USS Buchanan (DDG-14) Sinking (SINKEX), RIMPAC 2000
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 31 авг 2021
- On 13 June 2000, the guided missile destroyer USS Buchanan (DDG-14) took part in the RIMPAC 2000 (Rim of the the Pacific) multinational exercises as a target ship at the Pacific Missile Range Facility, northwest of the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
American, Canadian and Australian forces tried to sink her for more than 24 hours. She took three hits from Hellfire missiles fired from SH-60 LAMPS helicopters, three hits from Harpoon missiles fired from a US P-3 Orion sub hunter and the HMAS Adelaide (FFG-01) and a massive hit from a GBU-24 2400 lb laser-guided bomb dropped by an RAAF F-111. An MK-48 torpedo fired by the USS Buffalo (SSN-715) was to have been the coup de grace, but the torpedo malfunctioned.
Buchanan stayed afloat all night.
On the morning of 14 June 2000, a US Navy EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) Team boarded her and placed 200 pounds of C-4 plastic explosive in key locations in the stern of the ship. Sixteen minutes and three seconds after igniting the time fuse, the USS Buchanan gracefully in a bow down attitude slide below the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
At 21:26:30Z (11:26:30 AM HST) on 14 June 2000, Davy Jones piped her aboard at her final resting place at 22:54.38N, 160:27.68W, 64 nautical miles northwest of Kauai in 2,540 fathoms (15,240') of water.
(Adapted from: "The Final Mission", www.uss-buchanan-ddg14.org/.)
The video and audio are courtesy of the Pacific Missile Range Facility Public Affairs Office, with editing by Bruce Webster, son of Rear Admiral David A. Webster, first Commanding Officer of the USS Buchanan (February 1962 - August 1963).
To see the ship in its heyday, visit • USS Buchanan - DDG-14 ...
USS Buchanan, DDG-14
Keel Laid: 23 April 1959
Launched: 11 May 1960
Commissioned: 7 February 1962
Decommissioned: 1 October 1991
Sunk as Target: 14 June 2000
I was a machinist mate, aft engine room, on the Buchanan, from June 1968 to February 1971. Two West Pacs, two tours of Nam. Weird seeing it sink. Lots of friends, lots of memories. 53 years ago.
It was sad to watch . I remember Buchanan back in 1973-74 when I was on Benjamin Stoddard DDG-22 . She is also on the Sea Floor Sad .
Ty
She took a lot of punishment and stayed afloat longer than I expected. A tough old girl.
respect from the uk to you sir
#salute
Riker: "Tough little ship"
Worf: "Little???"
This wasn't the first time this tough lady was hit. She was hit in 1968 off the coast of North Vietnam when I was a damage controlman (1967-1968) and again in 1972.
My wife and I were on a guided tour in Hawaii in April 2000 but didn't know she was in the harbor at that time. I would have loved to see her again.
Rest in peace Buchanan. You served your country honorably.
Ed Herman
Yep, hit right in the Mailroom, starboard aft.
Thx for your service! My grandpa was a Major in the ARVN and fought the NVA. He’s gone now from old age but yea.
Bravo Zulu.
HT CV61 84-91
I was on the Buchanan when it was hit in '72 going into Hiaphong Harbor. I was a CS3. (Cook)
The Jack of the Dust had a hard time going into the freezer with a poor soul in a body bag in there.
@@rexmays6302 return to sender 🤣
I spent three and a half years on board the Buchanan as an OS (81-84), rising in rank from OSSN to OS2. She was a tough little ship and a damn good-looking one! I remember going up against Spruance Class destroyers in maneuvering, ASW, and NGFS drills and coming out on top, even though the Spruance destroyers were larger, faster, and were equipped with the (then) state-of-the-art Naval Tactical Data System. There will never be another ship like the Buchanan and I am proud to have served aboard her!
I remember you Scott. I was there then as well. STG2 Martin (82-86). Looks like the first shot went right into my rack down in A/S berthing !!
I was at Hunter's Point and on the Wespac you mentioned. I worked the base galley during Buchanan's overhaul.
Sailing into North Vietnam a shell hit the deck near the aft 54" gun mount and created a big hole while shredding the overhead wires in Supply berthing where I slept. I was in the galley at the time, my GQ assigned station. It was a scary time when the sailor was killed.
