USS Rich ( DD - 820 ) USS " Rich " ( DD - 820 / DDE - 820 ) was a " Gearing " - class destroyer in the United States Navy during the Korean War and the Vietnam War . She was the second ship named in honor of Lieutenant ( j . g . ) Ralph McMaster Rich ( 1916 – 1942 ) , who was awarded the Navy Cross for his leadership as a fighter pilot off the USS " Enterprise " ( CV - 6 ) during the Battle of Midway . History . The second " Rich " ( DD - 820 ) was laid down on 16 May 1945 by the Consolidated Steel Corporation , Orange , Texas ; launched on 5 October 1945 , sponsored by Mrs . Ralph McM . Rich , widow of LT ( JG ) Rich ; and commissioned on 3 July 1946 , with Commander R . C . Houston in command . After shakedown in the Caribbean , " Rich " departed Norfolk , Virginia , in late October for a Mediterranean tour , most of which , from December 1946 to March 1947 , was spent on patrol in the Atlantic . Returning to the United States in March , she was converted to a specialized antisubmarine ship at the New York Naval Shipyard ; and , in the fall , she resumed operations with the 2nd Fleet . Throughout 1948 and into 1949 , she operated as a unit of a hunter - killer ( HUK ) group based at Key West , Florida , in the development of anti - submarine warfare tactics . In August 1949 , the destroyer crossed the Atlantic for a brief visit to Cherbourg ; then returned to east coast and Caribbean operations . In the fall of 1950 , " Rich " , redesignated an escort destroyer ( DDE - 820 ) the previous March , returned to the Mediterranean for a month of exercises with the 6th Fleet . By January 1951 , she was conducting exercises in the Caribbean ; and , in February , she entered the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for overhaul . Rotated regularly to duty with the 6th Fleet , " Rich " operated during the 1950s and 1960s principally off the east coasts of the United States and Canada , in the Caribbean , and in the Mediterranean . In addition to participation in fleet and NATO exercises , she steamed with the 6th Fleet in the eastern Mediterranean during the Suez Crisis of 1956 . Two years later she supported the Marine landings in Lebanon . While with the 2nd Fleet , " Rich " served in the search and rescue group which steamed along the route of then - Senator John F . Kennedy ' s flight to South America on his good will visit in 1960 . The next year , she participated in Project Mercury as Lieutenant Colonel John Glenn , USMC , became the first American to orbit the earth ; and from 25 October to 25 November 1962 , she operated with the Quarantine Force during the Cuban Missile Crisis . Modernized in 1963 during a 10 - month FRAM I ( Fleet Rehabilitation And Modernization ) conversion to increase her habitability and combat capability , she resumed operations with the Atlantic Fleet ' s Anti - submarine forces in 1964 . A year later , she was detached for another mission in support of NASA projects and in March and May 1965 , she served as a recovery ship for Gemini space shots . In 1968 , " Rich " ' s Atlantic - Mediterranean employment schedule was interrupted for duty off Vietnam . From 13 May to 20 July , she provided escort and plane - guard services for attack aircraft carrier s in the Gulf of Tonkin . At the end of the month , she assumed search and rescue duties off the coast of North Vietnam and continued them into September . She then concluded her tour in the Far East with naval gunfire support missions for South Vietnamese Army Forces and USMC operations in the I Corps area of northern South Vietnam from 21 September to 1 October . " Rich " arrived back at Norfolk on 5 November . Six months later , in May 1969 , she was again on station in the Atlantic for another NASA mission , this time Apollo X . Toward the end of the month , she returned to Norfolk and prepared for an extended deployment with the Middle East Force . Underway on 3 July , she operated in the Indian Ocean area into December , and on 21 January 1970 returned to Norfolk . Overhaul occupied the spring and summer , and in the fall she resumed operations with the 2nd Fleet . In December , she began preparations for another 6th Fleet deployment . After almost two months of operations along the Atlantic seaboard , " Rich " departed on 22 February 1971 for the Mediterranean and a five - month cruise with the Sixth Fleet . She returned to the east coast on 23 July and continued normal operations and exercises out of Norfolk until November . " Rich " departed from Norfolk on 17 October and arrived in Subic Bay , Philippine Islands , a month and a day later . Just over three months later , she was on her way back to Norfolk , arriving on 23 March 1973 . " Rich " decommissioned on 10 November 1977 and was struck from the Navy list on 15 December 1977 . She was sold for scrap to Union Minerals and Alloys Corporation , New York , New York , on 5 December 1979 . Awards . " Rich " was awarded three battle star s for service off Vietnam .