Of the 22 U.S. Navy warships and auxiliaries tasked with supporting Operation Urgent Fury– the invasion of Grenada– some 40 years ago this week, two really stand out, the old ‘phib USS Guam (LPH-9) and the newer Sprucan, USS Caron (DD-970).
Guam gets a big nod, of course, because, of the 116 American servicemen wounded in the four-day operation, Guam treated no less than 77 in her cramped hospital suite after they were medivaced to her deck just offshore.
Speaking of which, Guam was also the main launching/refueling point for the helicopters of the 82nd Airborne and 22nd MAU for the operation and logged a whopping 1,214 launchings and landings in Urgent Fury.
Flight deck crewmen hose down a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter upon its landing aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Guam (LPH 9) during Operation Urgent Fury, October 25, 1983. The helicopter’s engine was hit by anti-aircraft fire on the island of Grenada. JO1 Sundberg. DN-SN-85-02069
Flight operations take place aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Guam (LPH 9) off the coast of Grenada during Operation Urgent Fury. Visible on the flight deck are two UH-1N Iroquois helicopters, a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter, and a CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter. JO1 Sundberg. October 25, 1983. DN-SN-85-02037
But if Guam’s “Grenada Get Away” is largely forgotten, Caron’s is never even mentioned, which is a crying shame.
Commissioned 1 October 1977 at Pascagoula, USS Caron is the only warship ever named for HC3c Wayne Maurice Caron, a MoH recipient who gave his last full measure at age 21 as a corpsman with 3d/7th Marines in Vietnam, mortally wounded while going to save those who needed him.
The destroyer that carried his name lived up to it in Grenada.
As detailed by DANFS:
After embarking Capt. Grant A. Sharp, Commander, DesRon 32, on 19 October 1983, Caron got underway for deployment to the Mediterranean the following day as part of the Independence Battle Group. However, on 21 October, Caron was detached from the battle group and diverted to Grenada at “max speed” in support of Operation Urgent Fury.
As the first U.S. Navy ship to arrive on the scene on 23 October 1983, Caron paused 12 miles off the coast of Grenada to gather intelligence. With the Special Forces amphibious assault on the island already underway, in the early morning hours of 25 October, destroyer Moosbrugger (DD-980) and guided missile frigate Clifton Sprague (FFG-16) joined Caron, and the ships steamed at 25 knots for Point Saline with their arrival planned for daybreak. While advancing toward the island, Caron recovered a small craft with 12 Special Forces troops embarked that had been carried to sea by strong currents. Later in the morning while conducting a search and rescue operation for a downed Bell AH-1T Cobra of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 261 near St. George’s Harbor, Caron avoided enemy mortar rounds while operating close to shore.
On the afternoon of the 25th, Caron fired her 5-inch guns towards the site of the communist propaganda station “Radio Free Grenada,” allowing a 12-man Navy Sea, Air and Land (SEAL) team to evade enemy forces surrounding their position there. That night, as fighting continued to rage on the island, Caron responded to a visual signal from shore and rescued ten of the SEALs who had escaped from the radio transmitter site, two of whom had suffered serious injuries. While Caron’s medical staff treated the wounded men, the destroyer directed Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawks to the beach to rescue the two remaining SEALs from the team. The following evening, the ship also saved 11 U.S. Army Rangers whose helicopter had crashed.
Caron remained on the scene at Grenada through 2 November 1983. During this time, she continued to patrol within range of hostile gunfire, ready to provide naval gunfire support for land and amphibious troops. All told, Caron’s search and rescue efforts saved 41 soldiers and sailors. “Caron demonstrated in a wartime environment what our forces are capable of,” Capt. Sharp remarked, “and the readiness that ‘Can-Do’ Caron is known for.” For her actions in the Grenadian conflict, Caron received the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.
Artwork: “USS Caron Neutralizes Radio Free Grenada – Beausejour Bay”. by Mike Leahy, via the Naval History and Heritage Command. U.S. Navy Combat Art Center, Washington Navy Yard. U.S. Navy photo by the Navy Audiovisual Center.DN-SC-85-07100.
She would keep her guns blistered in the coming weeks.
Escorting Guam and the 22nd MAU from Grenada to Lebanon, she would be called for NGFS ashore on 8 February 1984, plastering enemy positions with 450 5-inch shells, then follow up on another fire call on 25-26 February, firing 141.
Keep in mind that Spruance-class tin cans only had enough room for about 1,200 rounds of assorted 5-inch in their magazines, if they were fully loaded.
Caron later received the Navy Expeditionary Medal for her service off Lebanon.
As for retirement, Guam decommissioned on 25 August 1998 after 33 years of service and was disposed of in a SINKEX three years later while Caron, decommissioned on 15 October 2001 after just 24 years, would likewise be deep-sixed at the hands of the same Navy she once served so well.