1970-1977
After operating locally out of San Diego into the summer, Wiltsie departed her home port on 27 July 1970. Following stops at Pearl Harbor, Midway, and Guam, she arrived at Subic Bay on 18 August. There, she took on additional .50-caliber machine guns and flak jackets before getting underway on 21 August for the Gulf of Tonkin.
Relieving Gurke (DD-783) three days later as picket for Bainbridge (DLGN-25) on TF 77's northern SAR/ PIRAZ station, Wiltsie operated on station until 9 September. During that assignment, the ship provided in-flight refueling services to ship and shore-based helicopters standing ready to rescue downed aircrews. Although the ship originally headed for Kaohsiung for upkeep, the track of Typhoon Georgia resulted in a re-routing to Subic Bay.
Departing Luzon on 18 September, Wiltsie sailed for regions II and III of South Vietnam to perform 22 days of gunfire support duty to assist operations of the United States 1st Air Cavalry Division; the 1st Australian Task Force, South; and an ARVN battalion. During the deployment on the "gun line"—her first since 1967—Wiltsie fired 3,365 rounds of 5-inch ammunition before she departed the station on 11 October and headed for Taiwan for rest and recreation at Keelung.
While there, Wiltsie was preparing to move on to Japan when urgent orders arrived on the evening of 19 October to report back to the "gun line." Typhoon "Joan" had damaged another destroyer severely enough to limit her ability to fight, so Wiltsie was substituted. Arriving at her station in the Gulf of Thailand on the morning of 23 October, Wiltsie supported the ARVN 21st Division with gunfire, shelling communist troop concentrations, gun positions, and supply lines for five days, expending 485 rounds of 5-inch projectiles.
Returning to Subic Bay, she offloaded the special equipment taken on board for the "gunline" deployments—flak jackets, .50-caliber machine guns (for use against possible sappers or small boats), and "pool radio equipment"—and departed the Philippines on 20 January, bound for the United States. After stopping en route at Guam, Midway, and Pearl Harbor, Wiltsie arrived at San Diego on 11 February.
During the ensuing year, Wiltsie remained on the coast of southern California, for the most part at San Diego. In March and April, she served plane guard duty for Oriskany and Enterprise (CVA-65); and, in June, she entered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard for an overhaul which lasted until mid-November 1971.
On 19 February 1972, the destroyer was notified that, effective 1 July, she would be assigned to the Naval Reserve Force and based at San Francisco for training duty. While she was in the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard preparing for her new role, however, she received word on 22 May that—instead of beginning reserve duty in July—she would head back to the Far East for her 19th deployment in the western Pacific.
On 25 July, Wiltsie sailed for the Orient in company with Meyerkord (DE-1058) and Lang (DE-1060) and touched at Pearl Harbor, Midway, and Guam before arriving at Subic Bay on 16 August.
Refueling and rearming from Ashtabula (AO-51) on the 29th, Wiltsie headed north, for Japan, sidestepping Typhoon "Kate" en route. She reduced her speed to 12 knots (22 km/h) in the worsening weather conditions before putting into Buckner Bay, Okinawa, to refuel on 2 November before again setting out for Sasebo. The next morning, while underway and approaching the coast of Kyushu, Fire Control Technician 3d Class Bernhardt L. Olsen was swept over the side. Wiltsie, joined by Richard B. Anderson, and the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force vessels Asagunmo, Makiguma, and Hic-kugo, conducted a day-long search for her missingsailor but came away empty-handed. A few days later, his body was discovered washed up on a nearby island.
Later departing Sasebo on 6 November, she served as screen for King as a Peacetime Aerial Reconnaissance Program (PARPRO) picket in the Sea of Japan from the 8th to the 10th, before returning to Sasebo. Shifting to Korean waters for a port visit to Pusan, South Korea, from 27 to 30 November, and replenishing at Sasebo, Wiltsie served a second tour as PARPRO picket ship for Halsey (DLG-23) from 30 November to 6 December.
Subsequently returning again to Sasebo to replenish, Wiltsie refueled at Keelung and spent Christmas at Hong Kong before shifting to the Philippines where she spent the remainder of 1970. Early in 1971, the destroyer returned to Vietnamese coastal waters to render gunfire support for South Vietnamese army units between 4 and 18 January 1971.
Undergoing four days of upkeep and repairs alongside Jason (ARH-1), Wiltsie prepared for another "gun line" mission off the Vietnamese coast. The destroyer loaded the extra equipment necessary for her specialized support role—flak jackets for exposed personnel, .50-caliber machine guns, and special radio equipment for contacting shore units calling for gunfire support. Wiltsie departed Subic Bay on 21 August.
On 23 August, Wiltsie became part of TG 75.9, operating off the Northern Military Region I. While providing gunfire support for Operation "Lam Son 72", the destroyer fired some 1,803 rounds of 5-inch shells to support the ARVN 147th Brigade in efforts to destroy enemy forces in their area. Typhoon "Elsie", which was approaching near the DMZ, temporarily suspended Wiltsie's gunfire support operations while she sidestepped the tropical disturbance by moving to safer waters. Resuming her operations after three days of typhoon evasion, Wiltsie returned to the "gun line" and supported ARVN operations around Quang Tri City. Ordered to proceed south on 6 September, Wiltsie departed the waters off northern South Vietnam to fire gunnery missions supporting the 2d ARVN Division in the vicinity of Chu Lai.
