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Special Note: I've included a number of
hyperlinks in this document. Most of them should work, but if not, please let me
know by emailing me with the
specific link information.
Upon graduating from Central Dauphin East high
school (Harrisburg, PA) in 1966, I attended
 Penn
State University as a physics major for ~two years. The Vietnam
 conflict
was reaching its peak. Partying as a member of the Sigma
Phi Epsilon fraternity, I became "undecided" as to my academic goals.
Thus, I began my career with the Navy in
April, 1968. After completing bootcamp at Great Lakes, IL and SONAR A-School in
Key West, FL, I was assigned to
the pre-commissioning detachment for the first of a new class of ocean escorts,
the USS Knox, DE-1052. At that point, I was a SONAR Technician
Seaman (STGSN), an E3. I'm now a retired SONAR Technician Senior Chief (STGCS),
an E8, Navy Reserve. I have 28
total years of service.
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This is
a shot of the USS Knox
performing maneuvers off the coast of
Oahu, Hawaii, her first home
port. Honolulu,
Waikiki
and
Diamond Head are in the background.
I believe this photo was taken in 1975. The aft missle launcher
shown was not installed while I was aboard.
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Photo
scanned from the first Knox WESTPAC cruisebook published in 1971.
I was ~22. Nice moustache, eh? See below for current photo |
Pre-comm school was held in San Diego, CA from February, 1969
to the end of March, 1969. We were flown to Seattle, WA and then took a bus
trip around the Puget Sound to Bremerton, WA where the Knox lay in the Puget
Sound Naval Shipyard. We settled in to life aboard ship. On a rainy 12 April
1969, we commissioned Knox and became "plankowners", the name given to the
first crew of any new ship. A photo of Mount Ranier, a
dormant volcano southeast of the Seattle-Tacoma area, is shown here.
 I
took this photo, about half-way up the summit, when I went to Seattle in 1991
on a business trip. Back when I was stationed there, we could see the peak of
Mt. Ranier from the shipyard, even though it was nearly 100 miles away.
Commander William A. Lamm was the first Commanding Officer of the USS Knox. He
lead a crew of 216 enlisted men and 15 officers. Of all the plankholders, the
last to leave the ship was Boiler Technician First Class (BT1) Thomas R.
Wells, who left on 3 June 1974 after serving five and a half years aboard the
Knox (STGCS Bosworth left in March, 1972 [as an STG2] after serving just
under 3 years aboard).
Knox was originally classified as an Ocean Escort (DE) and reclassified as
a Fast Frigate (FF) on 30 June, 1975.
After completing her sea trials which included an underwater
shock test from four seven foot diameter, 1,000 pound bombs off Long Beach,
CA, she was homeported in Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii, December, 1969.
Pearl Harbor
Knox made a five month WESTPAC (Western Pacific)
deployment in late 1970, returning March, 1971. Port visits during this cruise
included:
Her return was hindered by a severe fire in the boiler room that occurred
during noon chow after she left Guam. Knox was slowly towed by the USS Chicago
back to Oahu. Just east off Diamond Head, about "O dark thirty", she cut the
Chicago loose and made sufficient steam to limp into port later in the
morning. After a prolonged stand-down for repairs, she again made a 5 month
WESTPAC deployment in late 1971, returning in March, 1972. Port visits during
this cruise included:
 | Subic Bay, Philippines |
| Singapore
and Malaysia (two visits) |
| Columbo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) |
| The Maldive Islands |
| The Gulf of Tonkin (Yankee Station, PIRAZ, Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club) |
| Hong Kong (at Christmas) |
| Kaoshung, Taiwan (during Chinese New Year) |
| Yokosuka, Japan (with a side trip to Tokyo) |
| Midway |
The remainder of 1972 was spent in overhaul.
From August to December, 1973 the Knox participated in sonar improvement
trials which brought about development of the outstanding sonar systems in use
today.
In May 1975, the Knox completed a nine month WESTPAC deployment in which
she saw action in Vietnam and participated in Operation Frequent Wind and
Eagle Pull.
Mid-1975, Knox and her crew guest starred in the
popular TV series "Hawaii Five-O",
in a special episode entitled "Murder
- Eyes Only."
