USS Hooper

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USS Hooper (DE-1026) was a Dealey-class destroyer escort in the United States Navy. It was named for Rear Admiral Stanford Caldwell Hooper, a pioneer in naval communications. The ship was built by Bethlehem-Pacific Coast Steel Corp. in San Francisco, laid down January 4, 1956, launched August 1, 1957, and commissioned March 18, 1958. Hooper was decommissioned and stricken on June 6, 1973, and sold for scrap. Its motto was Sans Peur, meaning “Without Fear.”

Hooper displaced about 1,877 long tons, was 314 feet 6 inches long, with a beam of 36 feet 9 inches and a draft of 18 feet. It was powered by two Foster-Wheeler boilers and a De Laval geared turbine delivering 20,000 shaft horsepower, with a top speed of 27 knots. It carried a crew of about 170. Its armament included four 3-inch/50 caliber guns, one Squid anti-submarine mortar (or the RUR-4 Weapon Alpha), six 324 mm (12.8 inch) Mark 32 torpedo tubes, and Mark 44 and 46 torpedoes.

Hooper began with shakedown training in San Diego and then joined the 7th Fleet for anti-submarine work and the Formosa Patrol. In 1962 it served as a school ship in antisubmarine training at San Diego. After a yard period at Hunter’s Point, the ship’s aft 3-inch mount was replaced with a helicopter flight deck and a single 20 mm cannon to improve versatility, and it received new sonar equipment. Hooper continued Far East deployments and took part in SEATO maneuvers in 1963. It patrolled the Taiwan Strait in 1964 and operated off Vietnam in 1965 and 1966. In January 1966, Hooper escorted the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown to Hawaii, then traveled to Yokosuka, Japan, arriving February 17, 1966. From February 21 to March 18, it patrolled the Formosa Strait, and for the next six months operated off Vietnam. On July 15, 1966, Hooper departed Yokosuka for San Diego, arriving July 22. It then served off the U.S. West Coast through 1967 and later served as a Naval Reserve ship based in Long Beach in 1968.