Newman K Perry (DDR 883) - Naval Cruise Book

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ZZSSWMA T77 The USS NEWMAN KERSHAW PERRY IDDR-8832 was buiIT by The Conjsolidafed Ship Corpora- Tion in Orange, Texas. The ship was commissioned on 26 July I945 and named in memory of En- Sign Newman Kershaw Perry, -Annapolis 'OI, who was killed in a boiler explosion aboard The USS BENNINGTON in I905. As a radar pickeT desTroyer, The N.K. PERRY's primary mission is To Take sTaTion many miles in advance of a naval formaTion To deTecT and reporT approaching enemy aircrafT. In addiTion, The ship performs many oTher sTandard desTroyer funcTions. These include: screening heavy combaTanT and auxiliary vessels againsT submarine and air aTTack,' acTing as a rescue vessel for aircrafT car- riers conducTing fIighT operaTions,' and conducTing shore bombardmenT in close supporT of amph-ib- ious operaTions. AfTer her maiden shakedown cruise and various operaTions in The ATlanTic, The N.K. PERRY sailed WesT in November I945 To become an acTive uniT of The Pacific Fleef. In The Summer of 1946 she saw duTy aT Bikini AToll during Operafion Crossroads as The aTom meT iTs firsT TesT as a weapon of naval warfare. During her Pacific Tour The N.K. PERRY was awarded The DESPAC E for ouTsTanding baTTle efficiency in boTh I948 and I949. In I949, moreover, she was one of The Two ships in The enTire Navy To receive The Marjorie STerreTT BaTTIeship Award in recogniTion of her ouTsTanding fiTness and readiness as a naval uniT. During i950 and I95I The N.K. PERRY conducTed various operaTions in The MediTerranean and underwenT refresher Training in GuanTanamo Bay, Cuba. The laTTer deploymenT served To acquainT her crew wiTh The many modificaTions insTalled during a I95I overhaul wiTh a view Towards increas- ing The ship's effecfiveness in The arena of The Cold War. Following Three years of rouTine operaTions, including a deploymenT wiTh The SIXTI-I FIeeT in The MediTerranean, The N.K. PERRY earned her Third baTTle efficiency - E in I955. During anofher de- ploymenT To The MediTerranean ThaT same year, she was seIecTed To represenT The UniTed STaTes' governmenT aT The inaugaraTion ceremonies of W.V.S. Tubman, PresidenT of The Republic ofLi- beria. In I956 The ship repeated a previous performance capTuring a hashmark for her E while operafing wiTh The ATIanTic PleeT. She deployed To The SIXTH PIeeT in I957 and parTicipaTed in Midshipmen Cruise ALPI-IA of ThaT year. In June I958 The N.K. PERRY became a school ship for DESLANT, operafing ouT of NewporT, R.I., unTil The Jordan Crisis when she rejoined The SECOND FIeeT ,To parTicipaTe in exTensive readi- ness exercises. She Then deployed once more To The MediTerranean for a seven monfh Tour of duTy. In I959 The N.K. PERRY joined DesTroyer I:IoTilIa SIX, serving as iTs flagship for Three monfhs. I-Iaving changed her homeporT To CharlesTon, S.C., she was subsequenfly chosen as flagship for Commander, DesTroyer Squadron SIX while deployed wiTh The SIXTI-I FIeeT. ReTurning To Charlesfon, The ship prepared for her second overhaul and an inspecTion by The inspecTion and Survey Board. She confirmed her place in The ranks of Those few ships which pass The laTTer, earned iniTiaIIy in March I959. During overhaul Two of The ship's Three 3-inch gun mounTs were removed and The laTesT, mosT powerful air search radar eauipmenT available was insTalled. A spacious charT house was added and The deckhouse modified To house a new posT office and engineering log room. Space made avail- able by These aITeraTions was ufilized for a new barber shop, gunnery office, and operaTions office while The CombaT InformaTion Cenfer and The laundry were enlarged. ' ' I Following overhaul The ship deparTed Cbarlesfon for refresher Training aT GuanTanamo Bay in preparaTion for subseauenT parTicipaTion in The firsT manned Mercury capsule recovery of 5 May I96I. AfTer joining NATO forces for allied operaTions in The ATlanTic, she again deployed To The Mediferranean on AugusT 3, l96l. During This deploymenT The N.K. PERRY OD6fGT9d GPUGVISIVGIY in The Black Sea.

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Refurning To The UniTed STaTes in March 7962, The ship paused briefly in her homeporT before parTicipaTing in The Presidenfial Naval Reviewof April and Two amphibious operaTions in The Carib- bean. She Then refurned To CharlesTon for a well earned yard availabiliTy period. J RouTine summer Training operaTions were climaxed in OcTober by The sudden deploymenT of DQ- srroyer Squadron SIX in The vanguard of The Cuban guaranTine forces. Besides fulfilling her mission as a radar pickeT ship The N K PERRY earned added praise for a high sTaTe of overall readiness which enabled her To perform many oTher duTies as well ShorTly afTer refurning To Cfharlesfon as The guaranrine was lifTed The N K PERRY was again called To The Caribbean for service The ship reTurned To spend The holidays in porT and The spring monThs of 1963 conduchng Training operaTions and preparing for deploymenT To The MediTerranean In June