Bradford (DD 545) - Naval Cruise Book

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grim reminders were the hulls of some of the allied landing craft still sitting stranded on the beaches that were not to fre- quently used. There they were lust sitting there and rusting away into nothingness. Upon seeing them one could not stop to thmIk ,har it must haye been hell to try taking the island.I.AlthoughI it was beautiful the iungles and undergrowth were still too thick to try to penetrate. However for the convenience of tIhe men stationed on the island there were large smooth new highways that would take you from village to village and from Army base to Aire Force base, etc. On 25 June, 1953, BRADFORD moored in Yokosuka Harbor with the rest of Destroyer Division 52 after successfully complet- ing their ASW exercises. ' Early the next morning the four ships got underway and proceeded towards Boko Do in the Pescadores Islands to relieve the division of ships that was down there on the Formosa Patrol. As soon as the ships arrived there refueled, and the turn over was completed, the whole division formed as a typhoon evasion group and headed south to avoid typhoon Kit. The months of July, August and September are the typhoon season down around the Formosa Straights area. As each new typhoon develops it is given a ladies name so that there will be no confusion as to iust where it is in case two or three are in the vicinity at one time. Kit was the one that gave us our most trouble and she chased us way down into the South China Sea. Needless to say the weather wasn't too cool down there at that time of the year. The farther south BRADFORD went, the more the talk aboad ship became as to what our chances were of pulling into Manila for fuel and maybe some good liberty in a new port to most of the crew. However as it turned out the typhoon cleared the vicinity and BRADFORD went back on station to resume her patrol duties off the coast of Formosa and China. Finally the day arrived that all hands aboard had been looking forward to. On Saturday the 'llth of July BRADFORD returned to Hong Kong, BBC. for a two day stay. Liberty com- menced immediately and the first liberty struggled its way through the merchants that were clambering to come aboard to show their wares. Because of new regulations all hands were extremely cautious not to let any of their hard earned money fall into the hands of any Communists by not buying anything that was not actually produced right in the crown colony itself However that did not stop the men from having a good time When the ship left port the following Monday morning the sides had been cleaned by Mary Sue and her lady Boatswain Mates practically all hands had been refitted with boots from No Squeek Johnson and we werent missing quite as many brass fixtures this year as last year Yes everybody left there quite happy with his purchases whatever it happened to be When BRADFORD was relieved of the Southern Patrol by Brinkley Bass we received our first mail since we left Yokosuka Then a few days later the division was relieved of its duties in that area and headed for Sasebe Japan It remained there until the first of August undergoing a tender availability when it got underway again and headed back to the eastern Korean coast for Patrol duty Since the cease fire agreement had taken affect a few months prior this period was quite different than the ship had ever known There were no more shore bombardments and we were allowed to steam lighted ship It was a real treat to be able to see the movies on the fantail in nice weather and not have to close the hatches going into the sleeping compartments at night The duty was completely different in many ways One and see all of the little fishing villages lighted at night not to mention all of the small fishing craft that was operating off the coast They were used to seeing them off the coast of Kyushu and Honshu but not off Korea This trip out was the first one for our new skipper Commander Wm l Pease USN He had relieved Commander Kobey who was detached for staff duty with CincPac at Pearl Harbor During this trip BRADFORD was allowed to conduct some independent steaming exercises which enabled our engineering force as well as the other departments aboard ship to conduct drills On the 22nd of August BRADFORD with DesDiv 52 moored alongside Jason in Yokosuka Japan for another upkeep perred Shortly after the first of September BRADFORD was enroute to rendezvous with Task Force 77 This was the first time that BRADFORD had been with the task force since arriving in WestPac During her stay with the task force BRADFORD was assigned duty as a radar picket ship This duty lasted about four days and then she again reloined the main body of ships After qbeul a two week stay with 77 the division was detached and headed to relieve the division of destroyers that was on the patrol off the eastern Korean coast BRADFORD was on that duty for only three days when she was assigned to act as escort for the bat tleship New Jersey BRADFORD rendezvoused with the wagon early in the morning and conducted several exercises with her all that day Early in the evening BRADFORD went alongside ll' New Jersey to effect personnel transfer from her. Two commanders came aboard for further transfer to Sasebo's receiving station so BRADFORD was detached and proceeded into port. The ship was there early in the morning iust prior to sunrise and upon trans- ferring the personnel and refueling immediately got underwe again to rendezvous with New Jersey again. The rendezvous wa: effected later that day and BRADFORD stayed with the battle- ship until the next day when they both pulled into Sasebe BRADFORD then tied up alongside the rest of the division in d nest in the harbor. That stay in Sasebo lasted only a few days when the divi- sion got underway to act as escorts for a replenishment group who were going out for some underway training and tactical exercises. The first day of October found BRADFORD'S escort duty completed. From there the division went back to its patrol duties off the east coast of Korea again. The following Saturday BRADFORD anchored off Point Silver and since the weather was nice and the water was warm enough BRADFORD was given its first swim call since its recommissioning. All hands who partici- pated had a fine time. Later that day BRADFORD was underway and again carrying out its patrol. BRADFORD began its last tender availability period on the eighth of October when it went alongside the repair ship Jason, During that stay, as much of the ship as was possible was given a fresh coat of paint in preperation for her return to the states. When BRADFORD again found-herself underway, she was acting as escort for the ammunition ship Mount Katmai. Late in the evening of October 20th, BRADFORD'S escort duties were com- pleted and she rendezvoused with 77 once again. Her stay with the task force was a short one lasting ap- proximately nine days when the division was detached and pro- ceeded to Yokosuka for logistics prior their return to the United States. On Monday, November 2, 1953, BRADFORD with Brinkley Bass, Brown and Duncan got underway from ,alongside the tender Delta and headed homeward. All the way from Yokosuka to Midway the ship seemed to be on course that kept it right in the trough of the swells. The skies were constantly overcast and threatening. One day out of Midway the weather seemed to abate a little On the second seventh of November BRADFORD pulled into Midway Island for fuel and then got underway again approximately five hours later During the trip from Midway to Pearl Harbor the full power run for BRADFORD Brown and Dun can was held A full power run is not actually to see which ship in the division is the fastest however this year as well as last land the year before alsol BRADFORD proved herself to be the fastest of the other three ships On the morning of the tenth of November the division pulled into Pearl Harbor for a two day stay and then again set sail for San Diego Again the ships tossed and pitched all of the way but none of the crew seemed to mind it too much since we were headed in the right direction HOME! On the l8th of November T953 BRADFORD tied up alongside Brinkley Bass at Broadway Pier San Diego California completing her third Korean cruise after having steamed nautical miles since leav ing exactly seven months ago to the day BRADFORD has fired 4 856 rounds of five inch thirty eight caliber ammunition at North Korean gun implacements bunkers personnel and supply routes The one great thing that BRADFORD is extremely proud and happy of is that not once has the ship been hit or have any personnel on board it been inlured due to enemy fire There were times that it was a little close for comfort but due to our rapid and accurate fire we have never called for help while engaging in counterbaltery BRADFORD is a great ship with a fine crew She has done her lob well and will continue to do so in her role as a man of war in the United States Navy . . . I I I , . I . . . I . I . ' ' I I c a n I I I . I . . . . I . . . , I I I I I I I . . , I I u n n I l . I thing that looked rather funny was to look over on the mainland ' ' - l ' . . . . . , , I ' ' I I . ' c ' , c u I , ' ' - ...cfs-1ssl..v...L.-, I . , I . .

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t .---1, lm ti I ge ,f S7 l l l i I 'v ALL HANDS FALL INTO QUARTERS FOR MUSTER That's the call, heard at 0800, when all the men fall in to their respective divisions for morning muster. First division on the bow then C, O, N, S, R, 2nd and finally E Division on the fantail. The divisions are not separated so much for parade appearance, as for grouping units of men that assume special ship's responsibilities. Each division ' generally has its letter designations derived from the first letter of their name, such as E Division for the engineers or O Division for operations. i Although the different divisions operate as com- plete units within themselves, they each depend l upon each other. Cook Williams of S Division l might be after Electrician Welty of R Division to make repairs on his electric stoves, or Yeoman Fangman of C Division might be found back at the paint locker, drawing some pea green paint from Longstreet 2nd Division to brighten up the ship's office for inspection. Every division depends in some way on all the rest. Probably S Division, in charge of the chow has the best bartering me- dium, so we can't blame the electricians if they get the stove fixed in short order. Another bridge between the divisions are the all hands evolutions such as loading stores and ammunition on board. That's when Chief Penning- ton rousts out everyone not on watch to bear a hand on a little muscle Then there is general quarters when all the divisions break up to form a fighting unit that gives the name Man of War to the Bradford V l . tm l l O I ! l . . . ,gf -' ' Q! 1 0 0 ' 0 n - - ll 'l V - 3 Y K , 7 l ,- ,-'fl ,f ig ,- , , , 3 E' 'E ' I I , -1 l XX 1-,I ' - '51 N i .K -f ' 1 -f r f 'f ', if ' 'V ' f li Q Y. -?l'-124, - A - i '13 . i' fl - 1' - '- . ' D! 'ff . ' ff' l 21 ' 3: -Q' . ' xx Y tlinv , xQuA. Z A Zligx ' ffm V4 Glass-l' ' 5 ' A I 'l ' 14 .V 1 ,- l . I., I ' A Y. , I I V Q I