View source for USS Wiseman

{{Short description|Buckley-class destroyer escort}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
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|Ship image=USS Wiseman (DE-667) underway, in the 1950s (USN 1037188).jpg
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States  
|Ship flag=  {{USN flag}}
|Ship name=  
|Ship namesake=  
|Ship ordered=  
|Ship builder=  
|Ship laid down=  26 July 1943
|Ship launched=  6 November 1943
|Ship commissioned=*4 April 1944 – 31 May 1946
*11 September 1950 – 16 May 1959
*2 October 1961 – 1 August 1962
|Ship in service=*16 May 1959 – 2 October 1961
*1 August 1962 – 15 April 1973
|Ship decommissioned=  
|Ship struck=  15 April 1973
|Ship honours=  
|Ship fate=*Sold for scrap, 29 April 1974
*Removed from Navy custody, 22 May 1974
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship displacement=*1,740 [[long ton|tons]] [[full displacement|full]]
*1,400 tons, standard
|Ship length=      {{convert|306|ft|0|in|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= &nbsp;  {{convert|36|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= &nbsp; {{convert|13|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*GE turbo-electric drive,
*12,000&nbsp;[[shaft horsepower|shp]] (8.9 MW)
*two propellers
|Ship speed=  {{convert|24|kn|km/h|lk=in}}
|Ship range=  {{convert|4940|nmi|km}} at {{convert|12|kn|km/h}}
|Ship complement=  15 officers, 198 men
|Ship sensors=  
|Ship EW=  
|Ship armament=*3 × [[3"/50 caliber gun|3 in (76 mm)]] [[Dual purpose gun|DP]] guns,
*3 × [[Mark 15 torpedo|21 in (53 cm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s,
*1 × [[1.1 inch (28 mm)/75 gun|1.1 in (28 mm)]] quad [[anti-aircraft|AA]] gun,
*8 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm]] cannon,
*1 × [[hedgehog (weapon)|hedgehog]] projector,
*2 × depth charge tracks,
*8 × [[K-gun]] depth charge projectors 
|Ship notes=  
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'''USS ''Wiseman'' (DE-667)''' was a [[Buckley class destroyer escort|''Buckley''-class]] [[destroyer escort]] in service with the [[United States Navy]] for several periods between 1944 and 1973. She was scrapped in 1974.

==Namesake==
Osborne Beeman Wiseman was born on 20 February 1915 in [[Zanesville, Ohio]]. He was appointed to the [[United States Naval Academy]] on 22 June 1934, and graduated on 2 June 1938. After sea duty in the [[aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Saratoga|CV-3|6}} and the [[destroyer]] {{USS|Roe|DD-418|2}}, Wiseman was transferred to the [[Naval Air Station Pensacola]], [[Florida]], for flight training. Detached on 17 March 1941, having won his wings, Wiseman joined [[Bombing Squadron 3]] (VB-3), embarked on the ''Saratoga''. After that carrier was [[torpedo]]ed by the {{ship|Japanese submarine|I-25}} off [[Oahu]] on 11 January 1942 and sent to the [[Puget Sound Navy Yard]], [[Bremerton, Washington]], for repairs and alterations, its aviation units were transferred ashore to operate from [[Ford Island]]. When {{USS|Yorktown|CV-5|6}} returned to [[Pearl Harbor]] for repair of the damage sustained early in May at the [[Battle of the Coral Sea]], its units were transferred from the ship and replaced by some of ''Saratoga'''s old units – Bombing Squadron 3, [[VA-35 (U.S. Navy)|Torpedo Squadron 3]] (VT-3) and [[Fighting Squadron 3]] (VF-3). Wiseman reported on board ''Yorktown'' in time to take part in the [[Battle of Midway]].

On the first day of the carrier action, 4 June, Lt.(j.g.) Wiseman flew two sorties, one against the carrier {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Soryu||6}} that morning and one against {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Hiryu||6}} that afternoon. The latter, by that point, was the last of the four enemy flattops afloat, and the strike in which Wiseman participated proved to be the [[coup de grâce]] administered to that ship. Japanese "[[A6M Zero|Zero]]" fighters, however, swarmed over the [[Douglas SBD Dauntless|Dauntlesses]] of VB-3 and [[Bombing Squadron 6|VB-6]]. In that melee, Wiseman's plane was shot down. Neither he nor his gunner were seen again.

==Construction and commissioning==
''Wiseman'' was laid down on 26 July 1943 at [[Pittsburgh]], Pennsylvania, by the [[Dravo Corp.]]; [[ship naming and launching|launched]] on 6 November 1943; sponsored by Mrs. June Holton, the widow of Lt.(jg.) Wiseman; and [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] at [[Algiers, Louisiana]], on 4 April 1944.

