Bradford (DD 545) - Naval Cruise Book

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HISTORY OF U.S.S. BRADFORD DD 545 This is the story of a fine ship, the U.S.S. BRADFORD lDD545l. All of the men who have served on her agree that she is one of the first in the fleet. They don't make the claim of being the number one ship in the fleet. After all, who is to iudge iust which is the best and which the next best? There are many, fine ships in the U.S. Navy. The BRADFORD is one of them. we believe she deserves to be called One of the first. This article will try to explain why we think so. The BRADFORD was commissioned on June 12, 1943, at San Pedro, California. Commander Robert L. Morris, USN, offi- cially accepted the ship for the Navy from the Bethlehem Ship- building Company. Mrs. Sally Bradford Ross sponsored the ship. She christened the slim hull BRADFORD in honor of Captain Gamiel Bradford, one of America's most skilled and courageous privateersmen during the war of 1812. After commissioning, the BRADFORD had less than three weeks of shakedown before she carried out her first assignment. She rendezvoused with the U.S.S. Enterprise off the west coast and escorted her to the Navy Yard at Puget Sound in Bremerton, Washington. Then, after a short stay in the yard for engineering repairs, BRADFORD set sail for Pearl Harbor on August 18, 1943. Upon arrival she received orders for operations against the enemy, and was underway in less than 24 hours on her first war cruise. It was during this cruise that the BRADFORD crossed the equator for the first time and many new shellbacks were initi- ated into the realm of Neptune Rex. On November twenty-fifth approximately twelve Jap tor- pedo'bombers carried out a raid on our Task Group losing several planes and causing much damage. BRADFORD fired the first shots in defense of the carriers and expended considerable ammunition of all calibers in the ensuing battle. No planes were claimed since results were obscured by darkness and by the anti-aircraft bursts which filled the sky. The North Carolina, how- ever, credited BRADFORD with one plane destroyed. On Thanksgiving Day, BRADFORD received its biggest thrill of the operation. Together with the Brown, she escorted the Monterey, a light carrier, from one Task Force Group to another. Safe delivery was accomplished by dusk, when enemy bombers were sighted trailing our fighters back to the Task Group which was by this time hull-down astern. A warning was flashed to all ships and BRADFORD immediately opened fire. This began a 45 minute duel between the two destroyers and about eighteen tor- pedo planes. The entire Jap attacking Group was devoting itself to the Brown and BRADFORD. The enemy waited until dark before pressing home a coordinated attack in which well timed ap- proaches were made from all directions. Excellent work by all hands allowed the ship to come through the attack undamaged. Close coordination between Com- bat lnformation Center and the bridge enabled the ship to turn directly into the most threatening attack. The first torpedo dropped about 800 yards dead ahead. After running straight for the ship, the torpedo turned slightly to the right and passed down the port side within ten feet of the hull. The plane dropping this torpedo was solidly hit by the forward starboard 40mm and the starboard and after 20mm's as it passed within 30 yards of the ship. The crew of the Brown saw the plane crash astern. Accurate 40mm fire diverted a second plane coming in on the port bow. His fish passed a safe distance astern. Following these, came several attacks on the port beam in which torpedos were launched from aircraft 1,000 to 1,500 yards out. High speed, coupled with heavy and accurate gunfire, forced these planes to either break off their attacks or pass comfortably astern. No more torpedo wakes were sighted although several more planes attempted runs. ,- ln the meantime, the Brown, independently engaged, had fared iust.as well making a total for the evening of three planes destroyed and three probables for the two ships. Of this BRAD- FORD'S share was one destroyed and two probables with a fourth plane damaged. For that night's work the BRADFORD and Brown received special congratulations from Admiral Nimitz and the remainder of the operation passed in comparative quiet. On the fifteenth of February, a Task Group consisting of the Iowa, New Jersey, Minneapolis and New Orleans with BRADFORD acting as one of the four destroyer escorts formed to intercept and destroy several warships escaping from Truk via the North Pass. About 1445, smoke, bombs splashed and anti- aircraft fire were sighted on the horizon ahead and as speed was increased three ships came into view, one a Kotori class cruiser, another an Asashio class destroyer and the third, a small steamer. The destroyer and cruiser were under heavy air attack by 18 carrier based bombers and fighters and were putting UP a very poor defense. While they watched, the cruiser took a heavy bomb hit amidships and lost headway rapidly. The de- stroyer elected to stay with the cruiser, while the small steamer turned toward our formation, putting over lifeboats