USS Vance ( DE - 387 ) USS " Vance " ( DE - 387 ) was an Edsall class destroyer escort , named after Joseph Williams Vance , Jr . History . " Vance " ( DE - 387 ) was laid down on 30 April 1943 at Houston , Tex . , by the Brown Shipbuilding Co . ; launched on 16 July 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . Joseph W . Vance , mother of the late Lt . ( jg . ) Vance ; and commissioned on 1 November 1943 , Lt . Comdr . E . A . Anderson , USCG , in command . Following shakedown off Bermuda , " Vance " became the flagship for Escort Division ( CortDiv ) 45 — a Coast Guard - manned unit — and convoyed a group of oil tankers from Norfolk , Va . , to Port Arthur , Tex . , and back . Upon her return to Norfolk , she served as a training ship for destroyer escort crews while awaiting the arrival of the rest of her division . In February 1944 , the ship conducted local escort operations before joining the New York section of Convoy UGS - 33 , bound for Gibraltar . Her section rendezvoused off Norfolk with the remainder of the convoy and its flagship , " Bibb " ( WPG - 31 ) , and set out across the Atlantic . On 7 March , " Vance " departed Casablanca with GUS - 33 for the return voyage and put into the New York Navy Yard on the 23d for availability . " Vance " next got underway on 12 April , with the other ships of CortDiv 45 and a Navy - manned destroyer escort division , to screen the 102 merchantmen of convoy UGS - 39 to Tunisia . Arriving at Bizerte on 3 May , the warship left Tunisian waters eight days later , bound for New York with GUS - 39 . Off Oran on the 14th , a German U - boat slipped through the screen of escorts and torpedoed two merchantmen . " Vance " , holding the " whip " position of the screen ( where she had the duty of shepherding stragglers ) came up through the convoy , sighted the periscope , and attempted to ram . The U - boat " pulled the plug " and dove deeper , evading the onrushing escort ' s sharp bow . " Vance " remained on the scene for 10 hours , subjecting the U - boat to depth - charge and hedgehog attacks , until relieved by a squadron of Navy destroyers . Three days later , after an extensive hunt , the relief ships sank " U - 616 " . Altogether , " Vance " made eight round - trip voyages to the western Mediterranean and followed each with availability at either Boston or New York . Four times the ship engaged in training exercises out of Casco Bay — sharpening up her antisubmarine and gunnery skills . On 14 July 1944 , " Vance " helped to fight off a German air attack against an Allied convoy off Oran . During most of the voyages , the destroyer escort help the " whip " position in the convoy — a grueling and sometimes frustrating detail since merchantmen frequently displayed a lack of discipline and straggled behind the convoy . Carrying the division doctor on board , " Vance " on occasion would take on board men from other ships for medical treatment . On 2 May 1945 , " Vance " departed New York with her last Mediterranean - bound convoy . On the morning of 11 May — four days after German had surrendered - - " Vance " sighted a light up ahead in the convoy and rang down full speed to investigate . Upon closing the light , the destroyer escort discovered a surfaced U - boat , , which had been at sea for 50 days . While the submarine began to run , " Vance " hailed the erstwhile enemy in German by bullhorn , ordering the submariners to heave to . " Vance " placed a prize crew on board the captured U - boat who delivered the prize at Portsmouth , N . H . , on the 16th . " Vance " then underwent alterations to her antiaircraft armament and soon got underway for the Pacific . However , she arrived too late to participate in anything but training operations and returned to the east coast for decommissioning . In mid - October 1945 , she underwent a pre - deactivation availability before proceeding south to Green Cove Springs , Fla . On 27 February 1946 , " Vance " was decommissioned and placed in reserve . Postwar refit . The ship remained in " mothballs " for the next nine years , before she was towed to the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in November 1955 for conversion to a radar picket destroyer escort . The extensive alterations involved the addition of : improved air - search radar , extensive communications equipment , and complete facilities for fighter - direction operations . It also entailed the enclosing of the entire main deck areas amidships to provide accommodations for officers and men . Designated DER - 387 , " Vance " was recommissioned on 5 October 1956 and Mare Island , Lt . Comdr . Albert M . Brouner in command . Between March 1957 and the end of the year , " Vance " was homeported at Seattle , Wash . , as a unit of CortDiv 5 and completed eight patrols on various stations of the Radar Early Warning System in the northern Pacific . Each tour lasted approximately 17 days , and the ship maintained a round - the - clock vigil , with air - search radars , tracking and reporting every aircraft entering or approaching the air space of the northwestern United States . On Labor Day 1957 , " Vance " drew emergency duty — an engineering casualty prevented the assigned ship from going out — and got underway in a fast 75 minutes . Although she was only manned at 60 percent of her complement ( because many of her officers and men were ashore on leave or liberty and could not be notified in time to return to the ship before she weighed anchor ) " Vance " was deployed for 12 days and completed a successful mission . On 1 June 1958 , the radar picket escort ship ' s home port was changed to Pearl Harbor ; and she began operating with CortRon 7 . One month later , she departed Hawaiian waters for a 29 - day patrol on the mid - ocean picket lines which provided radar coverage from Alaska to Midway Atoll . " Vance " thus became the first ship on the Distant Early Warning ( DEW ) line in the Pacific and the first to sail under the newly organized Pacific barrier patrol . In mid - January 1959 . following routine overhaul and refresher training at Pearl Harbor , " Vance " again took station on the mid - Pacific stretch of ocean on her second DEW - line deployment . " Vance " continued to conduct regular DEW - line patrols until May 1960 , when CortRon 7 was dissolved . At that time , she rejoined CortDiv 5 and served with her old unit into 1961 . On occasion , the picket ship took Russian trawlers under surveillance — undoubtedly while the communist vessel was returning the compliment . Early in 1961 , " Vance " ' s communications capabilities were extensively augmented during an overhaul at Pearl Harbor . After resuming DEW - line patrols late in the spring , the ship received orders in August 1961 designating her an ocean station vessel with TF - 43 , Operation " Deepfreeze 62 . " Temporarily based at Dunedin , New Zealand , " Vance " served as a communication relay ship for aircraft bringing in vital supplies to the Antarctic stations from New Zealand . She remained on station in the cold , bleak , southern waters into March 1962 , when she headed home via Melbourne , Australia , and Papeete , Tahiti , to Pearl Harbor . She soon resumed duties on the DEW - line and — but for periodic interruptions for maintenance , replenishment , and training — devoted herself to the task of operating mainly off the Aleutian Islands through February 1965 . A new mission . In the mid - 1960s , with the advent of improved radar and early - warning capabilities , the radar picket escort ship was rapidly approaching obsolescence . However , as the United States stepped up its efforts to aid the South Vietnamese government , the ship received a new lease on life . In Vietnam , a ship of this nature could be invaluable for coastal patrol work . Accordingly , in February 1965 , " Vance " was ordered to the Western Pacific ( WestPac ) . On 25 March 1965 , she sailed from Pearl Harbor , in company with " Brister " ( DER - 327 ) and " Forster " ( DER - 334 ) , as Task Group ( TG ) 52 . 8 , bound for the Philippines . En route from Subic Bay to waters off the coast of Vietnam , " Vance " rescued Capt . Leland D . Holcomb , USAF , who had ejected from a burning F - 100 Super Sabre fighter plane . " Vance " took station in Operation " Market Time " on 11 April 1965 . From that day until the 24th , she operated near the 17th parallel as a part of Task Unit ( TU ) 71 . 1 . 1 During the assignment , she maintained communications between airborne Convair , EC - 121K Constellations and Commander , TU 71 . 1 . 1 , in " John W . Thomason " ( DD - 760 ) . Subsequently , from 15 May to 4 June , " Vance " returned to " Market Time " surface surveillance — this time in the Gulf of Thailand near the border dividing South Vietnam from Cambodia . She operated in company with small minesweepers ( MOSs ) and embarked a Vietnamese Navy liaison officer to aid in the ship ' s " visit and search " activities . She continued these activities until sailing for Hawaii early in September and arrived at Pearl Harbor on the 18th . " Vance " , under the command of Marcus Aurelius Arnheiter , returned to " Market Time " station in mid - January 1966 , and then participated in Operation " Masher , " the amphibious operation designed to clear northern Binh Dinh province of Viet Cong insurgents . Next moving to the Gulf of Thailand once more , the destroyer escort conducted close - support and logistics operations with Navy PCFs ( swift boats ) and Coast Guard WPBs in interdicting communist coastal supply traffic , often boarding 30 vessels per day . Underway on 11 April to patrol of Cap de Ca Mau , the southernmost tip of South Vietnam , " Vance " monitored coastal junk traffic and seagoing vessels , surveying traffic patterns in the South China Sea . Later , off Binh Dinh , she closed to investigate a trawler and came under fire from Viet Cong ashore . Although the ship ' s skin was pocked by bullets , " Vance " briskly returned the fire with her 3 - inch battery , driving away or killing her unseen assailants . In a more humanitarian vein , " Vance " and a " Swift " rescued 56 men , women , and children from a swamped boat near Qui Nhon . For several hours , " Vance " ' s men cleaned and fed babies ; made old women as comfortable as possible ; and gave away blankets , towels and food . Relieved by " Haverfield " ( DER - 393 ) late in July , " Vance " headed for Hawaii and got as far as the San Bernardino Strait before she was ordered to return to Vietnam for further " Market Time " duty . On 6 August , " Surfbird " ( ADG - 383 ) relieved the destroyer escort on station and allowed " Vance " to sail again via the Philippines for Pearl Harbor . On 15 January 1967 , " Vance " returned to the Far East for another 7th Fleet deployment and relieved " Koiner " ( DER - 331 ) off the mouth of the Saigon River . Once again , " Vance " ' s duties involved hunting for contraband - carrying craft attempting to infiltrate from the north to deliver their cargoes to the Viet Cong . " Vance " tracked all ocean - sized vessels and stopped and searched junks and sampans — tedious and frustrating but vital work . The ship conducted two more " Market Time " patrols during her third WestPac deployment and , between missions , underwent a tender availability at Kaohsiung , Taiwan ; rest and recreation at Hong Kong ; and upkeep at Subic Bay . At the end of her last " Market Time " assignment , she patrolled the Taiwan Strait between communist China and Taiwan before returning to Pearl Harbor for routine overhaul . In late 1967 , the ship began her final WestPac deployment in which her duties were similar to those of her third deployment . She subsequently returned to the west coast of the United States late in 1968 for inactivation . Disposition . Placed in reserve , at the Inactive Ship Facility , Vallejo , " Vance " was decommissioned on 10 October 1969 , struck from the Navy list on 1 June 1975 , and scheduled to be used as a target . See also . Marcus Aurelius Arnheiter