Clarence K Bronson (DD 668) - Naval Cruise Book

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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

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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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Japanese Navy, and participating in the victor- ious assaults on Okinawa and Iwo Jima. When V-J Day came and the scores were all in, checked and tallied, USS Clarence K. Bran- son had to her credit: 6 enemy planes shot down, 37 sorties against the enemy, 9 Battle stars in the Asiatic-Pacific ribbon for her crew, 2 Battle stars in the Philippines ribbon for her crew, 25 survivors rescued from the sea, 9 Battle ribbons. Cited for their heroic work, Cdr. Gifford Scull, USN, Commanding Officer; Lt. R. L. Patterson, USNR, Executive Officer; and Lt. Richard McManus, MSUSNR, sTiip ' s doctor, all received the Bronze Star Medal. The ship returned to the United States in 1946 and soon thereafter entered the dormant years of mothballing. But alliances have the habit of falling apart, and once again troubled spilled over in the misnamed Pacific. So, in June, 1951, Branson was recommissioned— put back on the job, and in 1953, revisited the scene of her past triumphs. So there it is. The life story of the Branson up to now. A good story, if not the greatest, the most heroic. The ship has been lucky to have come through the broil of war unscathed and to have contributed a share to the history of this nation. For history is woven out of many strands, slowly, always growing. And although one ship does not make a Navy, or win a war, it plays a part. USS Clarence K. Branson has played such a part, and will con- tinue to do so as long as it is necessary. For the Bransons story is something of the horror of war, the eternal mystery of the sea, the unconciuerable, undaunted spirit of the men in the tin cans and the little ships themselves whose proud, defiant motto is always: Don ' t tread on me.