In March 1964, BERKELEY made her first deployment to the Western Pacific as an operational unit of the U.S. SEVENTH Fleet. She was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for the role she played in the Tonkin Gulf PT boat incident, the first attack on U.S. warships operating in the gulf, which made her the first Guided Missile Destroyer to be awarded this commendation.
During her second deployment in 1966, BERKELEY participated in a SAR mission involving an F-4G and an HU-16 Albatross in the gulf between Hon Me Island and the North Vietnam coast. During the rescue effort, BERKELEY silenced enemy batteries the from the coast with accurate counterbattery fire.
The period of 1967-1970 proved to be very busy years for BERKELEY as she was repeatedly called to action in the Vietnam War. During these deployments, she participated in numerous Naval Gunfire Support missions, mostly in response to coastal gun fire.
BERKELEY's last deployment to the Western Pacific during the Vietnam era began with just 72 hours notice in April 1972. During this cruise, she was directly involved in the mining of Haiphong Harbor, providing a protective barrage of fire while carrier based aircraft covered the harbor with mines. During half an hour of receiving enemy fire from shore gun emplacements, BERKELEY delivered over 280 five-inch rounds before clearing the harbor at 32 knots. For the entire deployment she expended over 11,000 rounds of 5"/54 ammunition.
Following two routine deployments in 1974 and 1976, BERKELEY made her next deployment in 1979. She was part of the USS KITTY HAWK (CV-63) Task Group which was dispatched to the Arabian Sea in response to the Iranian occupation of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. For her participation in the event, BERKELEY received the Navy Expeditionary Medal.
In 1981, BERKELEY participated in exercises with the Royal Thai Navy and again operated with the Kitty Hawk Battle Group, patrolling the waters of the Indian Ocean. During this deployment, BERKELEY was awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal for picking up two groups of Vietnamese refugees.
Following an extensive overhaul BERKELEY deployed in March 1984, her eleventh since being commissioned. During this deployment she participated in Operation Team Spirit '84, a joint exercise with the South Korean Navy.
BERKELEY again deployed in July 1988 with the New Jersey Battle Group and made port calls in South Korea and along the eastern coast of Australia. While in Sidney, BERKELEY participated in the Sydney Harbor Naval Salute in celebration of Australia's Bicentennial Anniversary.
The 1989-90 deployment was BERKELEY's final deployment to the Western Pacific as part of the USS ENTERPRISE Carrier Battle Group. The highlights of this cruise included participation in PACEX '89, the largest peacetime naval operation since World War II, and joint operations with the Omani Navy. This latter operation resulted in the awarding of the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.
Following the last Western Pacific Deployment, BERKELEY carried out numerous counter-narcotics and law enforcement patrols in support of national commitments and participated in many public affairs port visits.
In 1991 BERKELEY visited Portland, Oregon two times. The first for the Portland Rose Festival which was particularly significant because BERKELEY's first Rose Festival appearance was in June 1963, where she was chosen to be the flagship for Commander, Cruiser-Destroyer Flotilla Three. The last official tasking of BERKELEY was to return to Portland in December as the Navy's representative for the fiftieth commemoration of Pearl Harbor Day.
Most of the year 1992 was spent preparing the ship for turnover to the Hellenic Navy.
For more extensive details of Berkeley's history visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Berkeley_(DDG-15)
In this link there are about a hundred links within the text to connect with more detailed information. A visit is highly recommended.
During BERKELEY's commissioned service the ship was awarded the following decorations:
(Ribbon mount bar shown in the order of precedence)
