . She operated in the Sea of Japan until the crisis abated enabling her to head for Yokosuka on the afternoon of 28 April . Returning to the " gun line , " " Waddell " then lobbed shells at Viet Cong ( VC ) camps and infiltration points from waters off Phu Quoc Island in the Gulf of Siam in support of Operation " Javelin , " before she was assigned to the Mekong Delta region . There , supporting two ARVN divisions , she conducted 19 bombardments against VC structures , bunkers , rest sites , and supply routes . Subsequently returning to " Yankee Station , " she screened " Enterprise " ( CVAN - 65 ) in June , as the big carrier conducted strike operations , and returned to waters near the DMZ in mid - July for gunnery support duties . Decommissioning . " Waddell " was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 October 1992 , sold to Greece and renamed " Nearchos " . Honors . Waddell received 11 engagement stars for her service in waters off Vietnam and two Navy Unit Commendation s .