USS Cone (DD-866) - History

History

Cone's first cruise, between 12 February and 9 April 1946, was a visit to Portsmouth, England. After a week at Newport, R.I., she sailed again on an extensive goodwill tour to ports of both northern and southern Europe, welcoming visitors at each city, returning to Newport 24 October. She operated along the east coast and in the Caribbean from her home port, Norfolk, until the summer of 1947, when she carried midshipmen on a training cruise to northern Europe.

Continuing training and service activities along the east coast and in the Caribbean when not deployed, Cone served her first tour of duty with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean in 1948, joining the United Nations Palestine Patrol for a time. She returned to the Mediterranean in 1949, and later that year crossed the Arctic Circle on maneuvers. East coast and Caribbean operations and another 6th Fleet tour occupied Cone in 1950. Her 1951 Mediterranean cruise was highlighted by a visit by Winston Churchill at Venice on 9 September, and. by Cone's transportation of the United States and British Ambassadors to Greece on a diplomatic call on the monasteries of Mount Athos. She served again in the Mediterranean in 1952, and on 28 August 1953, cleared Newport for a cruise around the world, sailing by way of Panama, San Diego, Pearl Harbor, Midway, and Yokosuka to join TF 77 on patrol off Korea, and continuing home with calls at Hong Kong, Bahrein, Port Said, Naples, Villefranche, and Lisbon, returning to Norfolk 9 April 1954.

From September to November 1954, Cone sailed to join other NATO navies in antisubmarine training off Ireland and in Operation "Blackjack," then called briefly at Mediterranean ports. Nineteen fifty-five found her concentrating on air defense exercises and acting as planeguard for carriers. In 1956, she joined in NATO exercises in the Mediterranean, returning home in June. Alerted during the Suez Crisis, she joined a task force which sailed to the eastern Atlantic to stand by, then called at Lisbon and returned home when its services were not needed. In 1958 and 1959-60 Cone served with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean; through the remainder of the 1960s, she conducted exercises in the Caribbean, operated locally from her new home port, Charleston, S.C., and visited northern European waters during NATO maneuvers.

1981-1982, the Cone's two twin mount guns went through a complete overhaul, with assistance from Charleston's SIMA, and of course some select parts from the decommed destroyer Laffey, which is moored at Patriot's Point museum facilities in Charleston. note; (the Laffey was the experimental ship used in the movie Philadelphia experiment). Gunnersmates Eastwood and Larson brought the deteriorating condition of the gunmounts back to original status, both in cosmetic, and operational capabilities. When pulling in to Savanah, Georgia, it was thought that a gun salute would be appropriate as the ship passed the waterfront with the crowds all standing in the majesty of the old cotton warehouses converted into shops, restaurants, bars, etc., and of course it was St. Patty's day 1982, so Gunnersmate Eastwood painted a large 3 leafed clover on the forward gunmount on both sides. There was also smoke grenades (green smoke) that were put in the boilers to make the stacks look like they were steaming green smoke, but something tragic happen, when the guns went off, from the decks it looked like the people were just going crazy like at a rock concert, so, lt cmdr. Hard weapons div head had us fire another round, same reaction from the crowd, then all of a sudden the gun capt. said silence. Well, what we found out later was the percussion from the guns were echoing off the tall forest on the other side of the river, and giving a double wammy to the glass in the renovated 3-4 stories high cotton warehouses, the people cheering and enjoying the festivities, were people scammering for their lives, and many with nowhere to go but in the drink (Savanah river), because shards of glass was dropping on them from above.