== 1944–1948 ==
Following [[shakedown cruise|shakedown]] in the [[Bermuda]] area and post-shakedown availability in the [[Boston Navy Yard]], ''Wiseman'' departed [[Boston]] on 24 May 1944 to rendezvous with Task Force 64 (TF&nbsp;64) and [[convoy]] UGS-43 on the first of three round-trip convoy escort runs. She escorted convoy GUS-43 from [[Casablanca]], [[French Morocco]], to [[New York City]], then left [[Hampton Roads]] with TF-64 and convoy UGS-50 on 3 August, shepherding convoy GUS-50 from [[Bizerte]] to the United States, sailing eastward on 29 August. Following repairs and alterations at Boston (19 September – 5 October), ''Wiseman'' conducted work-ups in the waters of Casco Bay, Maine, before resuming convoy escort work as part of TF-64, shepherding UGS-57 from Hampton Roads to Bizerte, returning eastward with TF-64 and GUS-57; passing [[Gibraltar]] on 11 November, the ship returned to [[Chesapeake Bay]] with that portion of GUS-57 on 30 November, before proceeding to [[Charleston, South Carolina]]

Subsequently, converted to a [[floating power station]] – the necessity for ship-to-shore electrical facilities haying been proved during the Pacific war – at the [[Charleston Navy Yard]], ''Wiseman'' sailed for the [[Pacific]] on 11 January 1945. Reporting to Commander in Chief, [[U.S. Pacific Fleet|Pacific Fleet]], for duty on 17 January 1945 upon transiting the [[Panama Canal]], she set course for the [[Hawaiian Islands]] in company with the [[high speed transport]] {{USS|Reeves|APD-52}}.

Making port at [[Pearl Harbor]] on 3 February, the destroyer escort operated for a month in the Hawaiian Islands before setting sail for the [[Philippines]] on 3 March. Arriving at [[Manila]] on the 23d, she commenced furnishing power to that nearly demolished city on 13 April and, over the next five and one-half months, provided some {{convert|5806000|kWh|GJ|lk=on}} of electricity. In addition, ''Wiseman'''s evaporators furnished 150,000&nbsp;gallons (570&nbsp;m³) of drinking water to [[United States Army|Army]] facilities in the harbor area and to many small craft. Her radios were also utilized to a great extent. Placed at the disposal of the Navy's port director, the ship's communication outfit was used to handle harbor radio traffic until the director's equipment arrived and was installed ashore.

Following her vital service at Manila and projected operations at [[Ketchikan, Alaska]], shelved, ''Wiseman'' shifted to [[Guam]], arriving on 18 December 1945, where she provided power for the Army [[dredge]] ''Harris'' (YM-25). Departing Guam on 26 March 1946, in company with [[sister ship]] {{USS|Whitehurst|DE-634}}, she paused at [[Eniwetok]], in the [[Marshall Islands|Marshalls]] (28–29 March), then returned to the United States via Pearl Harbor (4–6 April 1946). Decommissioned at [[Naval Station San Diego|San Diego, California]] on 31 May 1946, ''Wiseman'' was placed in inactivated status on 19 December 1946, then out of commission, in reserve, on 3 February 1947, and moved to [[Naval Station Long Beach|Long Beach]]. Subsequently, the auxiliary [[ocean tug]] {{USS|Koka|ATA-185}} towed ''Wiseman'' from Long Beach back to San Diego (16–17 November 1948).

== 1950–1961 ==

After the outbreak of [[Korean War|hostilities in Korea]] in the summer of 1950, the [[Chief of Naval Operations]] recommended that ''Wiseman'' be "reactivated at the earliest practicable [time] for distant duty including use as [an] Electric Power Supply Ship." Accordingly, ''Wiseman'' was recommissioned at San Diego on 11 September 1950, and rushed to [[Korea]], reaching the port of [[Masan]], near the mouth of the [[Naktong River]], at the western anchor-point of the former beachhead at [[Pusan]]. As she had done at Manila in 1945, ''Wiseman'' supplied electricity to a city unable to generate its own. Later, the ship provided comforts-of-home to units of the [[1st Marine Division (United States)|1st Marine Division]] quartered on the nearby [[pier]], providing hot showers, [[cigarette]]s, and hot meals cooked in the ship's [[Galley (kitchen)|galley]]. The destroyer escort also provided instruction in seamanship, gunnery, [[radar]], [[sonar]], and damage control to 80&nbsp;[[midshipmen]] from the [[Republic of Korea]] Naval Academy and 120 [[Republic of Korea Navy|ROK Navy]] enlisted men.

Late in 1951, ''Wiseman'' returned to the United States and underwent an extensive overhaul at the [[Mare Island Naval Shipyard]], [[Vallejo, California]], before she conducted refresher training out of San Diego through the spring and summer of 1952. The ship then sailed again for Korean waters, reaching the combat zone that autumn.

