Gatling (DD 671) - Naval Cruise Book

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shlp s history The U S S GATLING QDD 6711 IS named for Richard J Gatling the inventor of the famed rapid fire machine gun which bears his name She was built at the Federal Ship buildmg and Drydock Company at Kearny New Jersey and in August 1943 commissioned at the New York Navy Yard Brooklyn New York From that time till the final defeat of the Japanese Empire she sailed as a un1t of famed Task Force 58 From the invasion of Truk to Saipan from the invasion of Emerau Island to New Guinea from the Marianas Islands to the Phillipines from the Battle of Leyte Gulf to Iwo Jima and even to the Japanese surrender m Tokyo Bay she did her job as screening ship, in shore bombardment, as rescue destroyer. During the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the men of the GATLING dis- tinguished themselves brilliantly when the GATLING rescued 326 sur- vivors of the U.S.S. Princeton from the sea. As a result, four crew members were awarded the Navy- Marine Corps Medal, two officers and fourteen men the Bronze Star Medal. In addition to this, the Gatling sank two enemy ships, shot down eight enemy planes, fired 77 tons of am- munition and rescued thirty seven American airmen from the Pacific -- all without the loss of a single crew man. The GATLING had served as a member of the most powerful navy the world has ever known. Then with the end of the war she was retired to the reserve fleet. For five years she remained in her status of watch- ful waiting. As a result of the Korean crisis the GATLING was recommissioned at Charleston Naval Shipyard in Jime 1951 She was modernized at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard then was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet During the summer and fall of 1952 and wmter of 1953 the GATLING part1c1 pated in Operations Mambrace in the North Atlantic and in Operation Springboard in the Caribbean Sea On April 27th the GATLING sailed from Newport RI on the first leg of the Journey that was to take her to Korea and eventually around the world Stops on the way to the Far East included Balboa in the Canal Zone San Diego Pearl Harbor and Midway Islands. While serving with Task Forces 77 and 95, and Task Group 96.7, the GATLING visited Yo- kosuka, Hokodate and Sasebo, Japan. The Korean Truce which came after the first tour with T.F.-77, didn't affect her employment sche- dule. The ports of call on the long voyage home were: Manila and Subic Bay, P.I.g Singapore, Colony of Singa- pore, Colombo, Ceylon, Cannes, France, and Lisbon, Portugal. Since her recommissioning the GATLING has .crossed the Arctic Circle, the International Date Line, the Equator and has circumnavigated the globe. The most significant of her travels -- though not miles steamed, elapsed time- or precedents set --was the crossing of the Atlantic to reach Philadelphia and home in time for Christmas.

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2 i A l ! It was the Panama Canal, and incidentally, a long hot day at sea detail. The iron mules did all the work. What do they pay the Snipes for, anyway? N PANAMA CANA 1 A I A Ei I A i 1 5 A A 1 A Balboa and a 24 hour survey of the y tropical Canal Zone lie just ahead. To get underway again at 2200 3 tomorrow may be land wasl diffi- A A 'A cult. A A A