I was a 3rd class Commissaryman.
OS on the Strauss, 1977-80. You're right...the Charles F. Adams class were beautiful warships.
Kinda sad...I served on the Mighty Buck from July 1985 through December 1988. MM2 Hole Snipe, Top Watch, Main Control (Engine Room #1). Our berthing was below and a bit aft of Mount 52 (aft 5 inch gun mount, the forward gun is Mount 51)). Main Control was located below the galley and mess decks which was below the ASROC launcher (located amidships between the two stacks). About 10 months in Long Beach Naval Shipyard for a refit. Vancouver BC for the 1986 World Expo. WESTPAC 87/88, underway from San Diego two weeks after the USS Stark got struck by missiles in the Persian Gulf. With the USS Ranger (CV-61) battle group (Battle Group Echo), rendezvous with the USS New Jersey battle group Gonzo Station, North Arabian Sea. Escorted tankers, patrolled the Straights of Hormuz and ventured up into the Persian Gulf with the New Jersey, Bunker Hill, and Lehigh a couple of times just to "look around". Diplomatic mission to Mogadishu, Somalia - man, that was a trippy experience! That big shot that hit the bow took out the area that used to be First Division berthing and gear lockers (bosuns' mates country). Did you know that the Buchanan was the only ship in the US Navy that was authorized to fly the skull and crossbones as the ship's flag? Whenever we used to come into San Diego after successfully passing some inspection or big evolution we'd raise the ship's flag. I used to wonder what folks in downtown San Diego might have thought when they saw this warship cruising into the harbor flying the jolly roger... Great ship, great crew, best BTs on the West Coast, great times, great adventure! I'm glad I served in the Navy, and I'm glad I served aboard the Mighty Buck!
Thank you for your service sir, and thank you for the nice Obit for the USS Buchanan!
Served on the Buchanan similar time as you was a great ship and crew. Great memory.
It's amazing how just muting the volume greatly improves the quality of the whole video.
SAD PROSPECT
Still took a lot to sink it -- A well made ship indeed.
Not really. It was hit with puny weapons to start with. Hellfires aren't really anti ship missiles, and it would take a lot of harpoon missiles to sink a ship like this - they mainly cause casualties and start fires. The harpoon really is obsolete in terms of its size and speed. Best way to sink a ship is with heavyweight torpedos and to finish it off with 2000 lb bombs straight after the torpedo hit. Ironically, the US sub had its Mk.48 malfunction otherwise that would have finished the ship. They should have got an Australian navy submarine to hit it instead - prior to the Australian F111 hitting it with the 2000 pounder. Would have gone down like a bag of lead ballast.
@@iangodfrey4518 Surprised to see Australia still using F-111 G as late at 2000. They could use them now, with the coming sea based war...
@@carrisasteveinnes1596 Retired and buried as land fill. What a disgrace. There were industry plans to upgrade them with fully digital cockpits and HUDS, and source spare airframes from the boneyard to increase their numbers, and to keep them in service to 2020 and beyond. Instead we get the F35 - a piece of shit. You are right about the coming sea war. F111 would have been lethal at that - China laughed when we binned them.
The ship was stripped off anything combustible, materials toxic to marine life etc and zero fuel. If it was not, it would be a very different story.
@@iangodfrey4518 you are right about us needing something better than harpoons
Always hard for an old sailor to see a ship go down. But I guess it was a more noble death than being cut up by the ship breakers. She served the U.S. well up until the very end.
Is it? I don’t know which is more ignominious. I still think back the CV-6 Enterprise, which was sold to scrapers and leaving out the disbelief she couldn’t have been saved as a museum ship I’m not sure wether scrapping her or sinking her like this was the better way. Can’t save all the ships but still.
Or as old navy vets used to say "cut up for razer blades".
exactly how i feel.
@@tarn1135 serving as a target provides value to the Navy. Being scrapped doesn't.
So yes, it is better than scrapping. Anyone saying otherwise never served on a ship.
Not only does using the ship as a target provides valuable live fire weapons training, we also study weapons effects on targets for two purposes. To make better weapons, and to make better ships capable of withstanding weapon hits.
Ultimately, the sacrifice of a ship as a target saves future sailors lives.
