Click On Image
For Full Size Image |
Size |
Image Description |
Contributed
By |
Namesake
|
0585970 |
55k | Benjamin White Norris was born on 15 May 1907 in Callao, Peru, where his father was working as an engineer. Graduating Princeton University in 1928, Norris enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve as a private first class for aviation training. Designated student naval aviator in 1929, his first flight training was at NAS Pensacola. Upon graduation, Second Lieutenant Norris served at Marine Barracks, Quantico from July 1929 to November 1931. Subsequently he was posted to duty with the Marine Training Detachment at NAS Brooklyn. Commended for
his part in rescue operations after the airship Akron crashed off Barnegat Light, New Jersey in April 1933, he was promoted to First Lieutenant that November, and to Captain 24 February 1937. Returning to duty at Quantico in December 1940, Norris deployed to the field in April 1942. Promoted to Major 16 May 1942, Norris deployed with VMSB-241 as that squadron's executive officer to Midway Atoll. During the Battle of Midway on 04 June 1942, Norris led a flight of eleven obsolete SB2U divebombers in a valiant but vain attempt to attack the Japanese carriers. Returning to Midway, Norris again led his tired and battered men on a night search for the enemy. Failing to find them
and reaching the end of the endurance, they turned back to Midway. Enroute, Norris' plane suddenly went into a steep dive and disappeared. No sign of either Norris or his gunner, Corporal Arthur B. Whittington, was ever found. Norris was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism. | Dave Wright |
USS Norris (DD-859)
|
| 101k | Undated, location unknown. | Ed Mehl |
| 118k | Undated, location unknown. | Ed Mehl |
| 108k | Undated, location unknown. | Ed Mehl |
| 77k | Undated, location unknown. | Ed Mehl |
| 108k | Undated, location unknown. | Richard W. Baragar |
| 185k | Undated, the XO, up on the gun deck. That is where he spent agood share of his off time doing his daily exercises | Richard W. Baragar |
| 164k | Undated, on shake down and we are launching the first torpedo | Richard W. Baragar |
| 45k | Undated postcard Copyright © Arnold Art, Newport, RI. | Mike Smolinski |
| 77k | Undated, location unknown. | Robert Hurst |
| 80k | Undated, location unknown. | Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET. |
| 107k | 1st commanding officer, CDR Terrence Andrew Nisewaner USN | Ed Mehl |
| 158k | First skipper of the Norris, Terrence Andrew Nisewaner. The Captain with him is the commander of the squadron that the Norris was in. The officer in the middle background is the XO. | Richard W. Baragar |
| 97k | Commissioning cermony Bethlehem Steel, Treasure Island Calif. June 9 1945. | Ed Mehl |
| 75k | USS Norris (DD-859) off Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, San Pedro, California, 10 days after her commissioning, 19 June 1945. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 21. U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships photo 19-N-85989. | Robert Hurst |
| 288k | Circa 1952, preparing to refuel. The helicopter is a HO3S-1 Dragonfly of HU-2 "Fleet Angels.". | Robert Carey |
| 82k | 1954 AP wirephoto story of collisions at sea with undated images of the USS Norris (DD-859) and USS English (DD-696). | Ron Reeves |
| 76k | L-R, USS Keppler (DDE-765), USS Fred T. Berry (DDE-858), USS Norris (DDE-859), USS McCaffery (DDE-860) and USS Harwood (DDE-861 of DesRon 6 steaming through the Caribbean in June 1956. | Robert Hurst |
| 120k | USS Norris (DD 859) outbound off Hotel Chamberlin, Hampton Roads, Virginia, August 31 1956. (© Atlantic Fleet Sales by Nobe Smith) | Bill Gonyo |
| 279k | Norris in drydock during her FRAM conversion at Philadelphia Navy Yard, about May 1961. | Ed Zajkowski |
| 173k | Norris after completing FRAM at Philadelphia Navy Yard, October 12 1961. | Ed Zajkowski |
| 207k | Norris after completing FRAM at Philadelphia Navy Yard, November 30 1961. | Ed Zajkowski |
0585971 |
230k | USS Norris (DD-859) underway following "Fram II" modernization during the early 1960's.
Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 44877 | Mike Green |
| 193k | February 1962, Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba U.S.S. Norris (DD-859) with sister ship U.S.S. Fred T. Berry (DD-858) "Shore power, potable water, and Cinderella Liberty." | Dave Cupples (MM 2nd 1960-1964) |
| 87k | USS Norris (DDE-859) photographed in July 1952. Note the HFDF (High Frequency Direction Finder) antenna atop her short mainmast. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo #: NH 107402. | Rpbert Hurst |
| 98k | USS Norris (DD-859), underway circa 1963, location uknown. Photo U.S. Navy from the 1964-65 Edition of Jane's Fighting Ships. | Robert Hurst |
| 159k | April 1963 'E' Ticket Ride { Right to Left with a Little Up and Down } "The Things we do, Just to Get John Wayne Movies" U.S.S. Norris (DD-859) to U.S.S. John W. Weeks (DD-701) | Dave Cupples (MM 2nd 1960-1964) |
| 155k | As above. | Dave Cupples (MM 2nd 1960-1964) |
| 217k | 1964 Official Navy Flyover Photo (somewhere off the East Coast) | Dave Cupples (MM 2nd 1960-1964) |
| 222k | 1964 Official Navy Flyover Photo (somewhere off the East Coast) | Dave Cupples (MM 2nd 1960-1964) |
| 85k | Western Mediterranean 1964. | Marc Piché |
| 121k | USS Norris (DD-859) underway on 2 May 1966. Norris shows the typical appearance of a FRAM II-modernized Gearing-class destroyer: Hedgehog in front of the bridge, AN/SPS-6 radar, Mk 32 triple torpedo tubes amidships and DASH hangar and landing deck aft. Note that it appears that a single Mk 25 torpedo tube is still installed in front of the Mk 32 launcher. Originally, the FRAM II-ships had four Mk 25 tubes that were later replaced by the Mk 32 launchers. Official U.S. Navy photo from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command. Photo # NH 106884. | Marc Piché |
| 116k | USS Norris (DD-859) and USS Glover (AGFF-1) at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in 1968, USS Wasp (CVA-18) in the background. | Neal Rabinowitz |
| 135k | USS Norris (DD-859) and USS Glover (AGFF-1) at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in 1968. | Neal Rabinowitz |
| 116k | USS Cadmus (AR-14) at Naval Station Newport, R.I., 30 May 1970 with Nipmuc (ATF-157), Harlan R. Dickson (DD-708) and Norris (DD-859) alongside. | © Richard Leonhardt |
Memorabilia
|
| 41k | Ship's patch. | Mike Smolinski |
| 109k | Ship's patch. | Mike Smolinski |
| 81k | Ship's patch. | Mike Smolinski |
| 38k | Ship's patch. | Dave Cupples |
| 203k | Ship's patch. | Dave Cupples |
| 37k | One of her Squadron patches. | Dave Cupples |
| 53k | Bumper Sticker. | Dave Cupples |
| 131k | Four views of a model of the Norris. | Dave Cupples |
| 169k | As above. | Dave Cupples |
| 136k | As above. | Dave Cupples |
| 86k | As above. | Dave Cupples |
 TCG Kocatepe (D 354)
|
| 60k | As TCG Kocatepe (D 354). The original Kocatepe, the former USS Harwood (DD-861), was sunk in error in 1974 during the war between Turkey and Greece. 80 sailors were lost. After the sinking she was replaced by the USS Norris (DD-859) with the same Turkish hull number. | Murat Kurtulmus |
| 93k | Undated, location unknown. | Ed Mehl |
| 190k | Undated, location unknown. | Cüneyt Demir |
| 72k | Undated, location unknown. | Cüneyt Demir |
| 99k | Undated, location unknown. | Cüneyt Demir |
| 47k | Undated, location unknown. | Yucel M.Umar, CPO (Ret.) Turkish Navy |
| 176k | Undated, location unknown. From the collection of CPO Orhan Sengul. | Yucel M.Umar, CPO (Ret.) Turkish Navy |
| 107k | Turnover ceremony on July 7 1974. | Cüneyt Demir |
| 63k | In the Bosphorus near Istanbul, circa 1990s. | Yucel M.Umar, CPO (Ret.) Turkish Navy |
| 120k | Ship's plaque. | Yucel M.Umar, CPO (Ret.) Turkish Navy |
