Duncan (DDR 874) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 9 text:

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.

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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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Y .,,„,.,„., „.y (f y - . r ,V. i2Lx. «v , f S ' S). S 4 ConinianJer E.E. Coiiraa was torn in Saint Louis, Missouri, in IQl-i. Following his graduation from higli scnool, lie attended Saint Louis University from 1932 until 1934, tlie year of liis entry into tlie U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY, at Annapolis, Maryland. Receiving Kis commission as Ensign in June of 1938, Commander Conrad was assigned to tlie. U.S.S. OMAHA, (CL 4) , where lie performed tlie general duties assigned to junior officers, as tlie OMAHA cruised tlie waters of tlie Mediterranean for a period of two years. Transfer orders from the U.S.S. OMAHA to tlie U.S. NAVAL SUBMARINE SCHOOL, New London, Connecticut, in 1940, proved to he a turning point in his career, as it marked a temporary end of his ahove-sea duties. !n the fall of 1940, following his graduation from the U.S. NAVAL SUBMARINE SCHOOL after a three-month course, Cdr. Conrad was ordered to the recommissioning detail of the U.S.S. S-11, (SS 116), soon to rejoin the active fleet. During 1941, the first year t)J: a twt. year tour ol cuity ahoard the SS-11, he received his promotion to Lieutenant (j.g.), while serving in various departments. J lie second year, lie assumed the position of Executive Officer of the SS-11, which was statitmed in Panama at the outhreah of the hostilities now known as World War II. Toward the end of his cruise in the SS-11, he was promoted the grade of Lieutenant, in June of 1942. When the U.S.S. HAKE, (SS 256), was commissioned in the fall of 1942, Cdr. Conrad found himself ahoard as Engineering Officer, and during the HAKE S wartime patrols in the European and Southwest Pacific Areas, he again filled the herth of Executive Officer. Prom 1944 to 1946 he continued his undersea service, predominantly in the Pacific area, serving as Executive Officer of the U.S.S. TORO, (SS 422), from 1944 to 1945, and as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. DENTUDA, (SS 335), from 1945 to 1946, and receiving promotions to Lieutenant Commander and Commander in the interim. In 1946, with the receipt of orders to the U.S. NAVAL POSTGFADUATE SCHOOL, Annapolis, Commander Conrad ' s naval career again took an important turn in a new direction, as his studies were centered in the field of Nuclear Power Engineering. After spending two years at the POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL, his duty assignments carried him to the OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and to the KNOLLS ATOMIC POWER LABORATORY, General Electric Company, in Sclienectacly, New York. Upon completion or tnese assignments lie was awarclecl a Master oi Science decree ty the U.S. NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL. Commander Conrad again returned to sea in 1949, as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. CORPORAL, (SS 346) , hased in Key West, Florida, and operating in the Atlantic area. Following this assignment, he reported to the PENTAGON BUILDING, ■ Washington, D.C., in 1951, for duty as ADMINISTRATIVE AIDE TO THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY. In 1952, having completed this dutv, he undertook the task of OFFICER-IN-CHARGE, NUCLEAR BRANCH, TECHNICAL TRAINING GROUP, ARMED FORCES SPECIAL WEAPONS PROJECT, located in Alhuquerque, New Mexico. On Sejitemher 6, 1954, Commander Conrad reported to the U.S.S. DUNCAN, at Sutic Bay, Philippine Islands, to relieve Commander Roher E. Lawrence as Commanding Officer. Commander Conrad now resides in Coronado, California, with his wife, daughter, and three sons.