Ship's Crew

Herman Otto Sudhulz was born in Glen Cove, Long Island, New York on June 22, 1934. He earned a degree in civil engineering from Lehigh University. Facing the prospect of the draft, and having been attracted to the sea, he applied for an appointment to the Officer Candidate School at Newport, Rhode Island. Commissioned an ensign on May 1, 1959, Sudholz served on the destroyer USS Johnson (DD-821) for almost four years, beginning as damage control assistant, then first lieutenant, and, finally as weapons officer. While aboard Johnson, Sudholz made two deployments to the Mediterranean. The ship was undergoing a major modernization at the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. With work rushed to completion, the ship sailed for Guantanamo Bay to serve as a “ready reserve” for the blockading forces. Leaving the destroyer in April 1963, Sudholz next headed the Research and Development Department of the Navy Explosive Ordnance Facility at Indian Head, Maryland. He returned to sea in September 1965 as executive officer of the radar picket destroyer escort USS Brister (DER-317) at Pearl Harbor. While aboard Brister, he made two Vietnam deployments, where the ship’s efforts earned her a Navy Unit Commendation. Promoted to lieutenant commander, Sudholz returned ashore as a member of the Spruance Class destroyer development team. Late in 1970, he was ordered to join the destroyer Richard S. Edwards (DD-950) as executive officer, and returned to Pearl Harbor. In 1972, the ship made an unexpected deployment to Vietnamese waters in response to the Communist Easter offensive, and became the flagship of a surface action group bombarding the North Vietnamese coast. From 1972 to 1978, Sudholz filled several staff assignments ashore in Hawaii. In 1978, he became executive officer of the destroyer tender Dixie (AD-14) at San Diego, California.