Hailey (DD 556) - Naval Cruise Book

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I COMMANDER WILFRED K. BRADBURY, U.S.N. Commissioned in 1941, Captain Bradbury has seen varied service both afloat and ashore. He received his first command, LST 73, in 1943, but relinquished it in several months to become CO of LST 61 at Bizerte. Under his leadership she participated in the final stages of the Sicily invasion and the landings at Normandy on D-day. In the closing stages of WW II, he was transferred to the Pacific theatre where he commanded LSM Group 35, taking part in the Japanese surrender and the evacua- tion of American POW ' s from the enemy ' s homeland. For this latter service, he received the Secretary of the Navy ' s Com- mendation. He was with ComPhibGruOne and ComPhibGruThree following the war, and in 1948 assumed the billet ot Executive Officer aboard the DDR Perkins. He has served with ADM Carney as CinCNELM ' s Commanding Officer of the Flag Administrative Unit in London and Naples and with General Ridgeway in USC inCEur in Frankfurt. CDR Bradbury was born in Fall River, Massachusetts on May 8, 1914. He received a BS in Education from State Teachers College in Bridgewater, Massachusetts where he was a letterman in soccer, basketball, and baseball. Columbia University award- ed him an MA in Education.

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and Carolines. In January of 1945, she joined famous Task Force 38 and battled bad weather in the China Sea to aid in the neutralizing raids on Luzon and Formosa. From there she steamed on to support carrier raids on Tokyo and back to help the Marines ashore at Iwo. With a change in com- mand, Task Force 38 became Task Force 58 and steamed on to fight the suicide planes and ty- phoons off Okinawa. Then in June of 1945, the HAILEY returned to the United States for over- haul and leave. Before completion of her yard period, the Japanese had had enough and DD 556 was marked for mothballs. In January of 1946, the commission penant came down and the HAILEY joined the ghost fleet at San Diego. Five years later, in April of 1951, to meet the expanded fleet requirements created by Com- munist aggression, she was recommissioned, reactivated, and sent to the Atlantic. Throughout the year, she participated in fleet exercises on the East coast and then received orders to join Task Force 77 in Korea. Carrying on her estab- lished record, she performed with speed and pre- cision as plane guard and close fire support ship. Her tour completed, she continued around through the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, across the Atlantic to Newport, arriving home in April of 1953. Later that year, the HAILEY participated in Operation Springboard in the Caribbean and while in the yards at Boston was joined by her present captain, Commander W.K. Bradbury. After re- fresher training in the spring, she remained in Newport for the summer, departing for the Med- iterranean on 8 September.

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LT.CDR. B. A. BOOTH Executive Officer March 1953 to December 1954 LT. R. H. BENTLEY Executive Officer From January 1955 LTJG. J. A. DAVIS Chaplain