Henry Tucker (DD 875) - Naval Cruise Book

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COMMANDING OFFICER Commander Robert M. Ross took command of the Tucker on 29 March 1954 after having served in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington, D.C. During World War II he served as Commanding Officer of a coastal transport, after which he proceeded to duties aboard the battleship U.S.S. Wisconsin. He later became Executive Officer of the U.S.S. McKean, a sister ship of the Tucker. During fourteen years of naval service Commander Ross has attended various naval professional schools, including the U. S. Naval General Line School at Newport, Rhode Island, and has participated in such naval oper- ations as the now famous Submarine Battle of Redondo Beach on Christmas Day, 1941, as well as the Solomon Island and Guam campaigns of World War II. f f mm ' i ' h ] EXECUTIVE OFFICER Commander Sam H. Moore became Executive Officer of the Tucker in October 1954 after having served on the Staff of COMINPAC. Previous as- signments include duties on the Joint Staff, Head- quarters Sixth Army; attendance at the U. S. Naval General Line School, Monterey, California; command of the U.S.S. Adirondack and U.S.S. Density; and duties as COMINRON 102. He com- manded the eleventh ship to enter Tokyo Harbor after World War II, followed by participation in extensive minesweeping operations in the Inland Sea. A veteran of the Okinawan Campaign, Com- mander Moore participated in Third Fleet activi- ties in the East China Sea during the spring and summer of 1945, where operations Juneau and Skagway set records as the biggest minesweep- ing operations ever conducted. '

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1955 CRUISE BOOK of the USS HENRY W.TUCKER (DDR 875) EDITOR: LTJG J. G. Redfern STAFF: S. W. Richards, RDl J. J. Wodarczak, YNSN MIRRO GRAPHIC YEARBOOKS Produced by THE JACK DAVIDSON SHIPS CRUISE PUBLISHING CO. 932 Indio Sireet Son Diego I. California

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It all happened very last. The tanker was steaming in calm Pacific waters during the dark days of 1942 when a sudden enemy attack left her in flames and sinking. Ordered to abandon ship, the men had no choice but to risk the oily, flaming water in one last effort to save their lives. Severely burned, many men had little hope of making their way to life rafts lost in darkness. A swimmer carrying supplies of tannic acid treated a victim, shoved him aboard a raft, then swam off into the night, carefully holding his vital supplies above water. He treated many other men rapidly and thoroughly, always managing to put them aboard rafts, yet refusing a place for himself while others were still in need. Almost completely exhausted now, he again moved away into the night to treat the last few men. This time he did Henry W. Tucker not return. For his distinguished service in action, the Navy remembered the young swimmer in two ways: first, by awarding him the Navy Cross posthumously; and second, by giving his name to a United States Ship: Henry Walton TUCKER (DDR 875), commissioned in 1945. After a brief shakedown cruise, the TUCKER reported to Norfolk Naval Shipyard for conversion to a radar picket ship. She then participated in radar and anti-aircraft experimental exercises during which her gun crews set an all-time record by shooting an 80-foot pattern with her combined guns at a distance of 10,000 yards. After spending Navy Day in St. Petersburg, Florida, the TUCKER was assigned to the Pacific Fleet, arriving in Tokyo Bay on 22 December 1945. From then until the outbreak of the Korean conflict, she conducted training exercises in West Coast and Pacific op ' erating areas. When Korean hostilities broke out, the TUCKER was operating in northern waters with Task Force 77. For her action in Korea, the TUCKER received a well done from Commander Task Force 77 for her alertness and valuable assistance as screening and escort vessel. The claim of being the first radar picket destroyer to perform duties in combat since World War II also belongs to the TUCKER.