Desron 16 - Naval Cruise Book

Page 8 text:

■ 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.

Page 7 text:

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.

Page 9 text:

U.S.S. ZELLARS (DD-777) The USS ZELLARS (DD-777) was built in Seattle, Washington, at the Todd Pacific Ship- building Yard, and was launched in October, 1944. She was named for LTJG Thomas E. Zel- lars, USN, who died a heroic death in the turret explosion aboard the USS MISSISSIPPI in 1924. The ZELLARS is a representative Sumner Class Destroyer of 2200 tons displacement, with a length of 377 feet. Her main battery consists of six 5-inch guns, with a secondary battery of 3- inch guns. The armament of the ship also in- cludes various anti-submarine weapons. Immediately after being commissioned, the ZELLARS was assigned to the Pacific Fleet, and joined in time to take part in the Okinawa Cam- paign. While participating in a night shore bom- bardment in the campaign, the ZELLARS was attacked by several Kamikaze planes, one of which crashed on board, resulting in extensive loss of life and damage to the ship. On completion of repairs at Long Beach, California, in 1945, the ZELLARS was reassigned to the U. S. Atlan- tic Fleet to take up her peacetime duties. The first peacetime mission of the ZELLARS was that of escorting the new carrier, USS FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, in the larger ship ' s visit to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, in 1946. In July of 1947, the ZELLARS began her first tour of European duty, serving in both Northern European and Mediterranean waters, and visit- ing many ports in both areas. Shortly after commencement of hostilities in Korea the ZELLARS was alerted for duty in the Western Pacific. She arrived in Japan in Octo- ber, 1950. and proceeded immediately to Korean waters. Tlie ZELLARS operated on both the east and west coats of Korea, and assisted in the evacuation of Wonson by providing gunfire support for the withdrawing troops. In July, 1951, she i-eturned from Korea and resumed her duties in the Atlantic Fleet. Since that time the ZELLARS has participated in major fleet exercises, has undergone two major overhauls, and has had extensive refresher and type training in the Virginia Capes and Carib- bean areas. Again in April, 1953, she was in European waters, and in January, 1955, she par- ticipated in exercises with the Sixth Fleet and NATO forces in the Mediterranean and Northeni Europe. February of 1956 found her in the Caribbean after which she returned to Norfolk and went into the shipyards until June. Midshipman Cruise Bravo took her to Valencia and Dublin. After spending a short period in the yards she went to Guantanamo Bay. Cuba, for type training. Her last visit to the European waters was in October of 1957 when she participated in NATO operations, which included visits to Holland and Ireland. The ZELLARS flys the pennant of Comman- der Destrover Division 162, Captain Hevdon G. Wells, USN. Commander L. C. Bartlett, USN, is Commanding Officer, having assumed com- mand in July 1957. The ZELLARS has Norfolk, Virginia, as its home port.