This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Tommy Burgdorf (Birddog), FC2
to remember
Orpurt, Linden Russell, IC2.
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Comments/Citation On 3 June 1969, while operating with the Royal Australian Navy between Saigon and Spratly Island, Evans was operating in company with the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne. At flying stations, Melbourne signalled Evans, which was to port of the carrier, to take up the rescue destroyer position. The logical movement would be to make a turn to port and describe a circle taking up station on the carrier's port quarter. Inexplicably, instead of turning to port, Evans turned to starboard, cutting across Melbourne's bow and was cut in half in the ensuing collision. Her bow section sank instantly, taking 74 of her crew down with it. At the time of the collision Evans's captain was asleep. The officer of the deck (a junior officer who was not qualified to stand watch, having failed at his previous board) failed to notify him when he executed the station change as required by the Commanding Officer's standing orders. Evans was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 July 1969. The stern section was sunk as a target in Subic Bay on 10 October 1969
Other Comments:
To the memory of all sailors who ever served aboard the Destroyer USS Frank E. Evans DD - 754. A special commemeration to the Crew who sailed with her on that fateful morning, June 3, 1969 when USS Frank E. Evans DD-754 collided with the Australian Aircraft Carrier HMAS Melbourne (R21) and was cut in half. The forward section of USS Frank E. Evans DD-754 sank in 1100 fathoms of water within two minutes. Seventy-four lives were lost. USS Frank E. Evans DD-754 was struck from the Navy Register in 1969. May we never forget the ship, The men who proudly sailed with her, And those who paid the ultimate price in service Aboard USS Frank E. Evans DD-754.
Vietnam War/Tet Counteroffensive Campaign (68)/ Yankee Station, North Vietnam
From Month/Year
January / 1968
To Month/Year
April / 1968
Description Yankee Station was a point in the Gulf of Tonkin off the coast of Vietnam used by the U.S. Navy aircraft carriers of Task Force 77 to launch strikes in the Vietnam War. While its official designation was "Point Yankee," it was universally referred to as Yankee Station. Carriers conducting air operations at Yankee Station were said to be "on the line" and statistical summaries were based on days on the line.
The name derived from it being the geographic reference point "Y", pronounced "Yankee" in the NATO phonetic alphabet. In turn the term Point Yankee derived from the launch point for "Yankee Team" aerial reconnaissance missions over Laos conducted in 1964. It was located about 190 km due east of Dong Hoi, at 17° 30' N and 108° 30' E.
During the two periods of sustained air operations against North Vietnam (March 2, 1965-October 31, 1968 and March 30, 1972-December 29, 1972) there were normally three carriers on the line, each conducting air operations for twelve hours, then off for twelve hours. One of the carriers would operate from noon to midnight, another from midnight to noon, and one during daylight hours, which gave 24-hour coverage plus additional effort during daylight hours, when sorties were most effective. However at the end of May, 1972, six carriers were for a short period of time on the line at Yankee Station conducting Linebacker strikes.
The first aircraft carrier at Yankee Station was USS Kitty Hawk, which was ordered there in April 1964 for the Yankee Team missions. Kitty Hawk was joined by Ticonderoga in May and Constellation in June, two months prior to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. Ticonderoga and Constellation launched the first bombing missions from Yankee Station on August 5, 1964. Constellation was also the last carrier conducting operations at Yankee Station on August 15, 1973. USS Forrestal suffered a major accident while at Yankee Station when a series of fires and explosions on her deck killed 134 men and injured another 161.
A corresponding Dixie Station in the South China Sea off the Mekong Delta was a single carrier point for conducting strikes within South Vietnam from May 15, 1965 to August 3, 1966.
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