Cotten (DD 669) - Naval Cruise Book

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alciion in flue gat Cad! On 29 June the ship in company with the U. S. S. DALY and U. S. S. SMALLEY, departed for the Korean operational area. Behind us we left the U. S- S. BRONSON which had developed boiler trouble and 'needed repairs. - Our nearness to the war started manyheads thinking and wondering why we, who live thousands of miles away should worry about a small. war in Korea. Actually the area it covered was small but it was a world wide affair. Ithas been concluded that our enemy has but one objective. That being to gain all the power and land possible. This may be clearly seen in both Europe and Asia where the Russian government either politically or by measures of force, has overtaken many countries. The reason for the United Nations in Korea is to stop aggressions such as this before they enlarge themselves. We must realize that our men would much rather fight here than on our own native soil. Perhaps at this time, before we go back to the U. S. S. COTTEN it might be well to describe the type of war we were about to Cflgagff in- UPOH OUI aff1VHl 111 the Korean theatre the fighting had slackened and the front line had remained fairlyfstable for a con- siderable period of time. Of course the patrolling activities were carried on and occasional skirmishes were to be seen. These were the only moves made by either side. It was known that our enemy was building up his forces. To remedy this the air and sea war was quite active. His supply lines were continually harassed from both air and sea. Our enemy's coast was blockaded by the U. N. naval forces, which consisted of ships from several coun- tries. These always achieved complete harmony of work in all of their operations. Another fact that should not go unmentioned, was that we were up against an enemy who showed herself only in the form of guns, planes, and shells. We were not fighting Russia, but the Russian backed puppets of Red China and North Korea. As we entered the operational area the ship joined forces with the mighty and well known Task Force 77. We were immediately given a screening position to afford protec- tion to our fast carriers. We then settled down to the many tasks and new jobs which lay ahead. For several days we cruised north and south on the Sea of japan with little or no excitement. Only an occasional battle-beaten plane going to a final resting place in the cruel sea broke the monotony. When this did happen a helicopter or an ever' ready destroyer was on hand to rescue the crew of the downed plane. This soon became a fairly common occurence as we did lose several planes in the time spent in Korea. With this exception nothing else occurred other than the usual tasks the Navyis all purpose ships, the destroyers, encounter while operating in a war zone. It seemed odd that we were operating in a combat zone, yet not seeing any action. All queries to this were soon answered when on 6 July the following message was received from COMDESDIV 302: Your prospective duty will probably make you the first Thunder- bolter to engage the enemy X The DIVCOM expects that your performance will be far superior to the best so far produced X To COTTEN and her men I wish good luck, a hot fight and God speed BT . . . Yes, this meant that the COTTEN was assigned to a special task and would soon see some real action on tlrfe coast of North Korea. The COTTEN

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was picked for this mission on a basis of her outstanding performances during past train- ing maneuvers. On 7 July the COTTEN turned south to meet and escort the U. S. S. ST. PAUL. After the cruiser we then retraced our steps and headed for area S, this being a point on the chart so designated for strategic reasons. Upon arriving at Kosong the ship was assigned missions for the coming two days. We then proceeded to shell gun emplacements, supply lines, storage areas and other targets of vital need to our communist enemy. joining As soon as our mission at Kosong was completed we again headed our bow north for the now perilous Wonsan Harbor. It was this now famous harbor that was the target of the longest siege of any port in naval history. Also most of the hits scored. on U. N. ships during the Korean War were inflicted while our naval forces were shelling supply lines in this area. Once at Wonsan the ship was again given a specific area to concentrate on. Radar installations were now added to the previous list of targets which we were supposed to try to destroy. Evidently our tries were of great success according to the reports of spotters in helicopters and shore fire control parties on the beach who observed the damage done by our shells. We were reported to have scattered troop concentrations, hit storage areas, and completely broken up a convoy of trucks laden with supp-lies for our enemy forces. On the second day of shelling we received counter battery fire from shore installations which scored one hit on the ST. PAUL. Luckily damage was slight and there were no casualties. Immediately the Big J, better known as the battleship NEW JERSEY, leveled her huge 16 inch guns shoreward. This was all we needed and the batteries that were firing on us were soon silenced. It sure was a nice feeling to know those big 16 inchers were on our side. - Thirteen july saw the ship relieved to return to the bombline at Kosong. As darkness enclosed the sea of japan, the COTTEN arrived off the coast at Kosong. We were immediately given our assignments for that night and the following day. Once again we proceeded to shell the afore mentioned targets with great success. Upon completing our missions at Wonsan and Kosong we returned to TF 77 on 15 july for two more days of screening duty, before a well deserved seven day rest in Sasebo. At this time it was not known but upon completion of our operations in Korea, the CGTTEN was the only ship of DesDiv 302 to be detached for shore bombardment duties. This we consider an honor, for it is known that only the most efficient ships are selected for missions such as that which we had just successfully completed. On 24 july the revamped DesDiv 302 hoisted anchor and headed north to the port of Hakodate, on the Island of Hokkaido, to prepare for the forthcoming Anti-Submarine Warfare training. On 26.July after over 5 years of bloodshed an armistice was signed in Korea at 10:01 A. M. An immediate wave of joy and relief swept through the ship upon receipt of this long awaited news. It is felt that during the short time we did see action we all benefited from the experi- ence. It was our pleasure to fight side by side with such ships as the NEW JERSEY, ST. PAUL, MANCHESTER, WILTSIE and IRWIN. Hostilities having drawn to a close, we must remember always to be ready.