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USS SAMUEL B. ROBERTS (DD-823)


Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign - NAYO

Tactical Voice Radio Call Sign (circa 1968) - BUCKSKIN

CLASS - GEARING As Built.
Displacement 3460 Tons (Full), Dimensions, 390' 6"(oa) x 40' 10" x 14' 4" (Max)
Armament 6 x 5"/38AA (3x2), 12 x 40mm AA, 11 x 20mm AA, 10 x 21" tt.(2x5).
Machinery, 60,000 SHP; Westinghouse Turbines, 2 screws
Speed, 36.8 Knots, Range 4500 NM@ 20 Knots, Crew 336.
Operational and Building Data
Laid down by Consolidated Steel,Orange Texas June 27 1945.
Launched November 30 1945 and commissioned December 20 1946.
Completed FRAM upgrade February 1962.
Decommissioned and Stricken November 2 1970.
Fate Sunk as target off Puerto Rico November 11 1971.

Click On Image
For Full Size Image
Size Image Description Contributed
By
Namesake
Roberts 69kSamuel Booker Roberts, Jr., born in San Francisco, California, on 12 May 1921, enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve on 13 April 1939 at Portland, Oreg. He advanced to the rank of Coxswain and served continuously until his death on 28 September 1942. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism while serving on the crew of a landing craft that, despite intense enemy fire, rescued stranded marines from Guadalcanal. U.S. Navy Photo.Bill Gonyo
USS Samuel B. Roberts (DD-823)
Roberts 141kUndated, Venice, Italy.Jack Phifer
Roberts 35kUndated, location unknown.Robert Hurst
Roberts 51kUndated, location unknown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Roberts 60kUndated, location unknown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Roberts
0582328
245kSamuel B. Roberts (DD-823) conducting underway replenishment, date and location unknown.Dave Wright
Roberts 133k20 November 1948 photo of USS Leyte (CV-32), USS Caloosahatchee (AO-98) and USS Samuel B. Roberts (DD-823), conducting underway replenishment during "Operation Frigid."Robert M. Cieri
Roberts 120kOur Navy Magazine, first issue of September 1953.Stanley Svec
Roberts 100kNaragansett Bay, circa 1959.Marc Piché
Roberts 148kHi-line from the USS Keppler (DD-765) in the 1960s.Ed Zajkowski
Roberts 141kAs above.Ed Zajkowski
Roberts 44kQuebec July 1962.Marc Piché
Roberts 148kAugust 10 1963, Port Royal Bay, Bermuda. Keppler along with the USS Warrington (DD-843), USS Samuel B. Roberts (DD-823) and USS Stribling (DD-867). Photo by PHC Warren Jackman.Ed Zajkowski
Roberts 155kAugust 10 1963, Port Royal Bay, Bermuda. Keppler along with the USS Warrington (DD-843) and USS Samuel B. Roberts (DD-823). Photo by PHC Warren Jackman.Ed Zajkowski
Roberts 160kUSS Samuel B Roberts (DD-823) underway in Maltese waters, in 1964. Image from the 1966/67 Edition of Jane's Fighting Ships.Robert Hurst
Roberts 53kCarrier Division Three, First Nuclear Powered Task Group in Combat, Vietnam, 2 December 1965. USS Enterprise (CVAN-65), with Carrier Air Wing Nine (CVW-9); USS Bainbridge (DLGN-25); USS Barry (DD-933); USS Samuel B. Roberts (DD-823).
[On 2 December 1965] "Enterprise became the first nuclear powered warship to engage in combat operations when aircraft of Attack Carrier Air Wing NINE launched 118 sorties against the Viet Cong in South Vietnam. For the rest of the month, the Big E carried out a relentless campaign against the enemy, primarily in North Vietnam, blasting military facilities, transportation networks, military storage areas, and barges and junks carrying supplies to the Communist forces in South Vietnam." Quoted from the ship's Command History for 1965.
Richard Allen
Roberts 41kUSS Samuel B. Roberts (DD-823) being sunk as a target by a Grumman A-6A Intruder of attack squadron VA-34 Blue Blasters (Cdr. Turk), assigned to Carrier Air Wing 1 (CVW-1), aboard the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CVA-67), 14 November 1971, location 21° 42' 48? N, 65° 55' 6? W. U.S. Navy photo from the USS John F. Kennedy (CVA-67) Mediterranean Cruise Book 1971-72.Robert Hurst
Roberts 52kShip's patchMike Smolinski
Roberts 328kShip's patchTom Gamstetter
Click here to see additional images of this ship on our FRAM Special Feature page

USS SAMUEL B. ROBERTS DD-823 History
View This Vessels DANFS History Entry
(Located On The hazegray Web Site, This Is The Main Archive For The DANFS Online Project.)

Commanding Officers
Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves


CDR Clarence Thomas Doss Jr.    Dec 22 1946 - 1948

CDR Leslie Kelly Taylor    1948 - Jan 30 1950

CDR Joseph Patrick Costello    Jan 30 1950 - Nov 15 1951 (Later RADM)

CDR Paul Jerry Brownlow    Nov 15 1951 - Jan 1954

CDR Robert Earle Hawthorne    Jan 1954 - Apr 1956

CDR Richard Henry White    Apr 1956 - May 1957

CDR Arden Eugene Baughman    May 1957 - 1958

CDR Carol Anton Turner    1958 - 1959

CDR Pleasant Lawrence Murphy    1959 - 1961

CDR Raymond Edward Ward    1961 - 1962

CDR William Booth Murray Jr.    1962 - 1964

CDR Charles Anthony Rankowski    1964 - Nov 1965

CDR William Reed Glaser    Nov 1965 - Jul 1967

CDR Samuel Oather Jones Jr.    Jul 1967 - 1969

CDR Richard Daniel Coogan    1969 - Nov 2 1970


Crew Contact And Reunion Information

Contact Name: Richard K. Rohde
Address: 9045 SW 91st Circle, Ocala, FL 34481-8404
Phone: 352 861-0616
E-mail: None


Note About Contacts.

The contact listed, Was the contact at the time for this ship when located. If another person now is the contact, E-mail me and I will update this entry. These contacts are compiled from various sources over a long period of time and may or may not be correct. Every effort has been made to list the newest contact if more than one contact was found.


Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Tin Can Sailors Website
Destroyer History Foundation
Destroyers Online Website
Official U.S.Navy Destroyer Website

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This page was created by Fred Willishaw (ex ARG-4, AS-11 & DD-692) and is maintained by David L. Wright
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Last Updated 28 October 2022