USS KIRK COMMAND CHANGE JAPAN PORT HISTORIC VIETNAM EVACUATION US NAVY FF 1087 for Sale

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USS KIRK COMMAND CHANGE JAPAN PORT HISTORIC VIETNAM EVACUATION US NAVY FF 1087 For Sale

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USS KIRK COMMAND CHANGE JAPAN PORT HISTORIC VIETNAM EVACUATION US NAVY FF 1087:
$75.00

UNITED STATES SHIP KIRK FF 1087

CHANGE OF COMMAND CEREMONY USS KIRK (FF-1087)

3 AUGUST 1985

2 ORIGINAL PROGRAMS FOR THE CHANGE OF COMMAND CEREMONY FOR USS KIRK, TRANSFERRED TO ITS NEW HOMEPORT OF YOKOSUKA, JAPAN, WITH DESTROYER SQUADRON FIFTEEN, US NAVY. 2 printed programs, 4 and 12 pages (including covers). Very good, crisp, clean condition. USS Kirk was a submarine destroyer, and was involved in the historic evacuation of South Vietnam, at the end of the war.

USS Kirk was a Knox-class destroyer escort, originally designated as DE-1087 and reclassified as a frigate, FF-1087 (1975), in the United States Navy. Her primary mission of ASW remained unchanged. She was named for Admiral Alan Goodrich Kirk. She is in service with the Taiwanese navy as the ROCN Fen Yang (FFG-934).

Her contract was awarded to Avondale Marine on 25 August 1966. Kirk was laid down on 4 December 1970, launched on 25 September 1971 and commissioned on 9 September 1972.

In April 1975 Kirk participated in Operation Eagle Pull, the evacuation of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of Saigon, Vietnam.

As part of the U.S. fleet sent to facilitate the evacuation of Americans from South Vietnam, USS Kirk carried out one of the most significant humanitarian missions in U.S. military history. Commanded by Commander Paul H. (Jake) Jacobs and under the direction of a civilian, Richard Armitage, Kirk rescued the remainder of the South Vietnamese Navy, consisting of 18 ships and tens of thousands of Vietnamese refugees, leading and protecting the flotilla from Vietnamese waters to the Philippines. From there, most of the refugees ultimately emigrated to the United States.

During the evacuation, the Kirk became a makeshift landing pad for a stream of fourteen helicopters flown by South Vietnamese airmen fleeing for their lives with their families and friends on board. Having only a small flight deck, Kirk had nowhere to store the helicopters so the crew pushed all but three overboard into the China Sea. Early one morning while on station, the crew of the Kirk rescued two Marine pilots after their USMC AH-1J Cobra gunship crashed into the ocean near the ship. This was the last helicopter-gunship to be lost in Vietnam. The final refugees the Kirk received were literally tossed out of a hovering Boeing CH-47 Chinook that was too large to land on Kirk. Once the passengers were safely aboard, the pilot steered the craft about 50 yards aft of Kirk\'s stern, and jumped from the hovering helicopter. The craft then crashed into the water over the submerged pilot. He successfully surfaced and, after rescue by Kirk sailors, joined his family on board the American frigate [wiki].

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