@@Cg23sailor nice assumption but whatever moving on. I agree it does help to learn what works and what doesn’t while providing invaluable lessons. Like I said can’t save them all and the choice between scraping and sinking I’m not convinced which is better. I guess you could say that if a ship lasts to the point where that is the question, then she did her duty.
What you just saw wasn't just a rusted hulk of a warship being sunk, it was the home to many a Bluejacket, that spent a big part of their lives protecting American shores and continuing the pride of professional seamanship!👍❤🇺🇸🤝🚢⚓
'NAMVET'70
'Brown water river rat'
As a vet who served on a Arleigh Burke class destroyer, it tears my heart to see another destroyer go down.
She didn't go down without a fight.
She was a tough old bird.
I was stationed on Buchanan in the spring and summer of 1971, while she was in overhaul at Hunter's Point NSY in San Francisco, between A school and NucPwrSchol at MINSY.
We got the old dear up to 35 knots at sea trials, but in initial startup, we parted a 900# superheated steam line in the ER, which severely burned a couple of MMs and put me in the bilge.
She shrugged off the rockets pretty well. Of course, in 1971 while on Yankee Station, she took fire from VC recoilless rifles that killed a couple of Signalmen and blew up the radar mast, so she knew what getting shot at was like.
One of the guys I grew up with was the leading IC electrician on her when I reported aboard. Small world, the Navy.
They couldn't sink her, they had to scuttle her with demo charges.
They don't make them like that anymore
One of the Harpoons hit at an shallow angle, didn't detonate, and broke up. I any fire was likely unspent fuel. I did not see any real damage from it. The torpedo malfunctioned so the most powerful weapon failed. All in all a disappointing performance to my thinking.
Better for failures to happen during training and practice fire than an actual battle...
USS Buffalo failed.
You do have to wonder how reliable these weapons actually would be under true combat conditions if the malfunction rate is this high under essentially ideal conditions. Only 1 harpoon detonated as intended on a stationary target, and the mark 48 torpedo either failed to explode or failed to run correctly. An actual target would be maneuvering and using countermeasures and much harder to hit. I agree that this is a disappointing and concerning performance. I hope all the ordnance expended was the oldest in the inventory, that might explain it.
I was wondering why they didn't load another torpedo and try again. Unless the problem was on the submarine.
@@sheldonpaprota5724 yeah, very poor show, considering the cost of those firecrackers !
I sailed on the Buchanan from Sept 1967- Dec 1968. Made one WestPac cruise. Sonar tech STG3. Took fire from NVA batteries, got a hole in the radar mast,?but no injuries. Lobbed 70 lb projectiles over our troops 100yds for support. Fired at confidential targets and plane guarded several times. I’ll never forget those days!
STG2 Martin on Buchanan '83'-'86
Adams Class. I served on DDG-7. Watching this... Seeing her go down and what it took... Very emotional. Goodbye, Buchanan and all like her. You served us well and we served you well.
I too on H. B. Wilson. Aft engine room.
DDG-7 71-72 RM2
86-89. Hammerin Hank
my dad served on the Henry B also, when it was hit off N Vietnam.
@@leftyo9589 Aye, I served on her for her last years- '88-89. The dents from that missile hit were still on the sky 2 barbette.
Amazing watching a defenceless sitting duck surviving six attacks needing a demolition team to sink a noble ship. imagine if she was fully armed and able to defend herself. Pray for peace.
I'm sure the malfunctioned torpedo from the Submarine was meant to sink it. The demo team was just a backup in case that scenario happened. Torpedoes are pricey and the US Navy doesn't like wasting money when they can avoid it.
Pretty sure the 1st harpoon would have set off the deck gun magazine or come close.
tbf the ship was completely empty, if the gun magazine had ammo in it like wartime conditions the entire bow would've been vaporized in a magazine explosion from the first missile hit. Otherwise its a floating hunk of metal, and unless you manage to land a hit below the waterline nothing's happening to it
Failure is like onions as the USN found out (belatedly) with their Mark 14 torpedo in WW2.
@@andrewzheng4038 Not entirely sure, I mean true the magazine going off would cause more damage, However at the same time technology has advanced since the 2nd World War and we don't exactly have a huge amount of data regarding modern warships experiencing magazine detonations. It's possible that the magazine detonating would send the blast up and out or mitigated Thru some magic of modern naval engineering that we laymen are unaware of. Any naval architects out there able to comment on this?
