USS Turner Joy

The USS Turner Joy naval destroyer was launched in 1958. She spent a lengthy career on the Pacific seas and was awarded a total of nine battle stars. She was named after Vice Admiral Charles Turner Joy, a heavy player in the Korean War. Her motto: Esse Quam Videri ("To be rather than to seem").

During what became known as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, the Turner Joy and another ship called the USS Maddox fired upon what they thought was an attack by North Vietnamese ships but was later suggested to be false blips caused by weather conditions. This phantom attack led to severe US retaliation which shifted the Vietnam War into high gear.

During combat off the coast of South Vietnam a gun mount experienced a "hang fire," the condition when a shell is fired but fails to leave the chamber. The shell eventually detonated, killing three men and wounding several others. The ship was damaged again during Operation Sea Dragon. Designed to be quick and light, naval destroyers like this one were known as "tin cans" by their crew due to the unarmored hull being a mere 3/8 of an inch thick. As a result damage when sustained tended to be heavy.

Eventually rendered obsolete by computer-guided technology, the Turner Joy was retired in 1982 and is now permanently docked along a pier in Bremerton, WA, beside a well-stocked gift shop.