The USS Turner Joy is one of only a handful of destroyer museum ships, largely because of her involvement in the Vietnam War's Gulf of Tonkin Incident. She served many roles in her 23-year career, saw extensive combat in Vietnam, and today sits in Bremerton, Washington, close to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard where she was first commissioned in 1959.

Construction began on the Turner Joy in late 1957, after World War II. She was part of the Forrest Sherman-class -- fast, capable vessels that at the time were the largest destroyers ever built by the US Navy. Destroyers are quick and light largely at the cost of armor. Segments of the hull aren't much thicker than the width of your finger. They became known as "tin cans."

Powered by two 35,000-horsepower steam turbines, the 4,050-ton Turner Joy had a top speed of 32 knots (about 37 mph), with a range of around 4,600 miles. Her crew consisted of 17 officers, and 260-283 enlisted men.

Built just as guided missiles were starting to enter the Navy arsenal, the Turner Joy is one of the last all-gun destroyers. Some of her sister ships were converted to carry missiles, but she was not. Instead she had three 5-inch and four 3-inch guns, along with six torpedo tubes, throughout her 23 years of service.

On 13 March 1964, Turner Joy departed Long Beach to embark upon her most celebrated tour of duty in the Far East. The third Western Pacific deployment of her career began routinely enough. After calling at Pearl Harbor on her way West, the destroyer joined a task group built around Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) for operations in the Philippine Sea, followed by a cruise through the South China Sea to Japan. Further training operations and port visits ensued, As the deployment continued peacefully. During late July, Turner Joy, while attached to a carrier task group built around Ticonderoga (CVA-14), began making “watch dog” patrols off the coast of Vietnam where a vicious civil war had been raging at varying levels of intensity since the end of World War II. In the afternoon of 2 August Maddox (DD- 731), engaged in a similar patrol, called for assistance when three North Vietnamese motor torpedo boats attacked her. As Maddox evaded the torpedo boats, aircraft from Ticonderoga joined her in knocking out two of the hostile craft. Meanwhile, Turner Joy raced to Maddox to provide additional surface strength. By the time she reached Maddox, the remaining boat had fled; but Turner Joy remained with Maddox, and the two destroyers continued their patrols of the gulf.

Less than 48 hours later, Turner Joy’s radar screens picked up a number of what appeared to be small, high-speed surface craft approaching, but at extreme range. As a precaution, the two destroyers called upon Ticonderoga to furnish air support. By nightfall, the unidentified radar echoes suggested that North Vietnamese small craft were converging upon the two American warships from the west and south. Turner Joy reported that she sighted one, maybe two, torpedo wakes, then rang up full speed, maneuvered radically to evade expected torpedoes, and began firing in the direction of the unidentified blips. Over the next two and one-half hours, Turner Joy and planes from Ticonderoga fired at the supposed hostile craft. Reports claimed that at least two of those were sunk by direct hits and another pair severely damaged, and that the remaining assailants retired rapidly to the north. Whether or not the North Vietnamese attacked the two ships on the 4th remains a mystery. Only they know for sure. It could well have been that bad weather and the freakish radar conditions—for which the Gulf of Tonkin is famous—caused radar echoes to appear on Turner Joy’s screen and prompted her captain and crew to take defensive action in consideration of the events two days earlier.

In any event, the “Tonkin Gulf Incident” prompted American retaliation. Constellation (CVA-64) joined Ticonderoga off North Vietnam the following day; and, together, they launched 64 sorties against the bases from which the attacks had been launched and against an oil storage depot known to have been used to support those bases. Planes from Constellation hit the communist motor torpedo boat bases at Hongay and Loc Chao in the north while Ticonderoga aircraft went after three targets in the south: the motor torpedo boat bases at Quang Khe and Phuc Loi as well as the Vinh oil storage depot. At the last-named target, American planes set fire to 12 of the 14 oil storage tanks sending almost 10 percent of North Vietnam’s oil reserves up in smoke. Of more lasting significance both to the warship and the country, however, the incident prompted Congress to pass the Tonkin Gulf resolution, the legal foundation for the direct involvement of the United States in a bloody and costly war in Indochina for the ensuing eight and one-half years. Throughout that period, Turner Joy served repeatedly in the conflict.