(DE-1065: dp. 4,100 (f.); l. 438'; b. 46'9"; dr. 25'; s. 27 k.; cpl. 245; a. 1 5", ASROC, DASH, 2 Mk. 32 tt.; cl. Knox)
Tony Stein was born on 30 September 1921 in Dayton, Ohio. He enlisted in the Marine Corps on 22 September 1942. After service in the South Pacific and home leave, Corporal Stein served overseas again with the 8th Marines; and, on 19 February 1945, he was the first man in his unit to be on station after hitting the beach at Iwo Jima. For his repeated single-handed assaults against the enemy and his valor in aiding wounded Marines, Corporal Stein was awarded the Medal of Honor. Less than two weeks after the heroics which won him the nation's highest decoration, he fell mortally wounded during a charge against an enemy machine gun emplacement on Iwo Jima.
Stein (DE-1065) was laid down on 1 June 1970 by the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Co. at Seattle, Wash.; launched on 19 December 1970; sponsored by Mrs. Rose S. Parks; and commissioned on 8 January 1972, Comdr. Nepier V. Smith in command.
The ocean escort spent another eight weeks at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and completed fitting-out. She conducted trials, then got underway in early March and arrived at her home port, San Diego, on the 17th. Two weeks later, she headed south along the coast of Mexico and South America on her shakedown cruise. Stein returned to San Diego in May and, late the following month, commenced post-shakedown repairs and modifications at Long Beach Naval Shipyard. On 8 December, she completed yard work and began intensive preparations for her first deployment to the western Pacific.
She departed San Diego Bay in mid-April 1973 and stopped at Midway and Guam, before entering Subic Bay in the Philippines on May 19th. She operated with the 7th Fleet until the end of August, when she cleared the area for a visit to Australia and New Zealand before returing to the west coast. Stein called at Manus Island; Townville, Australia; and Auckland, New Zealand, in September and returned to Australia, at Sydney, in October. On her way back to the United States, the escort ship stopped off at Suva, Pago Pago, and Pearl Harbor before reaching San Diego on 1 November.
She remained in port there until June 1974, when she got underway for a series of special operations. Stein then operated out of San Diego until mid-August. After a short period in port, she departed again on another special operation. This one, however, ended at Cubi Point on Subic Bay in the Philippines and began her second tour of duty with the 7th Fleet. She worked out of Subic Bay until late October when she sailed on a voyage that carried her to Singapore, and thence into the Indian Ocean. In November, she visited Karachi and returned to Singapore, where she was in December 1974.
