USS ''Eugene A. Greene'' (DD/DDR-711) was a of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, named for Ensign Eugene A. Greene (1921–1942), who was posthumously awarded the

Navy Cross The Navy Cross is the United States Naval Service's second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is equivalent to the Army ...

for his heroism in the

Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of t ...

Namesake

Eugene A. Greene was born on 21 November 1914 in Smithtown,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Greene grew up in Smithtown and Mineola, New York, graduating from St. Francis High School in 1932. He graduated Rhode Island State College, now Rhode Island University, in June 1940, before enlisting in the

United States Naval Reserve The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...

on 13 January 1941, and after

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

training, was commissioned

ensign Ensign most often refers to: * Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality * Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to: Places * Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada * Ensign, Ka ...

on 30 August 1941. On 4 June 1942 during the

Greene was piloting a

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

SBD Dauntless The Douglas SBD Dauntless is a World War II American naval scout plane and dive bomber that was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft from 1940 through 1944. The SBD ("Scout Bomber Douglas") was the United States Navy's main carrier-based scout/dive ...

dive bomber A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact througho ...

in Bombing Squadron 6 (VB-6) based on the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

. He broke through heavy

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

fighter and

antiaircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...

opposition to dive-bomb the aircraft carrier ''Kaga''. Greene survived the attack on the ''Kaga'', ENS Lewis Hopkins said his plane formed up with him on his wing. Eventually Greene's aircraft ran out of fuel and he was forced to ditch in the ocean. He and his gunner were never seen again. Greene was posthumously awarded the

. In 1943, the name ''Eugene A. Greene'' was assigned to the U.S. Navy

destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...

USS ''Eugene A. Greene'' (DE-549), but its construction was cancelled in 1944 before completion.

Service history

''Eugene A. Greene'' was launched on 18 March 1945 by Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J.; sponsored by Mrs. Anita M. Greene, widow of Ensign Greene; and commissioned on 8 June 1945.

US Navy, 1945–1972

''Eugene A. Greene'' operated along the east coast and in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

on shakedown training, acting as

plane guard A plane guard is a warship (commonly a destroyer or frigate) or helicopter tasked to recover the aircrew of planes or helicopters which ditch or crash in the water during aircraft carrier flight operations. Ships For ships, the plane guard is ...

during the qualification of pilots in carrier operations, and training men for the crews of new destroyers. From her

home port A vessel's home port is the port at which it is based, which may not be the same as its port of registry shown on its registration documents and lettered on the stern of the ship's hull. In the cruise industry the term "home port" is also oft ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

, she sailed to Guantanamo Bay for training early in 1947, and on 13 February sailed in a task group bound for

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, Uruguay, to participate in the festivities accompanying the inauguration of Uruguay's President Luis Berres. The group also paid a

good will visit Cultural diplomacy is a type of soft power that includes the "exchange of ideas, information, art, language and other aspects of culture among nations and their peoples in order to foster mutual understanding". The purpose of cultural diplomac ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

before returning to Norfolk on 31 March. On 10 November 1947 ''Eugene A. Greene'' sailed on the first of nine

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

cruises made over the next thirteen years. Voyages to northern

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and the

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

varied the routine of overseas deployment. ''Eugene A. Greene'' was placed out of commission from 1 April 1952 to 1 December 1952, during which period she was being converted to a

radar picket A radar picket is a radar-equipped station, ship, submarine, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a nation or military (including naval) force to protect it from surprise attack, typically air attack, or from c ...

destroyer. She was redesignated DDR-711 on 18 July 1952. ''Greene'' reverted to DD-711 on 15 March 1963. On 18 June 1970 the ''Greene'' and the oiler were involved in a minor collision in the eastern Mediterranean during refueling operations. ''Eugene A. Greene'' was decommissioned on 31 August 1972 at Norfolk, and, along with four other destroyers, was loaned to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Spanish Navy, 1972–1991

The ship was commissioned in the

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy, officially the Armada, is the Navy, maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation ...

as ''Churruca'' (D61), named after Lieutenant General

Cosme Damián de Churruca y Elorza Cosme, Cosmè, or Cosmé may refer to: * Cosme (name), including a list of people with the given name or surname * Cosme District, Churcampa province, Peru * Tropical Storm Cosme (disambiguation), various storms See also * San Cosme (disambig ...

(1761–1805), who died during the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the Royal Navy and a combined fleet of the French Navy, French and Spanish Navy, Spanish navies during the War of the Third Coalition. As part of Na ...

. ''Churruca'' was decommissioned on 15 September 1989; she was spent as a target on 12 December 1991. ''Churruca'' was sunk by 76 mm naval gunfire,

Harpoon A harpoon is a long, spear-like projectile used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other hunting to shoot, kill, and capture large fish or marine mammals such as seals, sea cows, and whales. It impales the target and secures it with barb or ...

and

Standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object ...

surface-to-surface missiles, laser guided bombs from F-18 aircraft and gravity bombs from AV-8B Harrier II Bravos belonging to the carrier ''Principe de Asturias''''.''

Footnotes

References

External links

destroyers.org: USS ''Eugene A. Greene''
*

The sinking of the ''Churruca'' (YouTube – part 1)

The sinking of the ''Churruca'' (YouTube – part 2)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eugene A. Greene (DD-711) Gearing-class destroyers of the United States Navy Ships built in Kearny, New Jersey 1945 ships World War II destroyers of the United States Cold War destroyers of the United States Gearing-class destroyers of the Spanish Navy Ships sunk as targets Maritime incidents in 1991 Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean