Bradford (DD 545) - Naval Cruise Book

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wifi there BRADFORD had first experience fefUe'i 9 mm Britisi tanker, the H.M.S. Wave Premier. That nighl lhet' were sent on the Northern Patrol. The Board and Search .PUHY was briefed on iust what to expect and all hands were hOPIh9 to See some action, however none occurred. I . dur- On the nineteenth while she was on life 9UU d Station ing a personnel transfer from the Sicily to the Cunninghamf one of BRADFORD'S spring bearings burned out and the starbhoglzd shaft was locked. Immediately afterwards the ship s duty wut e task element was completed and it was detached Vlflth the CUB' ninghom to proceed to Sasebo, Japan. By arrival time the h6Xt day, the bearing had been replaced and was working In t0P condition thanks to the Engineering force. On the 26th of June, BRADFORD escorted the New Jersey to Pusan, Korea. Arriving there the next morning, BRADFORD found herself underway again that afternoon. She was escorting the cruiser Toledo to Wonsan, Korea. BRADFORD was assigned her berth and immediately began to fire on the assigned targeti, and was engaged in counter-battery fire. The next morning she was ordered to shift berths, and five minutes after she was under- way her replacement was struck by enemy shore batteries as the relieving ship anchored. One man was killed and several rn- iured. All hands aboard the BRADFORD thanked God that it didn't happen to their ship and shipmates. It was too close for comfort. The next day BRADFORD escorted the Toledo to Songiin to take care of some enemy shore batteries. With those out of the way they headed for Chongiin. After a two day stay there con- ducting bombardment missions they headed back to Wonsan. BRADFORD escorted the cruiser Los Angeles and Toledo for the nextrtwo days and then reioined TF 77 for refueling and anti- aircraft exercises. BRADFORD and Toledo were then detached and headed back to Pusan. They arrived there on the fourth of July. That day was spent in cleaning and painting the ship for the next day. Work started that day at sunrise and stopped at sunset. The only break was for meals. The next day RADM G. C. Dyer, USN who was CTF 95, Mai. Gen. Kim Chang. Hai, ROKAF, and RADM Sohn Won Li, boarded for transportation to the South Korean Naval Academy at Chinhai, Korea, to hold the Gradua- tion Inspection that day. That evening, BRADFORD anchored in Pusan Harbor and debarked its passengers. On Friday the 'l3th, BRADFORD was detached and rendezvoused with Cunningham to relieve her as a Commander of a Task Element. From the fourteenth to the twenty fifth of July BRADFORD handed the Communists her most devastating blows. It was her duty to patrol up and down the coast of Korea in the vicinity of the front lines and take under fire any observed enemy activity plus any call fire she received from friendly forces. She did a iob that at that time had not been excelled. Observers said that the accurate firing caused more than one Hornets Nest to be completely obliterated. Her firing was both accurate and rapid. On the fourteenth she expended two hundred and forty two rounds in a half hour. On the nineteenth she expended three hundred forty six rounds in forty five minutes. As an army officer told one of the crew, Whenever we want sure fire in a hurry, we iust call the BRADFORD. She'll do the iob. BRADFORD also gave fresh water to the friendly Korean patrol craft that was under her command which meant that the crew spent the whole time with water hours. That coupled with the intense heat and the flies lthe crew insisted that the North Koreans had sent to plague theml made the hours not spent at general quarters seem all the longer. About the only time that the crew felt any breeze whatsoever was on the 23rd, when the lookouts spotted a friendly plane crash about six miles away. BRADFORD rushed to the scene and the pilot was aboard thirteen minutes later. On the twenty fifth the destroyer escort Naifhe relieved her and she headed back to reioin TF 77. On the twenty ninth the crew enioyed its first liberty in 33 days while the ship was tied alongside Hector for a repair period. On the ninth of August BRADFORD was again with task force 77. She was relieved on station on the twenty second and headed Back to the Barn. The 25th found her in Yokosuka for a four hour stay. After all provisions were aboard and the ship's tanks full she headed east for Midway Island. It need not be mentioned that the whole crew was suffering from a severe case of Channel Fever. The trip to Midway was a most enjoyable one. The seas were calm and the sun shone every day. The stay in Midway was iust long enough to refuel and then course was sef for Pearl Harbor. All hands were happy to see Diamond Head again but were iust a little happier to see it sink beneath the horizon approximately six hours later. Again the course was easterly and the sea beautiful. Finally on September fourth, BRADFORD passed Point Loma and tied up in a nest with the rest of Deg, Div. 131. BRADFORD stayed in San Diego approximately two weeks and then got underway and headed for Mare Island for a maior overhaul. The following months of October, November, and December brought about many changes in the ship's appearance and fighting characteristics. When she came out of the yard end headed back to San Diego, there was not a finer looking' ship in the fleet. On December' 2lst, Commander Boyle was relieved by lieutenent Commander A. L. KobeY' J'- ThUS the new looking BRADFORD was under command of a new skipper. The new commanding officer was not the only new member of the crew however. While the ship was In the yard .practrcally'all of the Reserves who had helped put the ship into commission and helped fight her battles over in West' Pacuwere transferred for release to inactive service. Most of their reliefs were lsea'men ap- prentice right from boot camp or from a class A school. They had never been to sea before let alone had any war experi- ence, There was a lot of training to do In the two months that followed and all hands received all the drill that was possible before BRADFORD sailed again for West Pac. On Saturday the 22nd of March BR:DFORDSgot underway from alongside pier No. 2 at the Naval ase in an Diego and k for her second Korean Cruise. Six days later gR?XcDIl:,ORkDmlied alongside pier M-l in Pearl Harbor T.H. after a hydrographically beautiful trip with a maximum of training enrouihe ship stayed there for two weeks of recreation and ASW exercises. Then it got underway with DES DIV 131 enroute to Yokosuka while acting as escorts for the carrier Princeton. On April 14th she arrived in Yokosuka and tied. alongside the de- stroyer tender Hamil. Four days later the ship was headed for TF 77. The rendezvous was effected on the 20th. Two days RADFORD was acting as an anti-submarine screen for Igkileb, Eluring the day and conducting harrassing and interdiction firing at night. That duty lasted ogel week when the ship was relieved on station by the destroyer o e. BRADFORD then again ioined TF 77 and stayed there con- ducting flight operations and acting as part of the anti-sub- marine screen, until May 18th when she pulled into Sasebo Harbor for a six day upkeep periold. O3 Saturdawg the 24th og Ma , BRADFORD set sail in anot er irection tis time an heaycled south for her first Formosa Patrol duty. All hands were eager to not only get a chance to see some new scenery, but to get a chance to see the famous and fabulous port of Hong Kong. The crew had heard many stories about it and were anxious to see if it all could be true. Everybody knew that duty this far south would most likely be pretty hot but no one had the idea that it was going to be such an extreme and sultry heat. Our main duty there was to patrol up and down the Formosa Straights to keep the Chinese Communists on their side and the Nationalists on theirs. While not on patrol the ship pulled into the Formosan port of Kaio Hsuing. Liberty there was not quite as good as back in Japan but it did give the crew-a chance to see what the people were like and also a chance to have a look around that part of the small island. Finally on Friday the 13th BRADFORD set sail for Hong Kong. In keeping with the day, the trip was pretty rough. A typhoon had iust passed near and left the seas in a not too pleasant condition however the next afternoon BRADFORD tied :p to buoy No. 5 in Hong Kong Harbor. And then the fun egan. I Even though liberty in Hong Kong could be mildly classified as 'great a man not need leave the ship to enable him to buy practically anything his heart desired. Merchants of all types and shapes came aboard and displayed their wares. You could have a suit made to order without leaving the ship, you could buy lor selll iewelry and could even purchase a hand carved liguor cabinet aboard if it pleased you. A few of the person- alities who will be hard to forget are: Mary Sue and her lady Fhoql-lfvffflns Mates, No Squeek Johnson, the cobbler and Jimmy, e an or. The following Monda mornin as the shi ot underway :nd handed back to her pditrol dutygall hands kheg that it must ave een as good as they said, as ever one was broke. BRAD- FORD returned to Kaio Hsuing and refuelzd and then headed to same rll:h :Te Island for transfer of personnel and tactical exer- es. a er at ay she ioined the rest of the division and pro- ceeded north to Korea. BRADFORD wasassigned duty with the Part of TF 95 in the Yellow Sea. She rendezvoused with them on the 20th and .relieved the destroyer Isbell. While we were 9l0 .9SICte transferring the turn over papers, we received quite C' b of k'dd 9 from them because most of us were wearrn9 loft' weather Iackets and the crew of Isbell were on deck in their shut sleeves' The Change in temperature was a great relief fr0m the heat that had been encountered, but the crew hadn't had a chance to acclimate themselves yet. By the time that the shiP Maas detached on the 29th of June, the crew had accustomed t emselves to the cool summer weather. BRADFORD joined the rest of the division in Yokosuka July lst. ninghtnefef Yegk of repairs BRADFORD with Evans and Chnl: TF 77 Fronfolthe oiiitemerion while enroute to rendezious with TF 77- AI th S. until the 18th BRADFORD remained VIH Bremegmn t at time she was designated to escort the cruiser d F 0 e bomblrne and assist her in shore bombardment U 'es' A few d'lYs later the Bremerton was relieved by IOWGI 50 BRADFORD operated with her. On the twenty second of JulY the ship was back with TF 77,

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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.

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The followlng two days BRADFORD acted as Mall Man for the Task Force It seems that when the task force had re fueled and replenished a few days before everybody had every body elses mall and supercargo Slnce BRADFORD was the lunlor shlp ln the formatlon she was designated to go along slde the varlous ShlPS and glve them thelr mall and plck up the mall and supercargo that they had and deliver lt to lts rlghtful owners By the tlme that lt was all dellvered BRADFORD had gone alongslde every shlp ln the task force ln between the numerous fllght operatlons BRADFORD wlth DesDlv 131 was detached from the task force on fourth of August 1952 to proceed to the eastern coast of Japan to conduct two weeks of AntlSubmarlne Warfare exerclses The flrst week was rather easy after the long hours spent wlth TF 77 Our maln operatlons lncluded tracklng a sub marlne whlle on the water and whlle submerged That weekend was spent ln Kobe Japan It was the flrst tlme that BRADFORD had VlSIled that port lt gave the crew a chance to see the Plttsburg of the Orlent and get a Ilttle change of scenery The followlng Monday mornlng all of the USN shlps got underway and proceeded to commence the VIQOFOUS tralnlng schedule that was set up for them Upon completlon of the exerclses BRADFORD wlth the other shlps that were lnvolved ln the exerclses pulled lnto Yokosuka Japan the followlng Sunday for a one day stay From there BRADFORD and the rest of the dlvlslon left enroute for Sasebo Japan for a ten day upkeep perlod When BRADFORD was alongslde the tender Pledmont t was dlSCOVefed that the port screw had a crack ln lt so the shlp went INTO dry dock for two days When the BRADFORD pulled out of port agaln and headed for the Yellow Sea for duty wlth TF 95 she looked llke a new shlp for lt had been completely repalnted ln preparatlon for her return to the states As lt turned out the month of September was the most eventful and unforgettable month ofthe 1952 CFUISB BRADFORD rendezvoused wlth Yarnall at Taechong Do and recelved her ln off the lslands of Cho Do and Soku To We anchored each day to the seaward slde of the lsland and then at nlght