as she did so. The New Jersey, as first in line in the main body, waited until the steamer was on a clear bearing and.let a twelve QU salvo go from her secondary battery. The reaction was instan- taneous as the steamer disappeared completely leaving only a 2,000 foot mushroom of black smoke. In the meantime BRAD- FORD being on the engaged side, had come into range of. the cruiser which she took under fire at 1515, scoring a straddle on the second salvo and several hits in succeeding salvos. Seven minutes later two torpedoes were fired at the cruiser scoring One hit. At 1525, fire was shifted to the destroyer as she had opened UP with two of her after guns and shell splashes were observed between the BRADFORD and main body. At 1531 BRADFORD fired one torpedo which struck the enemy destroyer iust as BRAD- FORD was passing with the Jap 3,000 yards on our port beam-

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P. C. Johnson, Lf.J.G., USNR R. R. Meehan, Ens., USNR M. Skolich, Ens., USNR D. M. Hopperstad, Ens., USNR Q L. R. Kundlz, Ens., USNR 7 c. Mafhewg, Ens., USNR Haw Bong Kyu, Ens., ROKN NOT PICTURED R. D. Young, Li., USN H. R. McMillan, Lt.J.G., USNR R. A. Harris, Ens., USN

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The hit exploded the already mortally wounded enemy and he sank immediately thereafter hidden in dense black smoke from his own fires. In the meantime the enemy cruiser had succumbed to the gunfire of our cruisers, comLI.ed with BRADFORD'S tor- pedo hit. The foregoing has been presented somewhat in detail because it was BRADFORD'S only surface action and one of the few daylight surface actions fought during the war. Midway through the morning of 5 August, BRADFORD sank a 500 ton Japanese Sea Truk which stumbled into view of the Task Group she was operating with. On February 16th BRADFORD sortied as escort to transports carrying the Third Marine Division. Three days later at dawn on D Day Iwo Jima was sighted through its mantle of bursting TNT. The next day BRADFORD was assigned duty as fire support ship. The ship delivered several hundred rounds of call fire for the noncommital Marines without learning the effects of their fire, however at 1000 an airplane from an escort carrier took up the iob of spotting and from then on the radio log was more inter- esting. For instance, That was very good shooting and That just beat the hell out of things. BRADFORD fired 1,200 rounds of five inch proiectiles by 1723 that day. When BRADFORD acted as a picket ship off of Okinawa she was unexcelled in reporting Kamikazes and other Jap air- craft. On one occasion, the Force Fighter Director asked, How do you report them so fast and accurately? The 14th to 18th of May found BRADFORD in the picket line. Back again on the 21st, but this time in one of the hotspots up north of Okinawa. At 0050 the next day one plane began a run on BRADFORD, but was driven off by gunfire. Four times this plane closed in only to be driven back. Then he took a closing course for the ship. The five inch guns blazed away and as the range closed the machine guns took up the iob. The Jap climbed to 2000 feet and when about a mile away, started a dive on the ship. All available speed was used and as the ship went into a fast turn, the guns connected. The Jap fell in flames 100 yards off the fantail. The remaining planes were giving the rest of the de- stroyers a bad time too. At dawn on the 28th while waiting at Hagushi for our next iob, BRADFORD'S guns again went into action. A suicide plane sneaking in from the north, penetrated the screen, and he headed straight for BRADFORD'S fantail. Ships in the harbor had the plane under fire with little apparent success until after our machine guns scored hits. The plane exploded in mid air about 1000 yards on the port quarter. At 0753 an Irving, one of the Japs newest planes, tried the same thing and headed straight for the BRADFORD. All the machine guns on the starboard side opened up, and he landed in the water about 1500 yards on the starboard beam. After that the ship went back to picket duty. Again the ship was a target for a Jap suicide plane, and again its guns connected at the last minute. The plane crashed in flames 200 yards on the port quarter. The other plane with it headed for another destroyer and hit its mark. The BRADFORD went to the rescue of the U.S.S. Shubrick's survivors. On the 1st of June, BRADFORD was relieved for logistics. On the 4th, she was right back in the thick of things again. The next afternoon, a Tony burst through the clouds. In a matter of seconds, before the other ships could begin to fire, BRADFORD machine guns had put this plane out of commission. This proved to be BRADFORD'S last iob as radar picket, but the record the ship had established was not forgotten. In a nomination for the Navy Unit Citation, the last sentence reads, Of the picket ships engaged, the U.S.S. BRADFORD was among those who were particularly outstanding. After the Okinawa campaign, the BRADFORD aided in the blockade of Japanese waters. She was one of the first in Jap ports. Her crew were of the first ashore in Japan. Finally on October 31st, 1945, BRADFORD