My dad was a BT on that ship. He had fond memories of that ship and crew. His first tour. Glad to see it was well built.
As a Signalman Second Class (SM2) during the 1980's I was stationed on USS Thach (FFG-43) which was brand new at the time. I had transferred off USS Ranger (CV-61) trying to get a destroyer at 32nd Street San Diego Naval Station. Instead they me sent to a frigate "Fig" as we called them. Always remember the Adams class destroyers parked at Piers 1, 3 and 5. The Buchanan "Buck-a-nan" the Hoel (DDG-13) "Oh well" , the Robison (DDG-12) "Rockin Robbie", the LyndeMcCormick (DDG-8) "Lindy Maru", the Henry B. Wilson (DDG-7) "Henry B", the Berkeley (DDG-15) "Berzerkley" and the Waddell (DDG-24) "Waddle". I loved those ships and would spend many a weekend duty day staring at them through the ships binoculars. They looked like warships! Sleek lines, high bow with guns, missiles, torpedoes and radars bow to stern. They could all do 30 plus knots and had their Vietnam award decorations painted on the bridge wings. With over 300 crewmen onboard they were cramped, but you had enough personnel to do what was necessary in every evolution. My desire was make Signalman First Class (SM1) and get to one of those ships, I wanted to sit up on the Signal Bridge and ride a true greyhound of the sea. I made SM1 in December 89 but was sent recruiting in Chicago for three years. When I came off shore duty in 93, only the Goldsborough (DDG-20) was left out of Pearl Harbor and she was gone the next year. This was a fine way to go for what was the last class of real destroyers. RIP Charles F. Adams class 1960-1994
USS Pigeon ASR-21 on th mole pier in San Diego 90-92 decommissioned in 92 along with a bunch of Adams Class. Henry B Wilson and Hoel decommissioned on the same pier as us.
@@alcarlson3458 Ahh Yes, the Pigeon, remember her being in Long Beach shipyard in 1989 , thought she never came out of there. I was onboard Pigeon in 2003 just before we deployed to Iragi Freedom scavenging parts off her Signal Bridge. The ship was being used for paintball gun training for shipboard security teams.
Kind of sad watching them blow up my dads ship. Chief Gunners Mate Wesley Heldenbrand. Brave man and one hell of a dad.
I am so touched by your comment
Worked with Buchanan late summer of 72 north Vietnam running radar on the Harbor every night. I was on Hanson forward gun mount Buchanan was always to airport when we went in she would turn first and then we would turn after that. Kind of sucks to see her go down like that she took it to North Vietnam and then boys kept going back and nothing would deter them. She was a good ship I later served on Tower DDG 9 they were both great ships. Always had great respect for the crew a Buchanan DDG 14.
Thanks for sharing sir!
I was on the Robison (DDG12) in the 70's and 80's. She is scuttled off the coast of Charleston, SC. And, yes, it is hard to watch this get damaged then sink.
it is very difficult to watch
CICO on Robison Nov 72 through Apr 75
I served as a Sonar Technician on BUCHANAN from November 1969 to August 1971. The ship's 1970 WestPac cruise departed San Diego in July 1970 and stopped in Pearl Harbor, Midway, and Guam en route to Subic Bay and combat support operations in Vietnam. I remember landing jets roaring by in the early morning as we plane guarded behind the "Bonny Dick". I remember watching the big Sea Knight helicopters transporting wounded marines to hospital ship SANCTUARY as we anchored nearby in Da Nang harbor. After port calls in Hong Kong and, across the equator, to Singapore, BUCHANAN returned to San Diego in December 1970. In 1971, BUCHANAN entered overhaul at Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco. My family and I toured the ship at Naval Base San Diego in 1987 as I performed reserve training as a JAG. Good ship, good friends, good memories.
STG2 Martin on Buchanan '83'-'86
I served on USS Robison DDG-12 so the exact same class of ship. They were the last of the old time destroyers. If you search for USS Buchanan on RUclips there are some videos of her in her prime.
Great ships.
So, you are telling me that after 6 direct hits by various weapons, she was still afloat and had to be sunk by EOD. Either the weapons suck or the ship was well built, unlike today's vessels which are destroyed while moored to a pier. Nice. The Navy Hymn is an amazing touch to the end of this video, and much appreciated by this sailor who sailed alongside "The Mighty Buck". And my ship, the USS Durham LKA-114 also was sunk during the same exercise. It is gut-wrenching to see these videos. Home to many a fine sailor these fine Ladies were. Proud to have served aboard.
