USS Gearing (DD-710)

• Namesake: USS Gearing (DD-710) was named after Rear Admiral Henry Chalfant Gearing, a distinguished officer in the United States Navy who served during World War I. • Lead Ship of Her Class: USS Gearing was the lead ship of the Gearing-class destroyers, a class that ultimately included 98 ships and represented the pinnacle of US destroyer design during World War II. • Commissioned in 1945: Gearing was commissioned on 3 May 1945, just months before the end of World War II, and thus missed major combat in that conflict. • Postwar Service: After World War II, USS Gearing served in a variety of roles, including occupation duty in the Far East and operations in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. • Korean War Service: During the Korean War, Gearing provided gunfire support, served on patrol, and escorted carriers as part of United Nations operations. • FRAM Modernization: In the early 1960s, Gearing underwent Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM I), receiving advanced anti-submarine warfare (ASW) equipment such as the ASROC launcher and DASH drone helicopter. • Cuban Missile Crisis: USS Gearing participated in the naval quarantine during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, helping to enforce the blockade against Soviet shipments to Cuba. • Rescue Missions: Gearing was involved in several rescue missions at sea, including aiding distressed merchant vessels and conducting search and rescue operations for downed aviators. • Vietnam War Involvement: During the Vietnam War, Gearing provided naval gunfire support for ground forces and served in the Gulf of Tonkin as part of the US Navy's Seventh Fleet. • Final Fate: Decommissioned on 6 July 1973, USS Gearing was later sunk as a target in 1974, ending nearly three decades of distinguished naval service.