Warring vessels like the McCormick were more than just their armament. Sensors and processing systems proved the other half of the equation and, as such, McCormick was outiftted with the AN/SPS-40 or AN/SPS-39 3D air-search radar system alongside the AN/SPS-10 surface-search radar. Missile fire control was handled by the AN/SPG-51 series suite utilizing a pulse-Doppler radar control system. This system was also taken on by the navies of France and the Netherlands. The deck guns were managed through the AN/SPG-53 control radar. The vessel was also equipped with its own sonar facilities that included the hull-mounted AN/SQS-23.
Her other key internal component became her propulsion system, this headed by 4 x Babcock and Wilcox boilers feeding 2 x General Electric steam turbines generating 70,000 horsepower to 2 x shafts. Maximum speed in ideal conditions was 33 knots with a range out to 4,500 nautical miles at 20 knots.
McCormick's official naval career began when she left Boston in mid-August of 1961 on a roundabout trip to the American West Coast - a journey undertaken by many warships of World War 2. Once there, she was assigned to the home port of San Diego and evaluated her missile systems in live-fire actions. She then left home waters in November of 1962, joining the 7th Fleet after arriving in Japan during early December of that year. Back home in June of 1963, McCormick was then kept stateside for several local USN-related functions including training. During the early part of 1964, several changes to her weapons suite were undertaken, broadening her defensive capabilities.
The situation in Vietnam was becoming ever more perilous both on the ground and on the water. The Gulf of Tonkin incident (August 2nd, 1964) exacerbated the situation in Southeast Asia to the point that McCormick was assigned to Vietnam waters to protect American interests and maintain the rocket peace between the North and the South. McCormick undertook a six-month long tour in these parts before being reassigned home for February of 1965. Additional testing of her weapons suite and training of personnel then followed into 1966.
In April of that year, MCormick took part in the offshore shelling of Viet Cong positions along the Mekong Delta waterway. During May, she was reassigned to support carrier airstrikes in the north. Following these actions, she made the journey back to San Diego and arrived there in October for a scheduled overhaul. The work went into March of 1967 to which then she was training crews again heading into the summer. McCormick managed to survive all of the Vietnam War before returning to most peace-time minded functions during the American drawdown in Southeast Asia and the "Vietnamization" for South Vietnam forces.
During the 1980s, McCormick was kept an active ship. She took part in training of several forces in Central America. During April of 1988, amid tensions between the United States and Iran in the Persian Gulf, McCormick was deployed to protect allied shipping in this crucial waterway of the world. After completing this deployment, USS Lynde McCormick (DDG-8) was decommissioned on October 1st, 1991. Her name was struck from the Naval Register on November 20th, 1992 and her stripped hulk sunk as a target on February 14th, 2001.
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