NavSource Online: Destroyer Photo Archive
DDG-65 USS BENFOLD
CLASS - BURKE Flight I As Built.Displacement 8373 Tons (Full), Dimensions, 504' 7" (oa) x 66' 11" x 20' (Max)
Armament 1 x 5"/54 RF, 2 Phalanx 20mm Guns, 90 VLS Cells,
8 Harpoon Missiles, 6 x 12.75" TT.
Machinery, 100,000 SHP; 4 GE LM-2500 Gas Turbines, 2 screws
Speed, 30+ Knots, Range 4400 NM@ 20 Knots, Crew 370.
Operational and Building Data
Laid down by Litton - Ingalls, Pascagoula Miss. on September 27 1993.
Launched November 5 1994 and commissioned March 30 1996.
Active unit of the US. Navy.
Homeported at San Diego.
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Size | Image Description | Contributed By |
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| 101k | Edward Clyde Benfold was born on Staten Island, New York, on January 15, 1931 and at the age of 6, came with his family to the Borough of Haddon Heights. He was the only child of Edward S. Benfold, a British citizen who was born in Calcutta, India, and Glenys MacKensie Adams Benfold from Bucksport, Maine. His father was a Merchant Marine Officer during World War II and, while serving on the Merchant Ship USS CASTILLA (a troop transport ship in the Atlantic), drowned when the ship was torpedoed and sunk by an enemy submarine while carrying troops to the European front. Following his death, Edward's father was the recipient of the U. S. Merchant Mariners' Medal. Known by his friends as Teddy, Edward was a member of St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Haddon Heights and a student at Audubon High School. A member of the AHS Class of 1949, he was a color guardsman in the school band, a member of the senior choir and a member of both the Junior play (Our Town, in the role of Howie Newsome) and the senior play (My Sister Eileen, in the role of a drunk). In addition to his participation in school activities, Edward served in the Camden Wing of the Civil Air Patrol for two years. Edward enlisted in the service in May of 1949. After training at the Great Lakes Naval Station, he served at the Philadelphia Naval Hospital, at Camp Le Jeune in North Carolina and at Camp Pendleton in California. Edward met his wife Dorothy (nee Groff) on a blind date in January, 1951. A courtship began that led to their marriage in St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Camden, New Jersey on June 9, 1951. In the fall of 1951, Edward was transferred to Camp Pendleton and participated in the A-Bomb Test on the Yucca Flat testing grounds in the Nevada desert on May 1, 1952. The couple had a son, Edward Joseph, born on May 15, 1952, while Edward was at Camp Pendleton. Edward saw his wife and then two week old son while on a short leave and, upon his return to Camp Pendleton, was notified that he had been ordered to Korea. In mid-July, 1952, Edward left the West Coast for Korea. Following his arrival, he wrote to his wife, explaining that he had been assigned as a medic to the 1st Marine Division at Bunker Hill. On September 5, 1952, just three weeks after his arrival in Korea, Edward was killed in action while treating two Marines. Enemy grenades were tossed into the foxhole where Benfold was tending to the wounds of the two men. He picked up the grenades, leaped from the foxhole and charged the oncoming soldiers, sacrificing his life to save those of the two wounded Marines. He was 21 years old at the time of his death. | Robert M. Cieri | |
| 59k | A biography of Hospital Corpsman Third Class Benfold. | Robert M. Cieri | |
| 25k | Undated, location unknown. | - | |
| 97k | The Christening Coin. | Robert M. Cieri | |
| 53k | The Christening Program for Benfold DDG-65. The event was held at Pascagoula, MS on 12 November 1994. | Robert M. Cieri | |
| 52k | The Official Invitation to the Commissioning Ceremony, which was held at Broadway Pier in San Diego, CA on 13 March 1996. | Robert M. Cieri | |
| 78k | The Commissioning Program. | Robert M. Cieri | |
| 219k | USS STETHEM (DDG 63) and USS BENFOLD (DDG 65) conducting SEA TRIALS in the Gulf of Mexico circa 1995. | - | |
| 159k | The Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Benfold (DDG 65) fires its 5 inch gun during routine training operations off the coast of Southern California on April 16, 1997. The 5 inch/54 caliber MK 45 lightweight gun provides surface combatants with accurate naval gunfire against fast, highly maneuverable surface targets, air threats and shore targets. DoD photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Felix Garza, U.S. Navy. | - | |
| 105k | The Arleigh Burke Class destroyer USS Benfold (DDG-65), heads in to it's homeport of San Diego, California after an extended at sea period September 30 1997. | Bill Gonyo | |
| 145k | November 21st, 1997, on board the destroyer USS Benfold (DDG 65) operating in the Northern Persian Gulf. Gunner's Mate (Guns) 1st Class Joe Brown, from Arlington, Texas, mans a 25mm chain gun while on watch in the Persian Gulf. The ship is home ported in San Diego, California. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Rebecca Kearns. | Fred Weiss | |
| 68k | November 21st, 1997 in the Northern Persian Gulf, a Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB), makes a pass by the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Benfold (DDG 65). The ship is home ported in San Diego, California. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Rebecca Kearns Digital Film Scan. | Fred Weiss | |
| 79k | Sydney, Australia January 1998. | Marc Piché | |
| 71k | Sydney, Australia January 1998. | Marc Piché | |
| 69k | Sydney, Australia January 1998. | Marc Piché | |
| 101k | Sydney, Australia January 1998. | Marc Piché | |
| 105k | Sydney, Australia January 1998. | Marc Piché | |
| 65k | San Francisco October 1998. | Marc Piché | |
| 166k | 010326-N-1644C-001, March 28 2001, USS Benfold (DDG-65) gets underway on deployment in the South Pacific Ocean en route to its first port of Sydney, Australia. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Anthony C. Casullo. | Bill Gonyo | |
| 65k | Fremantle, Australia April 17 2001. | Marc Piché | |
| 65k | Fremantle, Australia April 20 2001. | Marc Piché | |
| 61k | At sea aboard USS Benfold (DDG 65) Jul. 30, 2002, sailors aboard the guided missile destroyer prepare for an underway replenishment (UNREP) while the destroyer USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62) prepares to take station alongside Benfold. Both vessels are participating in Fleet Battle Experiment Juliet (FBE-J) in the Pacific Ocean. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Michael D. Kennedy. | Fred Weiss | |
| 74k | USS Benfold 5"/54 MK45 gun firing in spring 2004. | Steven A. Cardali | |
| 52k | 040507-N-5362A-394, Pacific Ocean, May 7 2004, ships assigned to "The Golden Arrows" of Commander Destroyer Squadron Seven (COMDESRON-7), assemble in a formation off the coast of San Diego, Calif. Pictured are the guided missile destroyers USS Benfold (DDG 65), left, USS Milius (DDG 69), center bottom, USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53), center top, and the guided missile frigate, USS Thach (FFG 43), right. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Arlo K. Abrahamson. | Tony Cowart | |
| 65k | 040829-N-9228K-079. Pacific Ocean August 28 2004, guided missile destroyer USS Benfold (DDG 65) cuts through the water during her approach on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) during an underway replenishment (UNREP). Lincoln and Carrier Air Wing Two (CVW-2) are currently conducting operations in preparation for an upcoming deployment. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 3rd Class Michael S. Kelly. | Bill Gonyo | |
| 48k | Ship's patch. | Mike Smolinski | |
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
None Located
Contact Name:
Address:
Phone:
E-mail: None
Website: http://www.benfold.navy.mil/
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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