She was a tough ol' gal, for sure!
To be fair; the harpoons were "defueled" and seemed to be impact only which is probably why the first one ricocheted off the side. The hellfires on the other hand are just tiny in comparison. Also yeah... ships from that era were just built better.
No fuel, no weapons on board -- usually its secondary explosions that sink a warship, if the hits are not below-the-waterline torpedoes.
So what vessel besides the LHA that some arsonist torched and a fire that normally never would have gone down that way (so many safety issues ignored for getting the ship ready for F35s ) ? That's the only at the pier one I ever heard of lately
Wow that man that got lifted off the deck at the stern officially became the last person to have set foot on that ship.
I remember this music from boot camp when I graduated and went to serve on the flight deck of the USS Saratoga.a proud veteran here.
I was on the Berkeley DDG 15 when she was decommissioned. It was hard to watch this as I thought about my old ship.
Sad to watch. I was on the USS John King DDG-3 from 87-88. The thing I liked the most about the Adams Class Destroyers was the fact they had the classic warship look. 5-inch guns fore and aft, twin Tartar Missile launchers aft, ASROC anti-submarine rockets midship, torpedo tubes port and starboard, and simply a beautifully designed hull and superstructure.
my grandfather was assigned to the Lawrence DDG-4, and the Richard E. Bryd DDG-24.
agree, they had a great look, and yet imo were the first truly modern warships.
The Adams class had some great lines indeed. I also was on a Forrest Sherman class DD that was converted to a DDG, USS Parsons DDG-33 out of Japan.
I was on the USS Jonas Ingram DD-938 a Forrest Sherman ASW Mod.
The Forest Sherman’s were last of the 5 inch 38 all gun destroyers. Real Grayhounds .
" Give me a fast ship, for I intend to sail it into harms way ."
John Paul Jones, founder of U.S. Navy.
Thanks for this video.
My father served on her in Vietnam, they sat offshore and fired rounds inland! He got hit with shrapnel from a mortar round and had minor injuries! I still have his dress Blue's! I was only two when we lived in San Diego while he served!
You have to be a sailor to appreciate the Navy hymn and taps when the ship finally goes under the water..And I am a sailor.
I was one of the last Chief Engineers on Manley (DD940) this vessel is very similar..on occasion we got 32 kts. out of her, but it took every thing she had. Normal two boiler max speed was 27 kts.
Blandy here. DD943. You were guys were in Norfolk with us.
Served on an Adams. I'm still steaming boilers, on shore.
@@shortchange26 Also Blandy, May 1965 - Sept 1967, SONAR tech
It's always sad to see a Fighting Ship go down. I was a SM2 (Signalman) on Fletcher, Sumner, Gearing Class Destroyers. Also served on Garcia Class Destroyer Escorts. We Tin-Can Sailors did our best to cover our ground troops in "Nam". I came down with Prostate Cancer fm Agent Orange. 100pct Disabled. Got out in 72. Proud to have been a "Lover, Fighter, and Tin-Can Rider"...🇺🇸
I was on USS Lawrence, DDG4, another of the twin armed Missile Launcher DDGs, Buchanan was the last with the twin armed launchers, they were a nightmare to maintain and did not gain enough in performance to justify the added maintenance of the 2nd missile guide. I too was quite surprised by the amount of damage this fine ship took and stayed afloat. Thank you for the video, it was moving to watch.
That Harpoon hit we didn't get to see video of was devastating. My respect goes out to you men and women that served in our Navy. You couldn't get me on a ship. I can't imagine surviving my ship sinking just to be eaten by a shark. If my tank had been hit and I survived at least I could run. Thank you all for your service and sacrifice.
honored and thank you for your service in the armored world
@@mbferrari308QV Best job I ever had. ✌
Is that what all that damage by the gun mount forward? I was wondering wtf made that hole
The damage forward of the gun mount was done by two AGM-84 Harpoon missiles, in a coordinated attack, fired from almost bow-on to the ship, from two P-3's (one from reserve squadron VP-69, one from active duty squadron VP-1), with the two missiles hitting the forward bow area within seconds of each other.
