Desron 16 - Naval Cruise Book

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CAPTAIN W. R. GLENNON, USN Commander Destroyer Division 162 tl» ii •■ t;- ' .M Captain W. R. Glennon was born in Port Gib- son, Mississippi on 4 May 1916. He entered the U. S. Naval Academy in 1934 and graduated in 1938. He spent most of World War H in de- stroyers, operating both in the Atlantic and Pacific. He commanded the USS STOCKTON (DD-646) dui-ing the last year of the war and during that period was awarded the Legion of Merit and the Commendation Ribbon. He grad- uated from the Naval War College in Newport, 4 R. I., in 1948. His other assignments since World War 11 were in the Bureau of Personnel, in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, and on the staffs of CinCNelm and CinCPacFlt. He commanded the USS LEARY (DD-879) from 1953 to 1955 and the USS FORT SNELLING (LSD-30) from 1957-1958. Captain Glennon is married to the former Norma Curran of Portsmouth, Virginia He has two children and the family currently resides at Virginia Beach, Virginia.

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CAPTAIN CHARLES W. TRAVIS, USN Commander Destroyer Squadron Sixteen Since World War II Captain Travis has served as Commanding Officer of the destroyer DOUG- LAS H. FOX, on the staff of the U. S. Naval Post-Graduate School, as Executive Officer of the cruiser WORCESTER, in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, as Commanding Of- ficer of the repair ship VULCAN, and again in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations as Head of the Logistic War Plans Branch. Captain Travis assumed command of Destroyer Squadron Sixteen on i November 1958. Captain Travis married Esther Burlason Talley of Murfreesboro, Tennessee in 1935. They have two daughters, Linda, age seventeen, and Bar- bara, age thirteen. The Travis family resides in Annapolis, Maryland, where they have lived since 1941. Captain Charles D. Travis, USN, is the son of Mrs. Irene Owen Travis and the late Mr. B. B. Travis of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He attended public schools in Murfreesboro and was appointed to the U. S. Naval Academy by the late Honor- able Ewin L. Davis. Captain Ti ' avis graduated from the Naval Academy in 1933 and for the next eight years served in battleships, cruisers, and destroyers. During World War II Captain Travis served as Gunnery Officer of the battleship NEVADA. He participated in the invasions of Northei-n France and Southern France in the European theater and in the invasion of Iwo Jima and Okinawa in the Pacific theater. He was awarded the Bronze Star and the Commendation Ribbon during this wartime service.

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■ c- U.S.S. ALLEN M. SUMNER (DD-692) Named for a Marine Corps Captain of the First World War, U.S.S. ALLEN M. SUMNER was tlie first of a new class of Destroyers, larger and more heavily armed than her predecessors, be- ing- o7r feet in lenfftli, weighing 3,OnO tons fully loaded and designated to engage the large Jap- anese TERUTSUKI class destroyers. ALLEN M. SUMNER (DD-692) was built in Kearny, New Jersey, in the fall of 1943 and com- missioned January 26, 1944. After a long trial period in the Atlantic she reported to CincPac at Pearl Harbor in September 1944 for combat. She became part of the famous Third Fleet and operated with the first carriers in the Philip- pines. In November, 1944 SUMNER joined the Seventh Fleet operating in the Philippine waters. The night of 2-3 December, 1944 saw the SUMNER as a real fighting ship. In company with sister ships USS MOALE (DD-693) and USS COOPER (DD-695) she was assigned the task of intercepting a Ja] anese convoy enroute to land I ' e-enforcements at Ormoc Bay. Leyte. Shortly after entering enemy waters the .Ia] anese ])lanes discovered lier and attacked steadily for the next four hours. One near bomb miss perfoj-atcd the starboard side and started a fire whicli marked her more clearly to the enemy. At midnight the three ships reached Ormoc Bay and instead of being empty, the convoy was al- ready there and unloading. SLTMNER sank two ships (one a Japanese Destroyer) and destroyed six planes. MOALE did as well, but USS COOPER fell prey to a mine or torpedo and sank. The action was followed by an assignment to support landings on Mindore and Luzon. During the pre-invasion bombardment on Luzon a Jap- anese Kanaze found SUMNER a good target, clipping the after stack, tearing off the after torpedo mount, demolishing the after group of machine guns and exploding it ' s bombs in an after compartment. In all fourteen of the crew were killed and many more wounded. She con- tinued in action until after the landings and then returned to the Admiralty Islands for tem- porary repairs and then to Hunter ' s Point Naval shipyard in San Francisco for a two month over- haul during June and July 194. ' 5. During the fol- lowing several more peaceful years she main- tained a heavy schedule including participation in the atom bomb test at Bikini. On 21 April 19. ' i3, SUMNER steamed out of Norfolk to commence a round-the-world voyage wliicti saw her stojijiing at Korea to aid UN forces in their figlit against Communist aggres- sion. After returning from this cruise tlie SUM- NER was assigned a patrol mission during the Big Three Conference in Bermuda. The next operation of note was the large scale NATO exercise in wliich STTMNER operated in con- junction with the British Royal Navy.