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USS Davidson

United States Navy Cold War-era destroyer escort/frigate

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

USS Davidson (FF-1045) was a Garcia-class destroyer escort, and later a frigate, in the United States Navy. She was named for Vice Admiral Lyal A. Davidson. Davidson was commissioned with the US Navy from 1965 to 1988 and served with the Brazilian Navy from 1989 to 2002. Davidson sank while under tow to be scrapped in India circa in 2005.

01History

The keel for USS Davidson was laid down 30 September 1963 at Avondale Shipyards. The ship was launched and christened 2 October 1964, with Mrs. Lyal A. Davidson, widow of the ship's namesake, as ship sponsor. Davidson was commissioned on 7 December 1965 in Charleston, South Carolina. She was homeported in Pearl Harbor. She deployed to the Western Pacific in support of the Vietnam War. She was redesignated, along with the rest of her class, as a frigate in 1975 with the new hull number FF-1045.

Davidson deployed from Pearl Harbor on her first Western Pacific cruise on 18 April 1967. The ship made port calls to Yokosuka, Japan, Chinhae, Korea, Sasebo, Japan, Subic Bay, Philippines, Hong Kong, Bang Saen, Thailand and Bangkok, Thailand. The ship served in the waters off Vietnam supporting aircraft carriers at Yankee Station and providing naval gunfire support elsewhere off the coast. Davidson returned to Pearl Harbor 23 October 1967.

Davidson departed Pearl Harbor on 23 July 1982. The ship made port calls to Maizuru, Japan, Sasebo, Japan, Pusan, Korea, Subic Bay, Philippines, Tacloban, Philippines, Sattihip, Thailand, Hong Kong and Kagoshima, Japan. Davidson returned to Pearl harbor 28 January 1983.

Davidson in 1967, before addition of the helicopter hangar.
Davidson in 1967, before addition of the helicopter hangar.

02Military awards and honors

Unit awards and campaign medals Eligibility dates
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal 19-27 Apr 1969, 20 Sep-5 Oct 1971
Combat Action Ribbon 26 Apr 72
Meritorious Unit Commendation 24 Oct 1968, 2 May 1969, 17 Apr-4 Nov 1972
Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation

(Gallantry Cross Medal Color With Palm)

11-15 Jan 1969, 03-16 Apr 1969
Vietnam Service Medal 1967: 22-31 May, 03-06 Jun, 13-28 Jun, 19-31 Jul, 08-19 Aug, 11 Sep-6 Oct;

1968: 02-15 Nov, 28 Nov-19 Dec;
1969: 05-21 Jan, 06 Feb-22 Mar, 02-16 Apr;
1970: 13 Jun-3 Jul, 12-28 Jul, 19 Aug, 3 Sep, 11-13 Sep, 26 Sep-14 Oct;
1971: 28 Jul-9 Aug, 17 Aug-2 Sep, 12-28 Nov;
1972: 26 Apr-22 May, 01 Jun-15 Jul, 28 Jul-26 Aug, 09 Sep-19 Oct.

Navy Expeditionary Medal 26 Apr-4 Aug 1980
Navy "E" Ribbon 1 Jan 1982, 30 Jun 1983

03Brazilian service

On 8 December 1988, Davidson was decommissioned. She was transferred to Brazil and commissioned 25 July 1989 as Paraiba (D28). She was decommissioned from the Brazilian Navy on 26 July 2002.

She sank as she was being towed to India to be scrapped, along with the former Sample.

Watch videos about USS DavidsonExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article USS Davidson, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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