It’s so sad to watch a ship going down at sea, when I was in the Royal Navy we towed HMS ( I forget her name ) out to sea for sinking by the Tigerfish torpedo, the same type that sank the Belgrano in the Falklands, just sad but informative and necessary for future ship building. Big thanks to all who serve in our seas and oceans
As a former sailor, it's always a little sad seeing these guys go down.
Better like this than the scrapyard.
I served in the U.S. Navy reserve, in my first year I was assigned to the USNR ship the USS Tweety DE 532 I think it was built about 1944. The USS tweety suffered the same fate and now rests on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico near Tampa Fla.
Consider the results if she was manned, maneuvering at top speed, using weapon confusing countermeasures, shooting at the attackers and using damage control repair.
I agree with your opinion, the sinking of ships, destruction of tanks and the shooting down of radio controlled obsolete aircraft are performed like shooting fish in a barrel in demonstrations that are nothing like manned warcraft.
GRIN You probably are young
No ship is an island entire of itself; every ship is a piece of the fleet, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, the America is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any ship's wreck diminishes me, because I am involved in the fleet. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
Brazil
GRIN
Good day!
Uh, Cassandra, I have no idea what you are trying to say, so my best reply is, that if a clod of thine were washed off the decks of the fleet; then twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe. I pray that this clears the matter in thy mind as well as Webster's Dictionary and US Naval Regulations. the@@KRYPTOS_K5
@@mikebrown1926 You are British!!! You read truly good books in your childhood! GRIN
Brazil
@@KRYPTOS_K5 Nope, not British, American from the West bank of the Mississippi River in Missouri.
It’s amazing to see the level of survivability ship builders learned from world war 2. A fletcher would’ve sunk long before this ship did if it suffered the same attack.
The ship was hard to sink simply due to all compartments being sealed tight and no magazine or fuel to detonate/set on fire. Tho, ships sail with repair party on board in case it was hit. The best example of ship survivability being a major factor in preventing a sinking is the USS Yorktown at midway.
@@yamby6709 Or the Enterprise.. Pretty much every other week. Lol
@@blackhawks81H Yup! CV-6 Enterprise, She should've been sunk multiple times but Davy Jones was always too afraid to tell her.
I was beginning to think they would never get her down, and that is without a crew on board fighting to keep it afloat !
Man that was one tough boat.
She took a beating and still refused to go down!!!! Damn good ship!!
I gained my OOW certificate on HOBART, an Australian Adams class. I later took a periscope photo of Buchannon from OTWAY in 84? The Adams were great to drive
I served on USS Dewey DDG 45. Is anyone else watching this, with a sense of pride, and a final tear when she goes down?
She was my first, will always be remembered. MSSR/MS3, FEB 1979-FEB 1983. Fair winds and following seas, shipmates.
STG2 Martin on Buchanan '83'-'86
Fingers is that you???
It's me Schmehl...
Love to hear from you!
I was on the USS Claude V Ricketts DDG-5 as a Corpsman 73-74, the Chief MAA told me our Hull was only 1/4 inch thick!!! Sobering thought...
I believed they were 58 s of inch thick 02 an up were aluminum
Em3 from the USS bunker hill cg-52 here. I think all of our war ships should be used this way. It's a lot better that we learn from them this way rather than cutting them up. Absolutely no disgrace at all.
One of the final crew members onboard DDG-14 ,my first ship ,proud to have served on such a battle tested mean machine after all the others that endured and found a home On U.S.S.BUCHANAN,Jolly Buck.
STG2 Martin on Buchanan '83'-'86
The first ship I served aboard was the USS Merrill DD-976 and she was used as target practice off the coast of Hawaii as well.
I just talked to a guy who served on the Merrill in the 80s guarding oil tankers during the Iran/Iraq war.
Excellent video graphics. Sorry to see the Buchanan go down like that. Guess it's better than being scrap. Served 3 years 8 months on the USS Barney ddg6 as a SM. 1967-1971. Good to know these ddg's were well built. Sorry they didn't save at least one. Adam's class ddg. Beautifully designed. Beautiful to see sailing in calm seas.
I served on an Adams class. The USS Lawrence DDG-4 from '87 to '90. I was an FC2 - Tartar Missile System. That was pretty hard to watch her get mauled like that. Brought back a lot of mostly good memories of my time in the Navy.
