Clarence K Bronson (DD 668) - Naval Cruise Book

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lir To Commander David R. Fitzgerald, USN, Com- manding Officer, V Clarence K. Bronson, from her recommissioning in Jime, 1951 nntil July, 1953— This l ook is dedicated in appreciation of his accomphshments; in respect for his qualities as an officer and a gentleman. y 2

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i it 1 cvrsV MAY, 1953 - JANUARY, 1954

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0kh USS CLARENCE K. BRONSON DD-668 Kipling once wrote, The liner is a lady and her husband is the warship. In the case of the Destroyer, the liner will find a husband, small, handsome, pugnacious, proud and deadly. A can has no inferiority complex because of size, and often undertakes the most difficult man-sized jobs without a moment ' s hesitation. Ever since Congress authorized (7SS Cush- ing in 1886, destroyers have become progres- sively longer, heavier, faster, more deadly, and more important in the Navy; but the most glorious page in their comparatively short his- tory is that written during World War II— in the Pacific. And USS Clarence K. Bronson (DD-668) had a part in that war. A war baby, born in the dark days, with memories of Pearl Harbor still an open wound in the American con- science. Destroyer hull 668 was laid down at Kearny, New Jersey in December 1942. They named the sleek, swift hull for Naval Aviator No. 15, Ltjg. Clarence King Bronson, USNA ' 12, who lost his life in 1916, when a bomb exploded prematurely in his plane. Shakedown cruises off Bermuda and Casco Bay followed commissioning ceremonies, after which Bronson and Spartson (DD-577) tran- sited the Panama Canal and set their courses for Pearl Harbor— and the enemy. The war in the Pacific was beginning to turn in the favor of the United States Navy, when Bronson arrived. The war career of 668 began in task force strikes against various islands in the Marshalls and the Kwajalein landings. Throughout the rest of the Pacific War, USS Bronson ranged over the vast expanse of the ocean, hitting the Imperial