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DD-862 USS VOGELGESANG


Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign - NBFP

Tactical Voice Radio Call Sign (circa 1968) - BLACK WIDOW

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; General Electric Geared Turbines, 2 screws
Speed, 36.8 Knots, Range 4500 NM@ 20 Knots, Crew 336.
Operational and Building Data
Laid down by Bethlehem Steel,Staten Island NY August 3 1944.
Launched January 15 1945 and commissioned April 28 1945.
Decommissioned (?).
Stricken February 24 1982.
To Mexico February 24 1982, renamed Quetzalcoatl.
Fate Decommissioned by Mexico late 2002.
As of July 2006, to be sunk as an artifical reef

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Vogelgesang 48kCarl Theodore Vogelgesang was born on 11 January 1869 at North Branch, Calif. and was appointed a naval cadet (the name at that time applied to young men studying at the Naval Academy) on 6 September 1886. On 6 June 1890, he graduated from the Academy and began active duty on board Alliance as a passed naval cadet. At the completion of his requisite two years of sea duty before final graduation, he was commissioned an ensign on 14 July 1892 to date from 1 July 1892. Successive tours of duty on board Adams and Mohican occupied his time until 1895 when he was ordered to Washington, D.C., for duty in the Bureau of Navigation. Detached from that post on 29 August 1896, Ens. Vogelgesang reported to the gunboat Bancroft on 3 September. That ship remained his home through the Spanish-American War. Vogelgesang served in her during convoy escort missions and on blockade duty off Havana and near the Isle of Pines. Tours of duty in Celtic and at the New York Navy Yard in conjunction with the fitting out of Kentucky (Battleship No. 6) and Wisconsin (Battleship No. 9) followed. On 6 June 1904, he returned to the Bureau of Navigation for a two-year tour of duty as navigator on board Louisiana (Battleship No. 19), during which he attained the rank of lieutenant commander on 1 July 1905. A fifteen-month assignment from June 1906 to September 1907 was followed by his first command, Mayflower. That tour of duty ended in March 1908 when he transferred to Wisconsin as navigator. In May 1909, Lt. Comdr. Vogelgesang reported for duty ashore once more, this time to study at the Naval War College at Newport, R.I. On 2 May 1911, near the end of his assignment at the war college, Vogelgesang was promoted to full commander. On 2 May 1912, he transferred to Wyoming (Battleship No. 32) to fit her out. When she was commissioned, he assumed duty as her executive officer. In late January 1914, Cpmdr. Vogelgesang was ordered to Des Moines (Cruiser No. 15) which he commanded until 23 October. On 21 November 1914, he reported for duty at the Naval War College and remained there until the beginning of 1917, when he became Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief, Asiatic Fleet. Just after assuming the duties of that office, he received his promotion to captain, to date from 29 August 1916. In January 1918, Capt. Vogelgesang relinquished his position as Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief Asiastic Fleet, and reported to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as senior officer of the American naval commission. On 9 January 1919, Capt. Vogelgesang took charge of the fitting out of Idaho (Battleship No. 42) at Camden, N.J., and assumed command of her when that battleship was placed in commission on 24 March 1919. He commanded Idaho until June 1920 when he became the Chief of Staff to the Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet. A year later, Capt. Vogelgesang became Commandant, 3d Naval District, at New York. That tour of duty lasted until November 1922 when he received orders to organize and lead the United States Naval Mission to Brazil. For the next two years, he and his staff joined their Brazilian counterparts in reorganizing the Brazilian Navy. During his two years in Brazil, he helped to strengthen the warm and enduring friendship between that nation and the United States. Early in that assignment, he was promoted to rear admiral, to date from 16 October 1922. Rear Admiral Vogelgesang completed his mission in South America in January 1925 and returned to the United States on 7 February. On 3 April, he broke his flag in New York (BB-34) and became Commander, Battleship Division 2 of the Scouting Fleet. In June 1926, he was detached from command of Battleship Division 2 and took command of the Light Cruiser Division, Scouting Fleet. That tour of duty was abbreviated when Rear Admiral Vogelgesang entered the Naval Hospital, Washington, D.C., for treatment of a kidney ailment. He died there on 16 February 1927.Bill Gonyo
Vogelgesang 103kUndated, Valetta, Malta.Mike Pizzuto
Vogelgesang 110kUndated, location unknown.-
Vogelgesang 98kUndated, location unknown.-
Vogelgesang 68kUndated postcard Copyright © Atlantic Fleet Sales, Norfolk, VA.Mike Smolinski
Vogelgesang 130k1959 picture of VOGELGESANG before her FRAM conversion while she was still in her all gun and surface torpedo configuration.Captain Vincent Cooke, USN (Ret)
Vogelgesang 46k1959 picture of VOGELGESANG that was used on her Christmas cards beginning in 1959.Ronald B. Kellar
Vogelgesang 47kNew York July 1962.Marc Piché
Vogelgesang 65kNorfolk, August 1964© Richard Leonhardt
Vogelgesang 61kOff DaNang, Vietnam 1967 refueling from the USS Ponchatoula (AO-148).Barry Litchfield
Vogelgesang 58kOff DaNang, Vietnam 1967 refueling from the USS Ponchatoula (AO-148).Barry Litchfield
Vogelgesang 69kOff DaNang, Vietnam 1967 refueling from the USS Ponchatoula (AO-148).Barry Litchfield
Vogelgesang 63kMayport Florida, April 1978© Richard Leonhardt
Vogelgesang 48kShip's patch.Mike Smolinski
Vogelgesang 45kShip's patch.Tom Gamstetter
On Mexican Service
Vogelgesang 82k(L-R) USS Vogelgesang (DD-862) and USS John Rodgers (DD-574) in Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico in July 2006. The Rodgers is being returned to Mobile Bay for restoration while the Vogelgesang will be sunk as an artificial reef. Photos by the restoration crew who made the trip to Mexico to bring the Rodgers home and strip whatever they could use from the Vogelgesang. The restoration crew muster was Ward Brewer (Captain), Ken Guiles (Number 1), John Donovan (Gunnery Officer), John Nowakowski (Chief Engineer), Sean Quigley (Able Seaman), Jeremy Byers (Able Seaman), Jim Nowak (Chief Photographer's Mate) and Rob Harshbarger (Intel Officer).Tim Rizzuto/Anthony Finchum

USS VOGELGESANG DD-862 History
View This Vessels DANFS History Entry
(Located On The hazegray Web Site, This Is The Main Archive For The DANFS Online Project.)

Crew Contact And Reunion Information

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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.


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Tin Can Sailors Website
Destroyer History Foundation
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