Porterfield (DD 682) - Naval Cruise Book

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4 1 Cmmanding Officef ' Our CioimmandingiiOfficer, Commander William S. Brad+ way, jr., was born in 1914 in Gloucester City, eNew jersey. Upon graduation fromthe University of Pennsylvania, where he .participated in track and football, ,he entered the Navy in 1940, as an Apprentice Seaman. The following year he received his reserve commission as,Ensign. During the Second World War he 'served aboard- the battleships West, Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina, and the destroyer Hobby. His first command was the JUS-S GOSSELIN QAPDIZCJJSI in 1948. He served in that capacityfor ayear before going on the staff of iComPhibTraPac. A In June of 1952 Commander Bradway became skipper of the PORTERFIELD. 4 'H ' s Executive Officer The PORTERFIELD's Executive,0fficer during the ship's two cruises in the Far East was Commander Fred F. 'fMoon Mullins, Jr., a native of Helana, Alabama. , ,, Commander Mullins was commissioned an ensign in 1941 after having attended Howard College in Alabama for three years and enlisting in the navy as an apprentice Seaman. His first duty was on the fleet oiler USS CUYANA. In 1943, he became executive officer of another oiler, the USQS WHIP- PET, and thefnext year was appointed commanding 'officer of the same ship. Before going into' the inactive reserve in 1946 he was CO of the aviation supply ship USS SUPPLY. He returned to the University of Alabama and received his degree in 1948 and returned to active duty as inspector- instructor of the Naval Reserve facilities in Birmingham, Ala. - 1 f , Commander Mullins was assigned as executive officer of the PORTERFIELD in 1951 when the ship wasrecom- missioned. In February of 1953 he was -promoted to com- mander. Just prior to the arrival of thevship in the States he was relieved by Lt. W. B. Hayer. His next duty will be in the office of Naval Reserve Training, Sixth Naval District, Charleston, S. C. A V l 'i

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Ship's History The USS PORTERFIELD was launched at Bethlehem Steel Company's shipyard, Terminal Island, California, in June of 1943. On October 30th of the same year the ship was commissioned at San Pedro, California. The PORTER- FIELD, a Fletcher-class destroyer, was named in honor of Rear Admiral Lewis Broughton Porterfield. After her Shakedown cruise the PORTERFIELD sailed westward in mid-January of 1944. From that date until her return to the U. S. in July of 1945 she operated with Task Forces 53 and 58 and with various amphibious groups. The ship earned ten battle stars for her operations in the Marshall Islands, New Guinea, Truk, Saipan, Guam, the Philippines and Okinawa. She received credit for the destruction of 16 enemy aircraft and one surface ship. In September of 194-5 the PORTERFIELD was decom- missioned and placed in mothballs at Long Beach, California. The breakout of fighting in Korea found the need for moreglactive Navy vessels and on Z7 April 1951 the PORTER- FIELD was re-commissioned at the U. S. Naval Station in Long Beach. After fleet training in and around San Diego she got under way as a part of Destroyer Division 171 for her first tour of duty in the Far East in late July of 1951. During this cruise while off the east coast of Korea she was slightly damaged by an enemy shore battery. No one was injured. In early March of 1952 she returned to San Diego and proceeded on to Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco for an annual upkeep period of three months. The PORTERFIELD returned to San Diego in June and for the next three months participated in a variety of exercises in that' area. This Cruise On the 4th of October, 1952, in company with DesDiv 171, the PORTERFIELD got under way for her second tour of duty in the Far East in a year and a half. After brief, but pleasant, stops in Pearl Harbor and Midway the ship arrived in Yokosuka, japan, the last week in October. Into the wind and out of the wind with Task Force 77 was the initial assignment, followed by anti-submarine exercises fand typhoon runningj at Okinawa and on our way to Yokosuka. From there the ship headed for Sasebo, taking time out on the trip to act as a lifeguard ship along the line of President- elect Eisenhowerls historic plane flight to Korea. Following our upkeep in Sasebo the PORTERFIELD joined Task ,Group 95.1 in early December on the west coast of Korea. For a month The Mighty P stood plane guard positions and patrolled in the cold Yellow Sea. Here the crew spent both Christmas and the New Year. The next assignment, in mid-January, was patrol duty in the Formosan Straits. This was highlighted by a three-day visit to Hong Kong. After that a week of patrol was followed by a week at Kaohsiung, Formosa, where the PORTER- FIELD acted as station ship. The northbound trip from Formosa to Yokosuka included ASW exercises around Okinawa. Following a short, but en- joyable, two weeks upkeep the ship again reported to Task Force 77. Except for a short upkeep in Sasebo the last of March the PORTERFIELD remained with the carriers and conducted occasional shore bombardment missions until her departure for the States on April 18th. The second cruise came to an end the 6th of May when the ship arrived home in San Diego and tied up at the Naval Station, having steamed about 55,000 miles in seven months. 3

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O F F I C E R S ,l, , ' . , W Front Row: LTJG R. L. WHITE, LTJG J. H. MOELLER, Middle Row: ENS C. R. MOTCH III, ENS C. W. DOER- Back Row: ENS W. H. WHITE, ENS ISCI P.F.GORMELY, LTJG N. W. BULLINGTON, JR., LTJG E. P. ING, ENS C. A. STERN, ENS E. C. FRANZEN, JR., ENS W. A. McQUARY, ENS W. M. LOCKE, ENS LEHNIG, CDR W. S. BRADWAY, JR., C.0., LCDR ENS J. P. GEYMAN, LTJG ISCI C. R. HOLLAND. R. W. GILLETT, ENS. J. T. PITTS. F. F. MULLINS, JR., X.0., LTJG A. G. OPITZ, LTJG C. B. ROGERS. 1 J