Gurke (DD 783) - Naval Cruise Book

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'fl . I if Captain E. I. Foote, Cdr., USN, currently resides in Coronado, California. Since his graduation from the Naval Academy at Annapolis, class of '39, he has seen action around the world. Captain Foote served in destroyers in the North Atlantic throughout World War II. Here, in addition to routine escort duties, he participated in the occupa- tion of Iceland after taking part in the escort of British Convoys prior to U. S. entry into the war. Later he took part in the invasions of Sicily and Normandy in which latter action the USS Nelson, of which he was executive officer, was torpedoed during a battle with German E-Boats., i I During the latter part of the war Captain Foote commanded the destroyer USS Quick. Captain Foote performed occupational and minesweeping duty as Com- manding Officer of a destroyer-minesweeper from the close of the war until 1947. Next he was assigned as instructor at the Naval ROTC Unit at the Uni- versity of Illinois until 1949, following which he served as member of the Ioint Staff of Commander-in-Chief, Carribbean until 1952. Finally Captain Foote took command of the USS Cfurke in August of 1952 from which time until now he has conned her through all the harrowing ex- periences, never to be forgotten by all of us who have been privileged to serve under him. So from we the crew of the Gurke to Captain Foote go wishes for a long happy life and a continuing long successful Naval career.

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FOREWCDRD Despite weeks of preparatory training, March 20, l953 found us departing for WestPac with a general feeling of uneasi- ness. F or half of us it would be our first attempt to inflict dam- age on an enemy who was just as eager to destroy usg for the other half an opportunity to repay? a debt for the hits at lnchon. There would be no observers standing by with stopwatches and scoreboardsg no safety observers to correct mistakes before they were made. School was out, and we were on our own. Our first view of Korea was from Wonsan Harbor. Two weeks of operating in its restricted and unfriendly waters dis- pelled all doubts as to our ability to give and take. Departing Wonsan our confidence boarded on smugnessg we knew we were equal to any task we might be given. The remainder of the cruise presented no major difficulties after our shakedown in Wonsan. As the days passed our confidence continued to grow and experience erased our earlier smugness. These pages record the day by day activities of the Gurke. Some of the work was monotonous, but all of it was satisfying. For each of us this book recalls many memories. Among them are a few which we shall hold in common with all our ship- matesg memories of a period in our lives of which we have every reason to be proud. Tl-IE CAPTAIN

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Q? F fr 4 r Pershing Wilson, our ex -exec, who left the ship in Iapan during September, 1953. Persh came to us in March 1952 after serving as executive officer of the USS Weiss y APD-135. World War ll saw Lt. Cdr. Wilson aboard the USS Wickes DD-578 on the picket line at the battle of Okinawa. Between wars he practiced law in his hometown of Kansas City, Mis- souri, a background which well qualifies him for his present post as base legal officer at Bremerton, Washington. Those of us privileged to have served under Mr. Wilson will never forget his quick smile and pleasant manner, and we wish him the best for his new duty and Navy career. Lt. Haines joined the ship while in dry dock in Yokosuka, Iapan and Here's a last look at Lt. Cdr. has since been a most efficient successor to Mr. Wilson as Executive Officer. Like Captain Foote, Mr. Haines is a graduate of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, class of '45. Mr. Haines' experiences include service aboard two previous destroyers, the USS McGowan CDD-678D and the USS L. F. Mason KDD-8525. From '47 to '49 Mr. Haines saw duty at the Fleet Sonar School, after which he acquired his M. S. de- gree in the Navy's Post Gradu- ate School in Electronics. He has since served as Communications and Electronics Officer on the staff of ComDesPton 7, and as Electron- ics Officer on the Staff of Com- . CruDesPac. As everyone can plainly tell Mr. Haines is a New Englander, - Maine to be exact: but his present A residence is in El Cajon which we in-A all can hope will mean long , ,sn ' liberties. , A I -'iw g.,-.lat l V I at I.kUi.w.