Duncan (DDR 874) - Naval Cruise Book

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' y .■ . ■ y j j r j fj yj r Y , 4 ' . - An ' .inclu.r to winJwarcr in v rM out stormy perso nal proKlc-ms was provklcd nln,arcl tlic- DUNCAN l y tllc encouragement of Divine Worship, and the cultivation of reli ious faitli. ' I ' jiou li far from tlic familiar surroundin Js of tlieir home eliurcKes, tlie men of tlie Dl ' NCAN were not without spiritual guidance or opportunnities for worship. Usin the DLTNCAN as his home hase for ministry to the ships of DESTROYER DIVISION FIFTYTWO, Chaplain Kin -siey hrouiiht to the tash ol providing religious guidance and personal counseling to Navy men insights gained from five years of service in the civilian parish ministry of the Methodist Church, and from five years ' sea experience in the Merchant Marine, more than three years of which was in the capacity a{ a licensed Dech Officer. Worhing from such a hacL ' ground,the Chaplain was ahle to speah with sympathy and understanding to the personal needs of seafaring men. A significant part of the Chaplain ' s ministry was giving religious instruction and jiroviding friendly, understanding counsel to men with personal and family prohlems. Correspondence with the folhs ' hach home ' (initiated hy the Chaplain only with the consent of the serviceman concerned) gave hope and encouragement to those at home, and strengthened the spiritual honds of family faith. The worh of the Chaplain was aimed at encouraging and helping men to live up to the highest moral and spiritual standards of life, through a meaningful and close relationship to God. LTJC A.J. ' on Der W ' ische capahly executed the responsihilities ..f Catholic Lay Leader, conducting Rosary services for Catludic crew memhers when the Dl ' NCAN was underway, :x» when in port. Catholic church parties were sent to other Naval units for Mass. On several occasions, ALiss was held on hoard the DLNCAN. LTJC ].V. Wise, in the capacity of I ' rotestant Lay Leader, assisted the Chaplain In the conduct of Protestant Divine Services, and, in the ahsence of the Chaplain, assumed complete respcnisihility for the worship services of I ' rotestant personnel;

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THIS IS THE U.S.S. DUNCAN Altliou l. tlie present DHNCAN is the iliinl i„ ll,e list of sliips hcc,v ni tlie name J Cmmander Sllns Dnncan, wl,„ Jistin - uislicJ liimself in tl,e I?altle of Lal-e CLlmpLlin in 1814, il is incorrect to stale tlial its history heiins witli tlie comnnssionin of tlie orl Hinal slilp hearing tl,e name. I ' lie l,ist n-y of tl,e 1 ' ..-. . DCMCAN, as it now stands, slun.lcl l,e. in as follows, for It is tlie first of-its L ' ind. Tlie keel for the present DI ' NCAN was laid in May of 1 )44, at tlie Consolidated Steel Corporation, in OraniJe, Texas. After five months of the slrenous lak.r that oes into the constrnction of a man-of-war, the vessel was lannched, and in Fehruary of 1945, received at the commissioning! ceremonies the name it hears to date. From 1045 nntil the receipt of orders in Septemher of 195.1 to the Pu et Sound Xaval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wasiiin ton, the DI ' NCAN was encja H-d in the dnties of a destroyer assi -ned to the Pacific area, and was hased on the West Coast of the United States. During this period, many cruises were made t.. the Par Past, and it was upmi the completion of one of these that the Dl ' NCAN was sent io ]?remerlini for conversion to the latest style radar jiichet destroyer. Most of the tearln -up that accompanies such a conversiini was dime for the henefit n ' the Operations Department. New areas were required, as were re-arran jements of spaces already existing!. In order that this could he accomplished, hulhheads, dechs, cahles, and e(|uipment were torn out and replaced. The net result was that the Dl ' NCAN ended the reconversion period with the ,nost modern Comhat Information Center and Kadio Central in the destroyerd Navy of today, supported hy several other spaces containing an impressive array of equipment associated with the functions performed hy these two vital sjroups. Many familiar ' landmark ' s ' disappeared during- this all important phase of the DUNCAN ' S life, the mainmast was removed and the foremast ' s overall length increased hy means of an extension, and the ' midships passageway was replaced hy a wider dech- house containing the Ship ' s Office, and other equipment. The Gunnery Department was to a lar e decree responsihle lor the DUNCAN ' S ' New Pooh ' , as the reliahle (hut outmoded) 40-nnn mounts were replaced with the modern and more efficient 3-inch automatic tiuns. With this addition of the modern anti- aircraft ]irotection came new dechhonses for anmiunition storaije, revisicm of helow-deck spaces to contain the new lire ccmtro! equipment necessary to adequate performance ot duty in the new jet A e ' . 1 he eUect of the reconversion on the DUNCAN b Gunnery Department was increased firepower and erficiency of material. Only a few external chanijes were hrou ht ahout in the Pn ineeriuti Department during the overhaul and reconversion period, one of which was a complete rearrangement o( the topside air intahe ducts, those weird-loohiniS curved pipes which project from the superstructure here and there. The major chan Jes, however, tooh place in the main on lneerin 3 spaces helow-dechs, where the entire main propulsion plant was overhauled. This included the rehuildlnc; of the turhine of one of the nuiin en ines, the hlower motors for the hoiler air supply uudersoini a con,plete overhaul, hoilers retuhed, valves repacked, -ua es calirated, and numerous other items. Some of this work was done hy the Shipyard personnel, or required Shipyard assistance, hut the majority of it was accomplished hy the hard work of the DUNCAN ' S ' hiack an ' , and gave the DUNCAN one of the finest engineering plants in the fleet. Prom January through March of 1954 the DUNCAN was again undergoing shi,,yard overhaul, this lime in the Pong Beach Naval Shipyard, at Pcmg Beach, California. It was during this period that the DUNCAN received the remainder of the new-model DDR ccmversi .n hegun in Bremerton. A new radar and several other items of electronics equipment that filled the few spaces whic.. ' remained empty lollowlng the Bremerton yard period were received, adding to ihe average daily workload of the Dl ' NCAN cMv. I ' here were very few external changes made in the DUNCAN ' S appearance during this yard period, hut those that were made were ohvious to the crewmemhers, who were husily familiarizing then,selves with the DUNCAN ' S ' New Poidc ' . The most notahle of these was the addition of a large new radar antenna, and the replacement of the cock liferafts with the more compact ruhher UK.dels. A numher of the helow-deck spaces were also juggled arou.id to squeeze each ,,cw piece of equipment i.ito its proper plished. This yard period, however, is thought of as a hreeze when compared to the extensive major conversimi received in Bremerton. So it is that certain .-vents, like the turhulent sea in a tropical storm, cannot he igruired as they change the hasic shape of familiar things, and so it is that the present DUNCAN is trulv the first of its kind. This is the U.S.S. DUNCAN, (DDR 874), (ckm)

