Description A Western Pacific Cruise is a ship's deployment from her home port, usually lasting between 5 and 8 months. Ships visit different ports such as Phuket, Thailand; Salalah, Oman; Darwin, Australia, Bali, Jebel Ali, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong. The ships hosted foreign militaries, performed numerous underway replenishments-at-sea and conducted general quarters drills, fire drills and maritime patrols.
US Navy provides during these deployments provocative "freedom of navigation" operations, known as FONOPS, that send warships into the disputed areas around the world on any given year.
Any cruise is hazardous with sailors injured or killed during flight, refueling, ordnance, operations or weather; day or night. Foriegn military vessels threatening by fast approach to ramming. Often at times ships are endangered by low fly overs from hostile aircraft.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
January / 1983
To Month/Year
December / 1983
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories Was RM-1, LPO of Radio onboard USS Texas, CGN-39. We escorted USS Carl Vinson on her first deployment. This was a world cruise that included port visits in Monoco, Moraco, Ivory Coast (Africa), Diego Garcia, Perth Australia. At this point Carl Vinson and the rest of the task group went up to the Persian Gulf while Texas visited Albany, Australia, Brisbane Australia, Hobart Tasmania, Auckland, NZ, Wellington, NZ, Nucualofa, Tonga. Meet the rest of the task group in Subic, P.I. Then we went to Singapore, Hong Kong and Sasabo, JA. We hit Pearl Harbor for the Tiger Cruises then home to San Dog. A nine month deployment that went around the world. What a great cruise. It will never again be duplicated.
