1980s USS Badger (FF-1071)

1 1980s

1.1 1981–83
1.2 1984–85
1.3 1986–89

1980s

badger test-firing harpoon anti-shipping missile in 1980.

badger remained @ subic less week; got underway on 21st, bound hawaii in company brewton , rathburne. stopped fuel @ guam , midway before arriving in pearl harbor on 4 october. following post-deployment standdown, frigate resumed local operations out of pearl late in december. on 7 january 1980, badger began seven-week availability @ pearl harbor naval shipyard. repairs completed on 27 february, , began sea trials in local area. on next 6 months, badger went through usual trials , certifications types of exercises , drills. in mid-august, began pre-deployment training carrier task group formed around uss ranger (cva-61). training complete, task group returned pearl harbor on 23 september final liberty call before heading far east.

on 26 september, badger departed pearl harbor in company ranger task group bound extended assignment 7th fleet. warships entered subic bay on 15 october, , badger began 10-day availability. late in evening of 26th, put sea rendezvous rest of ranger task group. on 30 october, ships began transit of strait of malacca and, next day, entered indian ocean, appearance of task group in indian ocean reflecting seizure of american embassy in tehran iranian militants year before , holding of embassy personnel hostages. though task group never entered persian gulf, training evolutions kept within rapid steaming time of troubled area. badger , task group remained in indian ocean through end of year , 1981 conducting intensive training of types including multilateral exercises allied navies.

1981–83

iran s release of american hostages occurred on 19 january 1981, badger , task group assigned, continued training evolutions in indian ocean 8 weeks thereafter. on 11 march, group retransited strait of malacca , left indian ocean behind. warships reentered subic bay on 23 march, , badger began 12-day upkeep. under month later on 16 april, ranger task group put sea return hawaii. after 12 days @ sea, frigate reentered home port on 28 april. during month of may, warship combined customary post-deployment standdown period preparations periodic visit inspection , survey team. after team s visit in june, badger resumed normal training duty in hawaiian operating area. employment lasted through summer , ended in september entry pearl harbor naval shipyard overhaul.

the period in ‘yard occupied badger remainder of 1981 , first quarter of 1982. did not put sea again until late may when began refresher training, inspections, examinations, , certifications. on, frigate busied herself never-ending cycle of readiness exercises , drills punctuated usual material inspections , proficiency examinations. continued engaged rest of 1982 , first 5 weeks of 1983. on 8 february 1983, badger embarked on six-week cruise west coast in company other desron 25 units: uss cochrane (ddg-21), uss gray (ff-1054), , uss lang (ff-1060). after completing comptuex, readiex, , naval gunfire support requalification, badger returned hawaii on 21 march , began month of preparations overseas movement. frigate stood out of pearl harbor uss elliot (dd-967) , uss brooke (ffg-1) on 24 april. 3 warships carried out several exercises near kauai on pacific missile range before beginning voyage far east on 26th.

after passage included variety of drills , exercises , five-day layover @ guam short availability, badger reached manila on 16 may 1983. underway again on short notice, leaving behind 52 men had been on leave , liberty @ time of sailing, carried out surprise asw operations west of subic bay between 18th , 20th, retrieving 4 of men via aircraft carrier uss coral sea (cv-43) on latter date, , headed liberty call @ hong kong, remainder of men left behind @ hurried departure joined via command ship uss blue ridge (lcc-19). @ sea on 27 may, warship conducted further asw work in south china sea until end of month. badger made short stop @ subic bay fuel on 1 june , set out japan. took part in amphibious exercise along way near okinawa before arriving in yokosuka on 16 june. spent 8 days in repairs @ yokosuka , set course south china sea carried out surveillance missions until latter part of july. badger returned subic bay made voyage repairs , requalified in naval gunfire support on nearby tabones range. on 27 july, headed yokosuka underwent still more repairs during first 10 days of august.