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ConiMU-incler R. E. Lawrence- was Kern in ALron, Olilo, on April 10, 1915, and lived most of Iiis prc-naval life- in ll,c area around Clevcdand, and Lalccwoon, Oliio. Bc innin liis naval career witl, his entry into tlie U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY, at Annapolis, Maryland, in 1935, Cdr. Lawrence graduated in June of 1939. Tlis first sea assi nment was the I ' .S.S. NEW ORLEANS, (CA 32). Aboard tlie NEW ORLEANS, Cdr. Lawrence served tlirougli tlie attach on Pearl Harhor on Decernk-r 7, 19-l.L and almost every major naval campaign in the Pacific during World War IL The NEW ORLEANS would have L-ept intact this record of service except for a Japanese torpedo that carried away the entire how section of the heavey cruiser during a night hattle off Guadalcanal, in Novemher of 194.2. Liny varied duty assignments came to Commander Lawrence after he left the NEW ORLEANS in 1944 with the ranh of Lieutenant C.mmander, following five and one-half years, of service in various hillets ending as Air Defense and Assistant Gunnery Officer. I le was attached to the staff of COMMANDER CARRIER DIVISION SIX, who was in command of a East Carrier l ash Group in the final year of World War II, and af-ter the war went to shore duty at CAMP PEARY, X ' irginia, and Bainhridge, Maryland. In July of 1948 he received orders to the U.S.S. EDISTO, (AGB 2). The EDISTO, an icehreaher, made many interesting cruises, with Cdr. Lawrence as Executive Officer, ranging from its home port of Boston, iNLissachusetts, to Greenland and the wafers or the Canatlian Arctic. Again reporting for shore duly in Decemher of 1949, Cdr. Lawrence served on the staff of the CONLMANDl R .MILITARY SEA TRANSPORTATION SERNTCE, PACIEIC AREA, u.ud his assumption of duties as Con.manding Officer, I ' .S.S. 1)1 ' X ' CAN, on Decemher 19, 1952. After heing relieved hy Commander E. E. CONRAD, I ' .S.N., in Septemher of 1954, Commander Lawrence reported to the COMMANDER SERVICE FORCE, PACIEIC FLEET, to assume the duties of FORCE: Gi ' NNERY OFFICER. Commander Lawrence ' s most notahle decorations include the Bronze Star, the Pacific- Asiatic Area rihhon with nineteen hattle stars, and the Presidential Unit Citation.