after com pletlng a transfer of a llason party to one of the South Korean lSSLs got underway and anchored between the lslands and the malnland Durlng the month BRADFORDS crew was enabled to go over to the lslands for recreatlon partles ln return for the fresh water and ICG cream they furnlshed to the personnel statloned on the lslands The flrst two partles were qulte successful The men enloyed the swlmmlng hlklng up and down the hllls and the beer that the shlp furnlshed However the men on the thlrd and last partles tlme was cut short by the enemy shore batterles flrlng at them None of the crew was lnlured fortunately lmmedlately BRAD FORD opened flre and sllenced the gun posltlon On the nlnth of September 1952 whlle Combat was controlllng some Corsalrs bomblng some known posltlons on the malnland they were attacked by four MlG 15 lets Battle sta tlons were lmmedlately manned but we were ln no posltlon to open flre for fear of hlttlng the slower frlendly planes The Cor salrs lmmedlately dropped thelr bombs thus glvlng themselves more maneuverablllty About elght prolectlles fell close aboard Too close for comfort but there was nothlng that could be done The shlp lmmedlately got underway to enable us to maneuver as necessary to avold any such further lncldents and also QIVE us a better posltlon ln case the MIG 15s opened flre on us Ap proxlmately flve mlnutes later lt was all over The next day the same thlng happened agaln however thls tame wlthout the pro lectlles explodlng all around us Agaln lt was declded not to open flre From that day on the crew was sent to General Quarters ln the late afternoon and early evenlng lust ln case the MIGS would return and come wlthln range of our guns Flnally on Wednesday the 17th of September as the crew was at General Quarters and our flre control radar tralned towards Manchurla and Mlg Alley a contact was slghted on the radar The flrst month that BRADFORD was back ln the states was spent as a leave and recreatlon perlod The month that followed was used to traln some of the new men that had reported aboard and keep the other men ln top shape The Chrlstmas holldays found BRADFORD tled alongslde a pler at the Naval Statlon ln San Dlego thus enabling the shlp to send as many men home for the holldays as was posslble The months of January and February were spent as an ex tenslve tralnlng perlod Durlng that tlme BRADFORD underwent thelr Operatlonal Redlness lnspectlon Hunter Klller EXCYCISES and was lnspected by the Underway Tfdlnlng Element Durlng thls tlme the shlp sometlmes returned to port at nlght after com pletlng a certaln phase of llS exerclses and sometlmes remalned underway There were several tlmes that BRADFORD would anchor ln Wllson Cove or Pyramld Cove off the lsland of San Clemente The month of March found BRADFORD recelvlng a dry docklng perlod at the Naval Statlon ln San Dlego Callfronla The hull was completely scraped and palnted and prepared for her thlrd Korean CFUISQ On Aprll 18 1953 BRADFORD ln company wlth Brlnkley Bass and Duncan got underway from alongslde the destroyer tender PTCIFIE and set course for Pearl Harbor TH for the thlrd tlme slnce her recommlsslonlng The trlp between the states and Pearl Harbor was a pretty rough one thus ltmlllng the tralnlng to a bare mlnlmum The three shlps arrlved there SIX days later and commenced enloylng the beautlful weather and scenery that the Hawallan lslands offer to lts vlsltors Approxlmately two weeks later BRADFORD got underway wlth the Brlnkley Bass Duncan Potter and Taylor and headed for Yokosuka Japan The seas had calmed down con slderably and thus enabled the fIVe shlps to conduct not only shlpboard tralnlng but also dlvlslon tactlcal exerclses Enroute to Yokosuka the flve shlps stopped long enough at Mldway lsland to refuel and glve the crew members a look around Thls stop was a Shutter Bug s dellght tor thls lsland was llt.erally covered wlth Gooney Blrds BRADFORDS crew was also glven a party by thelr recreatlon commlttee whlle there Approxlmately flve hours later the shlps got underway agaln and contlnued thelr voyage On Tuesday the 12th of May the dlvlslon moored alongside the tender Frontler ln Yokosuka After a three day stay the shlps were underway once agaln thls tlme headed for Korea and duty wlth Task Force 95 