Duncan (DDR 874) - Naval Cruise Book

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TEMPUS FUGIT As tlie liands of a clock complete tneir circle, and the sands or an nourglass transit tlieir narrow passage into greater tilings, so it is witn tne cnange oi respon- sinility. llie transition ironi one command to another is always an immense thing, and is never carried out witii out a great deal or worry, apprehension, uncertainty, and contusion. 1 hings were dirrerent on the morning or Septemher the sixth, liowevcr, when tlie U.S.S. DUNCAN went through tne those or a Change of Command ceremony. The situation had all of the aspects of a three- ring circus with no ringmaster to an outsider, hut to anyone with any experience in naval matters, it went as smoothly as the jirecision of a fine watch. The original timo for the Cnange of Command was early in the afternoon of the sixth, and the ship scheduled to get under way at 1600. At 0300, how- ever, there was received in Radio Central an Operational Immediate message stating ' Prepare to get underway Al ONCE to join the Carrier Task Force ' . Swiftly the well-oiled machinery of the DUNCAN went into action, schedules rearranged, necessary paper filed, all of the thousand and one intricate details whicli go into the moving of a man-of-war. The turnover of command was swlftlv rcschediucd for 0800, with all of the attendant scurry for the numerous preparations for such an important event. Commander E. E. Conrad reported ahoard to relieve Commander R. E. Lawrence at 0800, and in the swiftest Change of Command in history accomplished that task. At 0845, with all hands at Special Sea Detail stations, the DUNCAN steamed out of Suhic Bay at 25 Knots, en route to the successful completion of another duty assignment with the lash l orce, under the ahlc command ot Commander Conrad.

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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.

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First, tlic fantall lor clian ;u of coinniaiul icn transicr t rL[crs are reati liy tlie captain hciiit; relicw ' tl. Tlie cnaplain offers a prayer tor coiili ine guidance. good fortune antl Our new captain greets tlie crew with a brie 1 lie last-niinule farewells are excliangetl. 1 he final ticparture, antl the fjeginning of a new era.