Place: USS Turner Joy

Location: Bremerton, WA

Date of Investigation: 10/1/11 

History:

Built by The Puget Sound Bridge & Dredging Company, located in Seattle, The USS Turner Joy DDD51 was launched as a Naval destroyer on May 12,1958, and was commissioned in 1959. It was named for war hero Admiral Charles Turner Joy, who died in 1956.

The USS Turner Joy DDD51 gained its notoriety as being one of the two naval ships that was targeted by the North Vietnamese. In 1964, in the Gulf of Tonkin, The USS Turner Joy and The USS Madison had a brief battle with a North Vietnam torpedo boat. This incident inspired our deeper involvement into the Vietnam conflict.

The USS Turner Joy DDD51 was on active duty from 1960-1982, spending much of its time off the coast of Vietnam, providing cover fire for troops fighting on the ground, during The Vietnam War. The USS Turner Joy DDD51 also patrolled along the coast of North Vietnam to “interdict enemy waterborne logistics traffic.” The USS Turner Joy received 9 battle stars for its honorable service in Vietnam.

After the treaty was signed, ending the Vietnam War, The USS Turner Joy DDD51 was assigned peacetime deployment. By 1976, The USS Turner Joy DDD51 was a bit of a fixer-upper, having issues with its Operational Propulsion System, due to two delays in a scheduled overhaul. Its long years of active service in Vietnam had taken a toll on this very important operating system. Because of this problem, this old war horse, The USS Turner Joy DDD51, was unable to pass her Operational Propulsion Plant Examination. Uh oh! She spent the rest of 1976 in port being repaired.

In 1982, all Forrest Sherman Destroyers were decommissioned from active Naval duty. While some Forrest Sherman Destroyers were upgraded and transformed into more modern destroyers, it wasn’t to be for The USS Turner Joy DDD51. In 1990, the USS Turner Joy was discharged completely from Navy records as an official naval ship and chosen to be a memorial ship museum. It was given to Bremerton Historic Ships Association on April 10, 1991.

The Bremerton Historic Ships Association had formed in 1988, perhaps in anticipation of being given this grand old Forrest Sherman Destroyer. They are a non-profit organization with the goals of acquiring vessels, presenting programs, and activities for “educational, historic, and memorial purposes.” The USS Turner Joy destroyer has been restored to accurately portray what it was like during her most active years between 1960 and 1982.

Reported Activity: MANIFESTATIONS:

It is thought that one to three male entities, or perhaps more, still stay on board. Personal experiences have also been reported by staff, visitors and paranormal investigators. Apparitions have been seen by visitors and staff, in various parts of this ship museum.

For example: Entity of male seaman – Seems to like women.

Right by the lockers in the enlisted men’s sleeping quarters, a male face appeared in a mirror, startling some female staff members, who ran up the stairs in a fright.

Unseen presences have been felt, noticed by people and made themselves known on the ship.

Ghost Hunter, author, and founder of Pacific Northwest Paranormal Research Center in Seattle, Ross Allison, experienced a male voice calling out to him in a darkened area of the USS Turner Joy DDD51 Museum Ship.

During an AGHOST investigation, an investigator, Michelle, felt an unseen presence following her throughout the ship.

Unexplained cold spots have been felt in the aft Gun Turret and the engine room.

Cold spots, with accompanying chills and hair standing up on end were all experienced by visitors in the berthing area, near the visitors’ entrance.

When looking into the refrigerator that held the three bodies of the sailors killed by the exploding shell in the turret of number one Gun Mount 53, the investigators found that their fully charged camera batteries suddenly were completely drained, which could’ve been a sign of spirits looking for energy to manifest.

Date of Investigation: 10/01/11

Our Investigation: Will be updated soon.

Conclusion: Will be updated soon.

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