Epperson (DD 719) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 6 text:

1 IW: fiwshs h., Qf MM ,M

Page 5 text:

USS EPPERSON KDD-7191 x7 , L, V L V K L V5 fy? 7' K ,....,1 FAR-EAST CRUISE gapCHJCQPCH:cwfundf-qbcfpfunrpqfwqtwwwqbwqfwwwqfwwbwwwwwqfwqsgg Q f 2, E ,Z 2' f A N Ps X ' f f x 52 ' Y 9 E Q ig -M ff- f QE BH i ' f ' BH 55 1 I . f 1 E ' f 'C ' Vfx , KH! Xx'. ?f5f- U I ' In i 2 I, a fN Zr , N as t Zn. ':. E ' '1,54ljL' 'U N 7' 2 I fl ' '51, ' i'XHX L ff ' 2 1 wt- fi X as 1 I Q -. Q a? ' - Hlwifw -1 5 55 q , . A Q I 53254::HHfH:.a+1-H,EH:wha-PCH3EHSCHQ:+Pq4:dPQ4:aPf+b:+Pq+:dPQ4::+Pq4:daq+.dFe3-aHe3aH1Lm1dB5baaiH OV 261 '66' MAY 161 '67' X

Page 7 text:

USS EPPERSON lDD 7191 EPPERSON was authorized during the war and the keel of this 2250 ton ship was laid in June 1945 at the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Kearney, Nlew Jersey. Launched in an uncom- pleted state the hull was mothballed and placed in storage at the New York Shipyard. A year later the Bath Iron Works of Maine was a- warded the contract to complete the ship, incorpor.ating new designs as she was to be used primarily for anti-submarine warfare QASVVQ. She was completed along with her sole sister ship, the USS BASILONE QDDE 8245 and was commissioned at the Boston Naval Shipyard on 19 March 1949. Extensive sea trials of her radically new installations were con- ducted in the Key West, Florida, area until September 1950 at which time EPPERSON was transferred to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where she was designated Flagship of Commander Escort Destroyer Division 12. Her employment since has been extensive and varied both in her anti- submarine specialty and in duties common to all destroyer-type ships. In 1951 and 1952, she saw service with the United Nations Forces in the Korean Conflict and in 1954 with the U.S. Seventh F1eet's Formo- sa Straits Patrol. VVhile in North Korean waters, the EPPERSON was given the task of bombarding the coastal city of Wonsan, a large and very important supply and railroad center. This was a mission nor- mally considered to be outside h-er class of vessel. Through the cease- less efforts of her officers and men, the EPPERSON was able to main- tain an around the clock bombardment. Routine deployment to the Western Pacific for operations with the Hunter-Killer Groups of the Seventh Fleet has been made by the EPPERSON since 1955. She has also participated in the 1958 High Altitude Nuclear Tests at Johnson Island and four years later in 1962, she was stationed in the Mid-Pacific as a recovery vessel for Colonel John Glenn's historic flight. In October of the same year, the EPPER- SON operated with the U. S. Pacific Fleet Recovery Force during Astronaut Walter Schirra's successful six orbit Hight around the earth, and later in 1963 for the recovery of Astronaut L. Gordon Cooper. The EPPERSON completed a FRAM I CONVERSION in DE- cember of 1964 and as 'a result was redesignated USS EPPERSON QDD 7195. By acquiring a new configuration as well as receiving the very lat-est in Anti-Submarine Warfare, including Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter and Anti-Submarine Rocket, weapons and electronic gear she was able to keep pace with the highly technological and modern Navy. During her last deployment to the Western Pacific, she was in- strumental in aiding U. S. Forces in the Vietnam Conflict. Conduct- ing operations for a maximum of 41 days off the Vietnam coast enabled the EPPERSON to display her many talents by rescuing downed pilots and their air-crews and saving several outposts from Viet Cong attack by use of the ship's gunfire support. ' She returned to Pearl Harbor, after visiting Sydney, Australia, in March of 1966. EPPERSON participated in several Gemini support missions as a standby recovery ship during the past summer. She again took her place as a unit of the U. S. Seventh Fleet in December of 1966. 12 li li ll is li 1 I 1 l l 5 1 I 11 1