Terminating her operations supporting the 2d ARVN Division to shift to interdiction of waterborne logistics craft and surveillance of merchant ships in the Hon La anchorage in North Vietnam, Wiltsie found diversified operations and hostile fire in store for her. Her 5-inch guns wreaked havoc on storage dumps, coastal defense sites, radar installations, and supply routes. On 14 September, she spotted a crippled A-7 Corsair plunging into the Gulf of Tonkin and rescued the pilot from the water.
Two days later, she conducted a single-ship raid against a bridge on a major North Vietnamese supply route. During the action, she came under fire from North Vietnamese shore batteries that fired some 70 rounds at the destroyer. This was the only time that the ship came under hostile fire in Vietnam. The next day, Wiltsie and two other ships conducted a "reactive strike" on the coastal defense site, pounding it with 5-inch gunfire. Supply route and waterborne supply interdiction continued thereafter until Wiltsie, relieved by Henry W. Tucker (DD-875), departed the area on the 20th.
Returning to Subic Bay for upkeep on the 21st, the destroyer remained in port until 27 September when she sailed for the Gulf of Thailand for gunnery support duties off the west coast of Vietnam. Between late September and early November, Wiltsie operated on station in the Gulf of Thailand. During the gunfire operations, she expended 1,940 rounds of 5-inch into the U Minh forest, supporting the ARVN 21st Division. Gunfire direction was provided by air spotting, but the dense foliage of the U Minh forest often prevented assessment of results.
In addition to her gunfire support duties, Wiltsie was given the task of detecting and tracking waterborne supply traffic. Supported in this operation by P-3 Orion patrol planes, Wiltsie discouraged the enemy from attempting supply by sea along the western coastline of South Vietnam. Henry W. Tucker relieved Wiltsie on 2 November.
After a week of upkeep at Singapore, Wiltsie resumed gunfire support operations in Military Region I near the DMZ. She spent a week firing round-the-clock gunfire support missions before joining Saratoga (CVA-60) with TU 72.0.1, as plane-guard destroyer. Between 21 November and 8 December, she escorted the attack carrier as she launched air strikes against enemy forces ashore. In the predawn hours of 28 November, an A-6 Intruder crashed upon takeoff; and Wiltsie proceeded to the scene of the accident, pinpointing the location and vectoring rescue helicopters from Saratoga to the point. One of the aircraft's crew was rescued quickly and returned to his carrier, but the other pilot, despite the combined efforts of Bainbridge and helicopters from America (CVA-66), was never found.
Wiltsie proceeded to Hong Kong for rest and recreation and to Kaohsiung for an upkeep alongside Bryce Canyon (AD-36). During this availability, all four of her 5-inch guns were rebarreled due to the excessive wear experienced during her gunfire support deployments. The ship departed Taiwan on 27 December to return to the "gun line."
Arriving on station two days later, she resumed her operations off Quang Tri City, south of the DMZ, and continued these operations until 22 January 1973, when she was detached from TG 75.9 to proceed to Yokosuka. Prom there, the ship sailed for home, arriving at her new home port, San Francisco, on 16 February.
However, Wiltsie's time on the west coast was comparatively brief for—following a yard period at Willamette Shipyard, Richmond, California—she got underway again for WestPac on 16 June 1973. Arriving at Yokosuka, via Adak, Alaska, on 28 June, the destroyer shifted to Kure before conducting ASWEX 7-73 with Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force units from 9 to 12 July. Moving to Kaohsiung on 22 July, the ship participated in Exercise "Sharkhunt II" with Chinese units before spending an in-port period at Keelung from 28 July to 1 August.
Wiltsie returned home via Pearl Harbor, arriving at San Francisco on 30 August. She participated in COMPTUEX 11-73 in October and served as plane guard for Coral Sea in local operations off the California coast in December. The destroyer continued the routine of local operations out of San Francisco for the remainder of her active service, embarking Naval Reserve units for active duty training on cruises off the west coast and to Hawaii and, on occasion, serving as escort vessel for submarines on their sea trials out of Mare Island.
Wiltsie (DD-716) received nine battle stars for Korean War service and seven for Vietnam.
As of 2006, no other ship in the United States Navy has been named Wiltsie.
Decommissioning preparations began at Alameda in November 1975, and Wiltsie was decommissioned there on 23 January 1976. Simultaneously struck from the Navy List, the veteran of Korean War and Vietnam service was transferred, via sale, to Pakistan.
Transferred on 29 April 1977, the destroyer was reactivated and overhauled during 1977. Renamed Tariq (D.165), the ship reached Pakistan in mid-1978 to commence her active service with the Pakistani Navy.
Tariq became the flagship of Pakistani Navy on 25 January 1990 and renamed Nazim. She was decommissioned by Pakistan Navy and given to Maritime Security Agency for service as MSS nazim, its 'on sea' headquarters. The ship is moored some km away from karachi harbour, painted 'white'. it is non-ops, hasn't been moved in years. it is the flagship of the Maritime security agency (MSA).
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