USS Orleck DD-886 Stats

The ship was laid down on November 28, 1944 by the Consolidated Steel Corporation of Texas. She was named ORLECK on January 11, 1945 and was launched on the 12th of May, 1945, and then commissioned on September 15, 1945.

Vessel Type: USN Gearing Class Destroyer
Built by: Consolidated Steel Shipbuilding, Orange, Texas; Laid Down on Nov 28, 1944
Named: ORLECK on Jan 11, 1945
Launched: May 12, 1945
Commissioned: September 15, 1945 (last destroyer commissioned at end of WWII)
Length: 390 feet, 6 in. Beam (Width): 40 feet, 10 in.
Displacement (Weight): 2,250 Tons
Original Cost in 1945: $6,313,000.00
Served proudly in Korea and Vietnam
Awarded: 18 Battle Stars (4 in the Korean Conflict ; 14 during Vietnam War); “Top Gun” of USN 7th Fleet
Initiator: “Train Busters Club” of Korea
Named: “Gray Ghost of the Vietnam Coast”
Last Active FRAMed (Fleet Rehabilitation & Modernization)
Gearing Class Destroyer in the Pacific; served longer than any other such ship.
Decommissioned and Transferred to NATO-allied Turkey on October 1, 1982. Served in Turkish Navy 16 years as the TCG Yucetepe D-345
Voice Call Signs: Deadly, Sophie Tucker (49-50), Stage Door (Vietnam), Salty Dog, Stale Vessel
2nd Decommissioning: April 1, 1998
Transferred back to US: 2000 to Southeast TX War Memorial & Heritage Foundation (SETWMHF), Orange, TX
Museum Ship: 2000-2005, Orange, TX
Damaged by Hurricane Rita: September 2005; remained in storage dock until 2010
Arrived Lake Charles: May 20, 2010
Transferred to: USS Orleck Naval Museum, Inc. from SETWMHF June 22, 2010 by act of donation.
Opened to the Public: As the USS Orleck Naval Museum, Inc. at its temporary berth: 604 N. Enterprise Blvd., Lake Charles, LA – April 10, 2011.
Designated as the Official Vietnam Memorial Museum Ship for the State of Louisiana.