badger returned sea on 11 august 1983, , took surveillance duty again, time in sea of japan. concluded assignment on 2 september , shaped course sasebo, received orders following day proceed north in wake of tragic downing, soviet fighter, of korean air lines flight 007 on sakhalin island on 1 september. rear admiral william a. cockell, commander, task force 71, , skeleton staff, embarked in badger on 9 september via lamps helo wakanai, japan, further transfer destroyer elliot assume duties officer in tactical command (otc) of search , rescue (sar) effort. during forenoon watch on 17 september, however, badger s embarked sh-2f helicopter hsl-37 (detachment 2) went down @ sea; uscgc munro (whec-724), however, promptly rescued four-man crew water. badger ended part in kal 007 sar effort on 20th , reached yokosuka on 21st prepare voyage hawaii. journey began on 23 october , included participation in exercise battle week 84-1 followed visit nearby apra, guam, before badger managed return home on armistice day 1983. admiral william j. crowe, jr., commander in chief, u.s. pacific command, visited ship on 29 november , congratulated ship s officers , men on recent deployment, emphasizing role during kal 007 sar operation. post-deployment leave , upkeep , holiday standdown, broken brief period underway on 20 , 21 december escort uss swordfish (ssn-579) operated locally, kept badger in port @ pearl rest of 1983.

1984–85

badger got underway first time in 1984 on 9 january when put sea 3 days of tests , training uss omaha (ssn-692). following inspection , survey gauge fitness further service, began two-month restricted availability. on 21 march, finished repair work , launched succession of post-availability trials, inspections, examinations, , certifications continued through middle of june. after came refresher training in local operating area until late july. on 20th, badger stood out of pearl in company uss joseph strauss (ddg-16) , amphibious squadron (phibron) 5 6 weeks of drills , exercises in waters along west coast. returned hawaii @ end of august , then, except 17 days in drydock between 28 september , 15 october, spent september , october engaged in normal operations in hawaiian waters.

during last week in october, badger took part in first phase of major fleet exercise pair of carrier task groups built around uss constellation (cv-64) , uss carl vinson (cvn-70). after spending period 2 6 november in port @ pearl harbor, returned sea conclude exercise , move on far east 7 weeks of additional exercises. travelling carl vinson task group, participated in series of training evolutions conducted in such diverse places marianas, in philippine sea, , in japanese waters. badger completed part in exercises in december and, after visit yokosuka, japan, set out on voyage hawaii on 13th in company joseph strauss. 2 warships reentered pearl harbor on 22 december, , badger spent rest of 1984 in port.

badger in heavy seas in 1985.

following unusually brief standdown, badger resumed operations in 1985. put sea on 10 january two-week cruise conduct operations in area in eastern pacific two-thirds of way oahu northern california coast. returned hawaii mission on 24 january , settled more 2 months of local operations out of pearl harbor. then, after special assignment in vicinity of midway island in april, badger completed four-week restricted availability @ pearl harbor. on 11 may, frigate headed eastern pacific once more. time, however, made way west coast , took part in several exercises conducted in southern california operating area. concluding four-week absence, badger returned oahu on 14 june , began preparations deploy overseas.

after 6 weeks of getting ready, badger stood out of pearl harbor on 2 august , joined orient-bound task group built around uss kitty hawk (cv-63)) next evening. exercise-filled, 17-day passage philippines ended on 19th @ subic bay badger began 5 days of repairs , meetings before heading duty in indian ocean , arabian sea on 24 august. along way, , uss horne (cg-30) parted company task group transit malacca strait , conduct exercise merlion 85 units of singapore navy on 29 , 30 august. 2 warships rejoined task group in bay of bengal on 1 september and, after recovering debris helicopter crash, resumed voyage arabian sea. badger reached patrol area in northern arabian sea on 10 september , began 4 weeks of duty on station. in october, made five-day port visit @ mombasa , sailed arabian sea, completed tender availability alongside uss ajax (ar-6) @ al masirah island. in november, called @ karachi, pakistan, goodwill visit , carried out asw exercise units of pakistani navy. on 17 november, rejoined kitty hawk task group again south of sri lanka on way subic bay. task group remained @ subic 6 days before setting out on voyage hawaii on 1 december.