In her second [[Western Pacific Ocean|Western Pacific]] (WestPac) deployment since recommissioning, ''Wiseman'' screened light carrier task forces off the west coast of Korea; carried out patrol assignments close inshore; blockaded and bombarded segments of the northeastern Korean coast, and provided antisubmarine screen and escort services for replenishment groups. Later in the deployment, she also participated in [[Hunter-killer Group|hunter-killer]] operations, trained in [[antisubmarine warfare]] (ASW) evolutions, and served as division [[flagship]] during a goodwill call at Manila.

Over the next few years, ''Wiseman'' conducted four more WestPac deployments and spent the interludes between them in training out of San Diego and upkeep at Mare Island Naval Shipyard or the [[San Francisco Naval Shipyard]]. Upon occasion, she conducted [[United States Naval Reserve|Naval Reserve]] training cruises – one taking her to the Hawaiian Islands. During the overseas deployments, ''Wiseman'' operated with units of [[SEATO]] navies –  [[Royal Australian Navy|Australian]], [[Royal New Zealand Navy|New Zealand]], [[Royal Navy|British]], [[Philippine Navy|Philippine]], [[Pakistan Navy|Pakistani]], and [[Royal Thai Navy|Thai]] – and visited ports from [[Australia]] to [[Japan]]. Upon completion of her sixth deployment, ''Wiseman'' was designated as a Group I [[Naval Reserve Training]] (NRT) ship. Accordingly, on 16 May 1959, the ship was decommissioned and turned over to the [[11th Naval District]]. Lt. W.&nbsp;V. Powell was the first officer-in-charge.

For the next two years, ''Wiseman'' operated out of San Diego on NRT duties. Every third weekend of the month, a reserve cruise took her to sea for periods of ASW training; and, during the summers, the destroyer escort made two-week reserve cruises.

== 1961 – 1973 ==

In 1961, however, the crisis in [[Berlin]] changed ''Wiseman'''s routine after the building of the [[Berlin Wall]] heightened tensions in August of that year. President [[John F. Kennedy]] ordered the activation of reserve units – including the Selected Reserve Crew and NRT ships. Recommissioned on 2 October 1961, Lt.Comdr. C.&nbsp;V. Wilhoite, Jr., in command, ''Wiseman'' was immediately prepared for duty with the [[U.S. 7th Fleet|7th Fleet]]. Since the repair and overhaul facilities at San Diego were overworked, ''Wiseman'' was overhauled at [[Long Beach Naval Shipyard|Long Beach]], spending the pre-Christmas holidays in the Bethlehem shipyards there.

Deploying to WestPac again in January 1962, ''Wiseman'' conducted patrol operations off the coast of [[South Vietnam]] and participated in the [[Kennedy Administration]]'s "[[People to People Student Ambassador Program|People to People]]" program. She received a "well done" for her performance of duty and in March, while conducting training operations with the [[South Vietnamese Navy]], won commendation for giving medical aid to a fisherman with an infected leg on board a South Vietnamese fishing [[junk (ship)|junk]]. Later that spring, the ship also visited [[Hong Kong]], [[Subic Bay]], and Japanese ports – including [[Yokohama, Kanagawa|Yokohama]], where she hosted celebrations for [[Armed Forces Day]] on 19 and 20 May.

Returning to San Diego on 17 July, via [[Midway Atoll|Midway]] and Pearl Harbor, ''Wiseman'' was decommissioned and placed in service on 1 August, resuming her duties as NRT ship with the Group II Naval Reserve. Before the end of 1962, the ship was assigned to Reserve Destroyer Division 272 of Reserve Destroyer Squadron 27.

Placed in reserve but remaining in service, ''Wiseman'' was berthed at San Diego through the remainder of the 1960s as part of the Pacific Fleet's reserve units. 
The veteran of [[World War II]] and Korean service was stricken from the [[Naval Vessel Register|Navy list]] on 15 April 1973, and sold for scrapping 29 April 1974, to Levin Metals Corp., [[San Jose, California]] for the sum of $65,000. The ship was removed from Navy custody on 22 May 1974.

''Wiseman'' (DE-667) received six [[battle star]]s for her Korean War service.

== References ==
{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/w/wiseman.html}}

== External links == 
{{Commons category|USS Wiseman (DE-667)}}
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/667.htm        navsource.org: USS ''Wiseman'']
* [http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/escorts/de667.htm     hazegray.org: USS ''Wiseman'']
* [http://www.sunwestmonograms.com//wiseman/index.htm ''Wiseman'' veterans' website]

{{Buckley class destroyer escort}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wiseman}}
[[Category:Buckley-class destroyer escorts]]
[[Category:Ships built in Pittsburgh]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]