Diphda (AKA 59) - Naval Cruise Book

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Her History . . . . The keel ot the DIPHDA was laid on 27 January 1944 in the yar-d ofthe Federal Ship Building and Dry- dock Company at Kearney, N. J. The vessel was launched 11 May 1944 and had her sea trials on 6 July of the same year. She was placed in tull commission on 8 July 1944 at the New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn, N. Y. Her service forthe remainder of the war can be noted by some of the campaign bars carried: Ameri- can Theatre, Asiatic-Pacific Theatre, Philippine Liberation and China Service. ln 1946 the DIPHDA was assigned to the task force which tested an atomic bomb at Bikini. By 1949 she had made several runs from the West Coast to the East Coast, via Pearl Harbor and the Panama Canal. May 1950 provided a diFferent itinerary with stops such as Whittier and Kodiak, Alaska. With the Korean War having broken out in the summer of 1950, the ship departed in July of that year for Korea, carrying ammunition. For the next month she operated between Suyong, Korea and Yoko- hama, Japan. Then a return trip to the States was made, for repair work. Again in November 1950 the DlPHDA'engaged in Korean operations, carrying ammunition between lnchon, Wonsan, and Pohang, Korea. Not until October 1951 did she return to the States, and in January 1952 was assigned to Military Sea Transportation Service QMSTS1. This new billet meant many round trips to Pearl Harbor and Japan. 1 By the end of October 1952 the ship was reassigned to Service Force, Pacific, and she began the pipeline runs betwe-en Japan and the States, carrying cargo of all sorts for the U. S. Fleet stationed in the Far East. This continued all through 1953 and in the Spring of 1954 the DIPHDA settled down to a six months' tour as station ship in Sasebo, Japan. Arriving back in the States in November, 1954, the regular pipeline schedule was resumed. The ship has been operating on a time table of roughly two months at sea and one month in port, while on pipeline. From Lett Top: 5. China Service Medal 1. American Campaign Medal 6. National Defense Service Medal 2. Asiatic Pacific lBronze Starl 8. United Nations Service Medal 3, Victory Medal WW2' 7. Korean Service Medal lSiIver Starl .4. Navy Occupation Medal 9. Philippine Liberation Ribbon CBronze Start