1986–89

badger on midshipmen s summer training cruise in 1986.

reaching pearl harbor on 12 december 1985, badger spent rest of year , first weeks of 1986 in port engaged, @ first, in post-deployment , holiday standdown and, later, carrying out six-week availability. put sea first time after return on 1 february participate in readiness exercises near kauai. similar training activities in local operating area kept busy until second week in april. @ time, badger stood out of pearl harbor six-week goodwill cruise south pacific. during voyage, called @ pago pago , apia in samoan islands, nukualofa , vavau in tonga islands, , funafuti in tuvalu islands before returning hawaii way of apia. warship arrived in pearl harbor on 12 may , began four-week period of relative inactivity in port. in june, put sea participate in phase of multinational exercise rimpac 86 , returned oahu on 14th prepare extended training cruise west coast. on 23 june, badger embarked on seven-week round of exercises punctuated visits west coast ports constituted eastpac 86. during space of time, visited vancouver in british columbia , california ports of san francisco , san diego before returning hawaii on 9 august.

badger launching sh-2 seasprite helicopter during anti-submarine warfare exercises in 1986.

for remainder of 1986, warship went sea rarely. carried out asw exercises late in august , spent 5 weeks in maintenance availability. returned sea in mid-october engineering drills , again in november more of same , complete propulsion plant certification examination. when reentered pearl harbor on 14 november, badger started preparing three-month drydocking began on 8 december. although refloated on 2 march 1987, did not resume active service 2 more months. repair work continued through march , during first 2 weeks of april; and, although returned sea on 2 occasions during second part of april, brief sea trials. badger took more active schedule late in may helicopter landing qualifications on 20th , 21st , evolutions @ sea during last days of month in connection material readiness inspection. in june, frigate resumed normal schedule of local training operations , continued engaged rest of 1987.

badger continued carry out training missions in hawaiian operating area 1988. late in march, embarked on series of battle readiness exercises carried out during four-week cruise west coast. warship returned pearl harbor assignment @ end of april , spent following 5 weeks in port. resumed local training missions on 9 june, lasted less fortnight. on 22 june, badger stood out of pearl harbor on way far east part of task group built around carl vinson. though made of crossing task group, badger did not remain part of throughout deployment. parted company unit on 4 july , headed japan, arriving in yokosuka on 16th. after 5 days of repairs , upkeep, frigate set sail philippines on 22 july. reached subic bay on 27th remained 3 days, putting sea again on 30th bound singapore. visit singapore, however, proved brief one, shortened orders on 6 august rescue vietnamese refugees in vicinity of spratly islands. on 9th, badger took on board 57 survivors of group had numbered 104 , sailed philippines.

the warship disembarked refugees @ subic bay on 10th and, after several days of upkeep, set out japan again. during remainder of august , first part of september, badger called @ succession of japanese ports. on 12 september, put sea yokosuka 2 weeks of operations in east china sea task group formed around midway. visited pusan, south korea, on 28 , 29 september, before returning sea 2 weeks of surveillance operations in sea of japan. in mid-october, frigate visited chinhae, korea, 5 days , carried out 4 days of training units of south korean navy. next came call each @ pusan in late october , @ hong kong in november. badger returned subic bay on 11 november , made preparations voyage hawaii. last 7th fleet assignment of navy career came end on 22 november when embarked on final western pacific passage.

the warship returned pearl harbor on 6 december 1988 , post-deployment standdown lasted until 17 january 1989. resumed local operations in hawaiian islands on schedule kept moderately busy through end of may. on 30 may, frigate began availability civilian contractor lasted 4 months. badger completed repairs on 24 september, carried out usual trials , examinations in october, , resumed normal training missions out of pearl harbor in november. remained occupied rest of 1989 , 1990.