Wow, that was one tough ship...
A GREAT SHIP. WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.
Star Spangled Banner in her final moments. Nice touch. That tough old bird outlasted that as well!
With all that, imagine if she was able to fight back and be part a carrier task force. Really impressive, great video!
I bet she was a splendid ol gal. tough to see a Veteran retire but she performed her last mission by training a new generation of Sailors and damn, she took some hits.
I was a hull technician on that ship for almost 20 months from 82 to 83
Farewell Buchanan, and we thank you.
I was a forward fire room BT on the USS Waddell DDG24 from 83-86 and remember steaming with the Buchanan numerous times out of San Diego. The Waddell faced the same fate and was sunk off the coast of Crete by the Greek Navy I believe in 2001.
Nice video! I served on the uss hoel ddg13. This brings back good memories
The old lady refuses to sink without a fight.
That ship is too beautiful to sink. Dang ! Beautiful, beautiful, ship.
I knew our ship wouldn’t go down easy😥
A Warriors Death Shipmate,She Was Our Home And We Know For Sure That She Would Fight For Us And We Would Fight For Her And MAKE IT.
Just a testament to how tough those Charles F Adams class destroyers were built. Beat the crap out of it - and it is still afloat. I was on a Farragust (Coontz) class which was the next class after this one. I would love to see a sinkex for one of them and how it held up. My ship was cut up into razor blades, so she never had the honor of seeing a death at sea.
Was thinking that. An RAAF F111's sunk the North Korean drug freighter Pong Su with similar.. and it sunk pretty quick. Difference between something designed to survive..and one that isn't.
I'm shocked! All those weapons unleashed and that destroyer kept afloat till the very end. She sank with dignity. SUMMARY: 1. Our Harpoons are VERY WEAK. 2. Our torpedoes SUCK. 3. DDG-14 Buchanan is a VERY TOUGH SHIP.
Keep in mind she wasnt loaded with fuel or ammo
AND.... just cuz the ship didn't sink, does not mean it was combat capable after some of those hits.
I think Darthaverage got it right. They were trying not to hit it low and midship, so that the training runs could all be completed.
I was on USS Berkeley DDG 15 fr 1967-1968. Made westpac with Buchanan in TomkinGulf and it is emotional to end the life of this ship like this.
I served on an Adams class. It was really weird to watch one get blasted. I suspect the interior doors and hatches were left open to aid in a more controlled sinking.
The little destroyer that refused to die to the bitter end. Never even in the Navy and that got me a little misty eyed cant lie lol
Two things struck me about your excellent upload... The music is great, and this lil lady was able to take some damage such that it required C4 to put her down...Impressive build design
Now imagine how long she could survive in a live firefight with a full crew on board performing damage control. US Navy vessels are something else, and I’m glad to have been able to serve along side some of the best people I’ve ever met on board.
Ships in a sinkex have all of the volatiles - fuel and explosives - removed prior to the sinkex beginning. This results in them surviving longer than they would in 'reality'. I doubt active damage control would counteract the improvement having the ship empty provides.
They also deliberately order the sorties so the ship can get hit by multiple weapon systems rather than doing something like hitting 'em with torpedoes first and sinking it immediately.
@@LangyMD they also dont get to fight back!
I served on USS Semmes DDG 18 1983-84. My 3rd ship, USS Kinkaid DD 965 went down the same way
The old girl din't want to give up!
Left over WW2 torpedo with the bad firing pins?
I was in 1st Div on USS Robison DDG-12, really creeped me out to see that huge damage to the bow, right underneath Mount 51, that was 1st Div berthing. Then the 2400 lb bomb took out the whole bridge area, where 1st Div stood watch. But better this than razor blades. Another former Robison crewman mentioned it's off the coast of SC, search for "Guide to South Carolina Marine Artificial Reefs" it's a pdf. Robison is listed on page PA-29, you can get the exact longitude and latitude.
The torpedo hit would have been interesting. Hard to believe after all that preparation that it malfunctioned.
Presumably the Harpoons and Paveways were being directed to target the bow (rather than the center-of-mass) in order to leave her afloat as long as possible to get all the sorties in; even without a warhead, the kinetic energy alone from a Harpoon may well have broken her back if it had hit amidships (never mind a Paveway).