BRADFORD rendezvoused wlth the destroyer Maddox and assumed her patrol off the eastern Korean coast The maln dutles of that tour wlth 95 was to act as an antl lnvaslon protectlon unlt for the lsland of Yang Do and also to QIVG any support flre that was requested by the frlendly forces Durlng the day BRADFORD would elther patrol up and down the coast keeplng ln the vlclnlty of Yang Do or would anchor close to the lsland Sometlmes the boat from the lsland would come alongslde and BRADFORD would furnlsh them wlth fresh water for cooklng and drlnklng fCCIlllleS On the 26th of May BRADFORD was returnlng to her statlon after completlng replenlshlng when approxlmately flfteen Communlst troops were slghted returnlng to a command post sltuated on top of a hlll BRADFORDS guns lmmedlately took them under flre wlth dlsastrous results to them and completely obllteratlng the command post Later on that afternoon an enemy bunker was Slghled and taken out of commlsslon by BRADFORD S gunners Along the coast llne the communlsts have many lmportant supply routes such as rallroad tracks tressels and tunnels whlch BRADFORD took under flre many tlmes Due to the lntense fog that seemed to prevall that trlp observatlon of destruction was ex tremely Ilmlted but you can restassured the Communlsts were kept qulte busy repalrlng the damage lnfllcted by BRADFORDS maln battery One tlme whlle BRADFORD was feplenlshlng an urgent call from two mlne sweepers was recelved by radlo telling us that they had been taken under flre and had had to sllp thelr anchor to enable them to get out of range of the enemy gun flre When BRADFORD reached the scene the two gun posltlons were put out ' ll - ll I . ll. . . ,I . - . , ' ' l I . , . I I . . . . . - ' I . ' ' I . . - - . . . A n , . ll - - . lu - , , - ll - rl - - n u ' Q ' ' , I . 0 ' .. , l . . . . ' . I I I . . .. , . - . . . , . . , . l 0 gl y I' n V u I . . . - . , ' ' ll ' ll I structions for the future operations with 95.xThey were to operate . . '. . . ' . . . . . I l ' I f , . . . . . . H V . . I . . . il D . ' '. ll ll . , I I - ' 0 - Q l o . . . . . . ' , , , . . . I . , I , .. . - , . - , . . . . . . . . , . . - .' ' l - . .. - .. . - . By the tlme the four MIGS were wlthln range we were all ready for them. Commence fire was given by the captain and the guns began blasting away with all their might. As soon as the pilots saw the air bursts coming uncomfortably close to them they headed back to their homeland. BRADFORD was land still isl the first and only allied vessel to take enemy MIGS under fire. During the rest of our stay there no more MIGS showed .their faces anywhere in the vicinity. On September 26th BRADFORD'S duties with 95 came to an end for that cruise. The ship rendezvoused with task force 77 and remained there until October 17th when she was detached with Juneau to proceed to Yokosuka. BRADFORD reioined the division there and on the twentieth again headed homeward bound. The weather was again beautiful for her homeward iourney. On the fifth of November BRADFORD was released from Destroyer Division 131 and headed for San Diego inde- pendently to ioin DesDiv. 52. The next afternoon BRADFORD moored to Broadway Pier for a much needed rest and recreation period. of C0mmISlOn and the mlne sweepers were enabled to recover their anchors by the light of the full moon that same evening. On 30 May, 1953 BRADFORD was relieved by the destroyer Buck and proceeded to Sasebo, Japan with the rest of the divi- sion for an upkeep period. The ship's stay there lasted approxi- mately two weeks when the division set course for Okinawa to undergo an extensive Anti-Submarine Warfare training period. On Saturday the 13th of June BRADFORD anchored in Buckner Bay at Okinawa. This was the first time that BRADFORD had returned to Okinawa since the end of World War Il. In approximately the same waters that she would be operating in for the next two weeks were the waters that BRADFORD had done such a valiant iob against the enemy Jap Kamikazis just eight years to the year previous. During that weekend and the following week the men of the BRADFORD had their first chance to go ashore on Okinawa and see the countryside. lt was beautiful. You could hardly find any traces ot the war left on the small island. About the only