From June 1975 until October 1976, she completed her second overhaul before
being homeported in Yokosuka, Japan in August 1977. As a forward deployed unit
of Seventh Fleet, the USS Knox was part
of the Nation's front line defense in the Pacific.
USS Knox went through quite a few changes in her time and sailed the waters
of the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, South China Sea, Persian Gulf, Australia
and New Zealand.
USS Knox, FF-1052 was decommissioned 14 February 1992 after 23 and one half
years of faithful service to her country. She was brought back to the place of
her birth for her final resting place. She now sits quietly tied up at Naval
Station Bremerton, Washington,
between USS Hepburn (DE-1055) and USS Francis Hammond
(DE-1067).
In August, 2001, the crew of the Knox attended the
first-ever reunion in Spearfish, SD. Details of the reunion and future reunion
news can be seen on my Knox reunion web page.
The stats for the USS Knox are as follows:
Note: KNOX stats originally researched by
YNC(AW) Rob Cross, USN. Updated by
STGCS Bosworth.
Built by Todd Shipyards Corporation, Seattle
Division, Seattle, WA.
| Keel Laid: 5 October 1965 |
| Launched: 19 November 1966 |
| Christened: 19 November 1966 |
| Commissioned: 12 April 1969 (Puget Sound Naval
Shipyard) |
| Decommissioned: 14 February
1992 (Currently lies between USS
Hepburn (DE-1055) and USS Francis Hammond (DE-1067), Naval
Station Bremerton, WA) |
| Displacement, tons: 3,011 standard (1052-1077) 4,200 full load
(remainder). |
| Dimensions, feet (meters): 438 x 46.8 x 24.8 [sonar dome], 15
[keel] (133.5 x 14.3 x 7.8, 4.6). |
| Aircraft: 1 SH-2 LAMPS helicopter. The helo
deck was too thin to support manned helicopters! |
| Missiles: SAM, 1 Sea Sparrow BPDMS (Basic Point Defense Missile
System) multiple launcher (MK 25) which was installed on 31 ships from
1971-75 (FF-1052-69) and (FF-1071-83). |
| Gun: 1-5"/54 MK 42 (127mm). |
| A/S Weapons: 1 ASROC 8-tube launcher, 4 fixed torpedo tubes (MK
32). |
| Main Engines: 1 geared turbine (Westinghouse) 35,000 SHP, 1
shaft. |
| Boilers: 2 Combustion Engineering (except FF-1056, 1057, 1061,
1063, 1065, 1072, 1073, 1075, 1077 which have Babcock & Wilcox). |
| Speed: 27+ knots. |
| Crew Compliment: Originally 220 (15 officers, 205 enlisted);
increased to 245 (17 officers, 228 enlisted); finally increased to 283 (22
officers, 261 enlisted) with BPDMS and LAMPS installation, (as built, 12
ships had accommodations for 2 staff officers). |
| Anchor: A 4,000 lb. lightweight anchor is fitted on the port side
and an 8,000 lb. anchor fits into the after section of the sonar dome. |
| Electronics: Fitted with OE-82 satellite communications antenna,
SSR-1 receiver and WSC-3 transceiver. |
| SONAR: ANSQS 26-CX (originally). Fitted for VDS but never
installed. |
| Engineering: The ships could steam at 22 knots on one boiler.
They had a single 5-blade, 15 foot diameter submarine propeller. |
| Fire Control: One MK 68 gunfire control with SPG 3A radar, one MK
115 MFCS, one MK 114 ASW FCS and one MK 1 target designation system. |
| Gunnery: All ships of the class were to be fitted with 20mm
Phalanx CIWS MK 16 on the fantail. Those ships equipped with the Sea Sparrow
would have had that system replaced with CIWS. During WESTPACs in the Gulf
of Tonkin, ships were temporarily fitted with two 50 caliber machine guns,
port and starboard amidships and an 80mm mortar on the hangar deck. |
Original embroidered patches worn on the
working jacket. Left, Gulf of Tonkin Yacht Club, right, Knox crest.
 |
To the left are the medals that were
awarded to
anyone who served in Vietnam. The scan didn't
do them justice.