in company with DesRon 46 set sail for the United States. Her overseas duty had ended. Ahead lay a series of experiments in determining the shiphandling qualities of the Fletcher class destroyer. Upon completion she went to Terminal Island for her second yard overhaul. From there she headed for decommissioning and the inactive fleet. Approximately the first of October, 1950 work was begun on getting BRADFORD ready for recommissioning again. There was a lot of work to be done and all of the new hands realized it. Finally on Saturday October 27th, Commander Francis D. Boyle, USN, accepted the ship from the yard. At 1000, the BRADFORD was back on active duty. This new war was different than World War ll, however, because of the large amount of already trained Reserves avail- able to man the many ships that the Navy was recommissioning. BRADFORD was no exception. .As a Captain the men had an able leader in CDR Boyle. He himself was no newcomer to combat As a commander of a Sub Pack during the war he had earned the highest honor the Navy can bestow on an individual. The Navy Cross. His crew was mostly Reserve men who had also seen plenty of action but hadn't been to sea since the end of World War ll. Of the whole crew about sixty percent were Reserves. BRADFORD ha,d some extensive training to do and did well. By the 29th of January, 1951,BRADFORD was heading west to war. On the morning of the 3rd of February she arrived in Pearl Harbor for what was meant to be a short period of train- ing and recreation. However while the ship was in the yards there for a minor repair, one of the yard workmen dropped a nut into the main turbines. When the job of getting it out was completed they want out for a sea trial. It was still leaking. Nevertheless they decided to take her on over anyway and try to repair it with the ships force. So with the O'Brien, Hubbard and Brown, BRADFORD again set course for Japan. By the time they reached their destination the engineers had stopped the leak. On 9 March, 1951, BRADFORD returned to Sasebo, Japan. She stayed there long enough for some of the crew to see Japan again and for the rest to see it for the first time. On 13 March, BRADFORD ioined the fast carrier force Task Force 77. She was assigned a station in the anti-submarine screen and felt right at home again. BRADFORD remained with TF 77 for the next eight days conducting flight operations, acting as plane guard for the car- riers Valley Forge and Princeton, steaming, at darkened ship, replenishing and rearming at sea and conducting various drills 'aboard ship. The 22nd to 28th of March found BRADFORD with DesDiv 131 in Yokosuka for a tender availability. She arrived in Yoko- suka almost five years and six months to the day from her departure from that port after WW ll. The month of April was devoted to an extensive Hunter Killer training period with the carrier Bairoko. All hands were thoroughly versed in the tactics of how to attack and kill one of the Navy's worst enemies - the submarine. The weather was still cold, the seas still choppy and many long hours were spent at submarine general quarters. There was also added training for the officers in station keeping and taking plane guard while at darkened ship, tactical maneuvering with a carrier force and the vectoring out of the Submarine Attack Units. The Captain, an old dolphin man himself, was wise to -'the evasive tactics of the submarines and used every opportunity to pass on the information to the less experienced officers. All hands did a fine iob and BRADFORD received another Well Done. Our first shore bombardment mission was assigned us on the seventh of June. Helena, Cunningham and BRADFORD formed as a task element and headed west for the Korean coast. Every morning we added a dawn alert to our already full schedule. At 1752 on the eighth of June BRADFORD expended her first round on North Korean emplacements. Perhaps the most remembered event of that shore bombard- ment mission was when BRADFORD went steaming up into the river at Chuurongiang and illuminated for Helena and Cunning- ham with her thirty six inch searchlights and star shells while the other ships remained off the coast firing their missles of destruc- tion directly overhead toward their targets. It would have been a disastrous thing if one of the shells had fallen short or had an air burst, for all hands were at general quarters most of that night. At 0405 they secured from G.Q. and retired from the river to rejoin the other ships. BRADFORD received a Well Done for her part in destroying those targets. On the eleventh she rejoined TF 77. On the 12th at 0742 BRADFORD was in station number two of the screen when the U.S.S. Walke in the station next to her struck a mine. At 0806 a lookout and telephone talker on the bridge sighted a mine dead ahead about 200 yards. By the quick action of the OOD that mine floated down the starboard side within five feetl lt was immediately reported and sunk with small arms fire. BRADFORD stayed with TF 77 until the fifteenth when she went to the Yellow Sea and began operating with TF 95's carrier group. The ship rendezvoused with the task group the next day.