USS Holder DD-819 - Documents

Documents from USS Holder DD-819

USS Holder 2nd Anniversary Booklet 1948

2nd Anniversary Booklet - main page

Plans of the Day, Deck Log Remark Sheets, and other assorted goodies

Do you remember the Plan Of the Day, of course you do. Well we have a couple of POD's from yesteryear.

Were you on board Holder on one of these days?

You can also look at this Log from the Mid watch on 01 January 1961.

Here is the Thanksgiving Day Menu from USS Holder 1964.

Were you on board USS Holder for the Family Day in 1975 when this pamphlet was handed out?

Here are some deck log remark sheets from the 1950s:

1955 membership in the "Drone Splashers Club" awarded to The USS Holder.

Holder Fram Conversion In the late 1950s and early 1960s 78 of the Gearing-class destroyers underwent extensive modernization overhauls, known as FRAM I, which were designed to convert them from an anti-aircraft destroyer to an anti-submarine warfare platform. FRAM I removed all of the DDR and DDE equipment, and these ships were redesignated as DDs. FRAM I and FRAM II conversions were completed 1960-65. Eventually all but four Gearings received FRAM conversions. The FRAM I program was an extensive conversion for the Gearing-class destroyers. This upgrade included rebuilding the ship's superstructure, electronic systems, radar, sonar, and weapons. The second twin 5" gun mount and all previous AA guns and ASW equipment were removed. (On several ships the two forward 5-inch mounts remained and the aft 5-inch mount was removed.) Upgraded systems included SQS-23 sonar, SPS-10 surface search radar, two triple Mark 32 torpedo tubes, an 8-cell Anti-Submarine Rocket (ASROC) box launcher, and one QH-50C DASH ASW drone helicopter, with its own landing pad and hangar. Both the Mk 32 torpedo tubes and ASROC launched Mk. 44 homing ASW torpedoes. ASROC could also launch a nuclear depth charge. On 11 May 1962, Agerholm tested a live nuclear ASROC in the "Swordfish" test. In Navy slang, the modified destroyers were called "FRAM cans", "can" being a contraction of "tin can", the slang term for a destroyer or destroyer escort. The Gyrodyne QH-50C DASH was an unmanned anti-submarine helicopter, controlled remotely from the ship. The drone could carry two Mark 44 homing ASW torpedoes. During this era the ASROC system had an effective range of only 5 nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi), but the DASH drone allowed the ship to deploy ASW attack to sonar contacts as far as 22 nautical miles (41 km; 25 mi) away. However, DASH proved unreliable in shipboard service, with over half of the USN's 746 drones lost at sea. This was possibly due to inadequate maintenance support, as other services had few difficulties with DASH. By 1970 DASH had been withdrawn from FRAM I ships, though it was retained into the early 1970s on FRAM II ships, which lacked ASROC. A limitation of drones in ASW was the need to re-acquire the target at ranges beyond the effectiveness of the controlling ship's sonar. This led to shift to the LAMPS program of manned helicopters, which the Gearing class were too small to accommodate. An upgraded version of DASH, QH-50D, remained in use by the United States Army until May 2006. FRAM I "A" Ships: (First 8 conversions) Removal of aft twin 5 inch/38 caliber Gun mount (Mount 53). Group A ships also received two MK10/11 Hedgehogs fitted on each side of the bridge at the 01 level and had the MK-32 triple torpedo launchers aft of the second stack. FRAM I "B" Ships (remainder of conversions): Kept their forward 5 inch mount (Mount 51), lost the second mount (Mount 52) and kept their aft 5 inch mount (Mount 53). In place of mount 52, a practice 5 inch reloading machine was installed with the MK-32 triple torpedo launchers aft of the loader. Group B ships also received greater ASROC and torpedo storage areas next to the port side of the DASH hangar.

We have pages from a couple of cruise books.