The medal on the left is the Vietnam Service
medal, awarded by the United States.
The one on the right is the Republic of Vietnam
Campaign medal, awarded by the former
republic. |
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 In
March, 1972, I returned to civilian life. After two semesters at the
Harrisburg Area Community College,
I moved to Syracuse, NY and got my BS degree in Public
Communications/Journalism from the
Newhouse School at Syracuse
University in May, 1975. Upon
graduating with honors, I was elected to the Phi Kappa Phi
national collegiate honor society. Working for Nationwide Insurance as
a commercial underwriter, I lived in Syracuse until April, 1978.
Leaving Nationwide temporarily, I lived briefly in Richmond, VA and
Harrisburg, PA before moving to Columbus, OH in January, 1980, to
rejoin Nationwide at its home office as a Systems Analyst,
ultimately becoming a software programming division manager. I
joined the Navy reserves in September, 1980. I now work out of my home
for Borland Software Corporation (NASDAQ BORL) in Scotts Valley, CA,
as a senior instructor and courseware writer. |
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| This was my reserve unit, FTG
GTMO Det 105 on our two weeks annual training
(AT) at Fleet Training Group (FTG),
Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba in 1982 (one of eleven such tours). I'm an STG2 (E5) at this
point. FTG headquarters were moved from Cuba to Mayport, FL
several years ago after the Haitian refugee
crisis. The group's name has been changed to
Atlantic Training
Group (ATG). At FTG/ATG, I was a fully
qualified Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) instructor/observer, teaching
fleet sailors ASW tactics. I am also designated as
a Master Training Specialist for
US Atlantic Fleet (LANTFLT).
I've circled myself. Otherwise, you might never have figured it out!
Cool sunnies, man. |
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This photo was taken in 1982, about the
same time as the group shot above. I'm an STG2 here, too. The shot is
aboard the Guantanamo Bay ferry that takes you from the airfield side
of the bay to the leeward side where most of the base is situated. To
the left and behind me in the distance is Castro's Cuba. The base at
Guantanamo is about 48 square miles and is the
only US base on communist territory - much to Castro's chagrin. The
uniform I'm wearing is obsolete now. It was a combination of the
tropical shirt and winter pants. It was often called "salt & pepper".
The hat and it's device is also now obsolete for petty officer's E6
and below. |
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STGCS J. W.
Bosworth
Amelia (Cincinnati), Oh. |
There's lots more to compile for this section.
But in the meantime, at the request of some of you, here is a
picture of me in uniform a couple of years ago.
I'm wearing the khaki uniform worn by Chief Petty Officers and
Officers. This uniform is equivalent to "business casual".
Remember
this picture at the beginning of the page?
Would you know it's the same guy? What a difference 30-some
years make!
Below my ribbons, on the pocket, is an oval shaped device. This
is the "command" pin. Prior to retirement, I was the Command
Master Chief (CMC) for my drill weekend. As such, I was the most
senior enlisted and maintained the liaison between the enlisted
and officer communities, consisting of over 300
men and women. I was also the Senior Enlisted Advisor and
Chairman of the Professional Development and Awards Boards. I had
lots of other responsibilities, including the maintenance of
morale and the retention of personnel. |
| The photo to the right is a group shot of some
of my chief and officer buddies at a past "dining in". A "dining
in" is a highly structured formal dinner designed to promote
camaraderie among the senior levels of Navy management -
officers and chiefs. We are all dressed in the semi-formal
uniform - dress blues with mini-medals and bow-ties. I've bought
the "dinner dress blue" uniform (not seen here) to wear for any
future events. It's complete with the ruffled shirt, black satin
striped pants and a gold cummerbund. The
military equivalent of a tuxedo. |
My uniform in this shot (if you figured out
which one is me) is actually un-satisfactory. The service
stripes on my left sleeve toward the cuff should
have shown six stripes instead of four at the time the picture
was taken. Each diagonal stripe represents four years of
service. Now retired (as of July, 2000) I have seven
stripes. Never thought I'd see that! |
As I develop more narrative on my reserve career, I will add to
this document.
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