Herbert J Thomas (DDR 833) - Naval Cruise Book

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COMMANDING OFFICER RELIEVED, 21 OCTOBER 1957 co1viiviANoER Joiiixi c. aoi2DEN Commander John C. Borden served as Commanding Officer of The HERBERT J. THOMAS from SepTember 22, 1955, unTil his relief by Commander William A. PiTcher aT Yokosuka, Japan, on OcTober 21, 1957. Upon deTachmenT from his command, Commander Borden vvas ordered To duTy as Chief of The Naval Mission, MonTevideo, Uruguay. Upon complefion of college, Commander Borden enTered The Navy in 19-40 aT The Midshipmen School, USS ILLINOIS. Commissioned as an ensign The same year, he reporTed To his firsT duTy sTaTion for sea duTy aboard The USS NEVADA. He was signal officer of This ship vvhen iT vvas aTTacked and sunk by The Japanese in Their December 7, 19411, aTTacl4 on Pearl I-larbor, T. I-I. During The remainder of World War ll he served vviTh disTincTion on The baTTleship, USS ALA- BAMA, and The cruiser, USS PITTSBURGH. Following The Second World War Commander Borden compleTed assignmenTs in The SouThern Pacific While aTTached To The STaff of The Commander Naval Forces, Philippines, and Naval Communicafions STaTion, Guam, Mariana Islands. During This period he also served Tvvice in his firsT naval love, desTroyers, once as ExecuTive Officer of The USS SARS- FIELD and laTer as Commanding Officer of The USS BADGER. Prior To assuming command of The USS HERBERT J. THOMAS he vvas CommunicaTions Officer aT The Office of Naval OperaTions, Washingfon, D. C. ii Among The medals held by Commander Borden are American Defense Medal vviTh one sTar, The American TheaTer Medal, The European TheaTer Medal, Pacific TheaTer Medal vviTh six sTars, World War ll VicTory Medal, Philippine Independence Medal, China Service Medal, and NaTional Defense Medal. - A .. Q X. A.

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Through all her campaigns only one enemy hif was received, This being a counier-baTTery shof which scored on The main deck. FoiTunaTelv, no personnel and only slighT maTerial damages resulfed. Three more cruises To The VVesTern Pacific infervened in 19511, 1955, and 1956 and on AugusT 31, 1957, The THOMAS commenced The mosT currenf of These cruises. FirsT porT of call was Pearl Harbor in The TerriTory of Hawaii. The crew enjoyed a sevenfy-Two hour weekend aT This island prior To seTTing off for poinfs in The SouThern Hemisphere and Brisbane AusTralia, in parTicular. The crossing of The EguaTor and The iniTiaTion of all pollywogs as shellbacks was The special ceremony of This occasion. RegulaTion haircuTs, a banguef, and bapTism in The royal baThTub were included in The fesTiviTies. Two days afTer King lXlepTune ruled mighTy and supreme aT The EguaTor, The THOMAS sailed inTo The calm and serene harbor of Pago Pago, American Samoa. A Trip To a naTive village and The Polynesian dancing exhibiTion presenTed by The svelTe and graceful children oT This colony were enjoyed by all hands. A day laTer, The lasT leg of The iourney To AusTralia was sTarTed. On SepTember 23, The Three ships of DesTroyer Division 232 which made The cruise arrived in Brisbane. ParTies and general good Times were afforded The officers and crew Through The sincere hospiTaliTy of our lovely Ausfralian friends. This phase of The 1957-1958 VVesTern Pacific Cruise was definiTely The highlighf of The overseas Trip along wiTh The ciTy of Hong Kong, Brifish Crown Colony. The ship was The guesT oT This splendid island in The laTTer parT oT January 1958. CDperaTional commiTmenTs nafurally occupied The greaTesT porTion of The cruise and Two weeks of Task group acTiviTies wiTh The modern aTTack carrier, USS KEARSARGE, evolved as The mosT demanding. Taiwan PaTrol for The lasT Two weeks of December and The firsT Two weeks of January found The ship aT sea The greaTesT porTion of The Time on The norfhern sTaTion, Chrisfmas was spenT underway, buT New Year's eve in porT and a wonderful dedicaTion of 1958 by Cardinal Spellman on This occasion proved meaningful To The enfire ship's company. OTher memorable evenfs of The lasT cruise were close scrapes wiTh four Typhoons, one ouTside of Guam, Mariana Islands, on The leg norTh To Japan from AusTralia and anofher causing The evacuaTion of Subic Bay in OcTober being The mosT aggravaTing.

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CCMMANDING OFFICER COMMANDER W. A. PITCHER Commander William A. PiTcher, upon graduafion from San Jose STaTe College and afTer graduaTe sTudies in General EducaTion aT The Universify of California, vvas commissioned 'an ensign in February 1943. He reporTed To The USS HERBERT J, THOMAS for his second Tour of duTy vvhile The ship vvas drydocked in Yolcosuka, Japan, and relieved Commander Borden as Commanding Officer on OcTober QI, I957. Affer his commissioning, Commander PiTcher aTTended bomb disposal school and Then reporTed in May I943, To his firsT permanenT duTy sTaTion, USS ELIZABETH C. STANTON, an aTTaCk Troop TransporT. Upon Transfer from This command, he spenT The IasT year of World War Il on The aircrafT carrier, USS BUNKER HILL. For The Inferim of World War II and The Korean ConflicT, a Tour vviTh The Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps aT The UniversiTy of Pennsyl- vania vvas his iniTial assignmenf. During The period T946 Through I95I, Commander PiTcher served aboard The famous baTTIeship, USS MISSOURI, aTTended General Line and Naval lnTeIligence Schools, and served on The STaff of Head- oiuarTers, Caribbean Command. In SepTember of I95I, he reporTed To The USS OZBOURN, and on This ship commenced his desTroyer days. One year laTer he became ExecuTive Officer of The USS HERBERT J. THOMAS, vviTh his refurn To This ship In The fall of T957 as Commanding Officer being broken by Three years of duTy aT The Office of Naval OperaTions in WashingTon, D. C. Included in his five rovvs of medals and awards are The Bronze STar Medal, CommendaTion Medal, Pre-sidenTT-ai UnIT CiTaTion, European Theafer Medal vviTh Tvvo sTars, AsiaTic-Pacific Area Medal vvITh four sTars, Korean Service Medal wiTh Three sTars, The Philippine Independence Medal vviTh Tvvo sfars, and The Korean PresidenTial UnIT CiTaTi0n.I .. -4 f 1 'w-pw M ,,......,........,-,,..,,......Q..,...,...., -- - I I I I I i i 1 . i I I I I I I I I I I I -I 'i 'i i. l i I I I