I was wondering what was happening. You are right - they needed to get the training runs in before firing the torpedo.
This is how we build them. She took 1 bomb, 5 (various) missiles, 1 torpedo, and it took explosives ordinance disposal to finally bring her down. All this mind you with no battle damage control crews fighting to keep her afloat, and she was sitting still. Imagine what she could have done in a battle
The torpedo malfunctioned and I believe the harpoon broke apart but she took a beating nonetheless
My ship USS Dixie AD-14 had the Buchanan under her wing many times. A fine old girl.
USS Buchanan was definitely one freaking tough broad! I wonder what the damage would have been if the torp hadn't failed?
When they do these types of training, the ships have no fuel in them, so they tend to stay afloat a bit longer. also in actual battle, the Buchanan would be fighting back. The fact the Buchanan took such a beating before finally sinking does tell how tough these ships actually were!
yup lol and just like USS Johnson in ww2
Very moving, an indescribable feeling of loss and impermanence.
I find these videos very interesting especially this one as i was stationed on the USS Berkeley DDG 15 63-67 built in Camdin NJ 1961-62
She took a beating but im sure if she had been full of ammo and fuel it would be a different story
USS Buchanan did not want to be sunk. I think this ship is the 2nd Bismarck. Like Buchanan, Bismarck sank by opening the ship's valves by its crew, who did not sink despite so many hits. Based on today's technology, I think Buchanan is also a legend. I hope he is happy in his new place in the bosom of the ocean. I believe that he lives on his ships. I'm one of those who think so. It's a great video.
I was as a Boatswain Mate on the USS Joseph Strauss DDG - 16 out of Pearl Harbor 78-80 sad to see a ship sinking retired in 94
For all of you lubbers wailing about the cost of this SinkEx, we learn from our mistakes probably more than from our successes.
You can count the opportunities to fire live weapons at a naval target on one hand in a naval career.
And consider that the ordnance employed here was probably at the end of its shelf life. Might as well shoot it, rather than incinerate it, and take the training benefit.
Good comment so many comments here miss the point of the exercise which was not to sink a ship but training. for real situations.
I was wondering how you got this video of the sinking. As I understand that my last ship in the Navy (USS GEARING DD710 as an MM 71-73) was supposed to have been sunk the same way after its decommissioning in 73.Did the Navy film all the ships used as target practice?
Thank you for sharing that. I was a Boatswain's Mate on the "pucky buke", even parked my ass in the Forward Boatwains Locker in the very bow just forward of that big ass hole, for many a day. I slept aft, near the laundry, 1st and 2nd divisions. My Division Officer was Mr Cox, who I heard was also her last Capt, Good for him. I served from Jan '75 - Oct '76.
The one harpoon looked like it passed right through the ship🤣
At what point were the Mk 48 torpedoes launched?
I sailed with the Buchanan in the 80's.
STG2 Martin on Buchanan '83'-'86
Thanks for posting this Bruce. I couldn’t help but to think how devastating it must feel being fired on while underway.
A warrior's death. Sleep well, USS Buchanan.
Bad luck for a destroyer to be named USS Buchanan! The previous USS Buchanan was a WWI era 4-stacker that was Lend Leased to the British Royal Navy in WWII, renamed the HMS Cambelltown, modified to look like a Kriegsmarine torpedo boat, then packed full of explosives, and purposely rammed into the lock gates at St. Nazaire. The explosives (I recall that they were a bunch of depth charges on a timed fuse, then encased in concrete so that they couldn't be disarmed) permanently, at least for the rest of the war, took out the lock gates for the "Normandie Locks", which would have formed the only set of locks that would have made a dry dock big enough to hold the Tirpitz.
Thank You I knew the story of the Cambeltown but not that it had been the Buchanan.
The gang at Vigor sure built her tough; even defenseless, she fought to the end.
Wow!!!! She really took a pounding before going down. Well they don't make ships like that anymore.
I am amazed at how much damage the 2000 lbs. bomb did! Goodbye USS Buchanan you served this country well.
Had the torpedo functioned properly, there woulda been nothing for EOD to do.
Well done, thou good and faithful servant.
Adams Class were real fighting ships not matched until the Arleigh Burkes came along. Buchanan 1982!
STG2 Martin on Buchanan '83'-'86
How many hours did it take?