James Kyes (DD 787) - Naval Cruise Book

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A HISTORY UJUMPIN' JIMMY, as JAMES E. KYES has be- come known endearingly to those who have sailed with her, is completing her ninth distant tour 'of duty as this is being written. Ports of call on this five-month cruise have been Pearl Harbor, Suva, Fiji Islands, Brisbane, Cairns and Darwin, Australia, Subic Bay, Philip- pine Islands, Hong Kong, Buckner Bay, Okin- awa, and Yokosuka, Nagasaki and Minamata, Japan. Q The '56 cruise was spent entirely as a par- ticipant in Operation Redwing, the name given to the nuclear tests at the Pacific Proving Grounds that year. Highlight of her '55 cruise was a goodwill visit to the capital of Thailand, Bangkok. Earlier in history, her fighting capabilities were demonstrated during three Korean War Zone tours. On the first, she participated in the first amphibious landing of the war in July, l95O. Her last Korean tour was marred while on patrol off Wonsan when a communist shell exploded in an after living compartment. Two men were wounded, but neither critically. y KYES, home ported at Long Beach since T952, was named in honor of Navy Cross winner Com- mander James Elsworth Kyes, USN, who lost his life in the North Atlantic, after he gave his lifeiacket to a seaman as his command, USS LEARY, was sinking from torpedo hits. His son, David, serves aboard today as a member of our crew, as we all know. I Since 1949, KYES has served continuously as squadron land divisionl flagship. She has been an active component of the Pacific Fleet and Destroyer Division 31 since commissioning 8 February l946 at the Todd Pacific Shipyards, Seattle, Washington.

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Commander Des Ron 3 CAPTAIN Rudolph J. Fabian, USN, relieved Captain Henry G. Munson, USN, as Commander Destroyer Squadron Three land ComDesDiv 311 in ceremonies 10 April at Hong Kong. lSee photo next page.l Captain Fabian, who has spent a large part of his career in naval intelligence activities since graduating from the Naval Academy in 1931, reported aboard after a tour as assistant chief of staff for intelligence, Taiwan Defense Command. His commands have been USS Navasota CAO-1061 and the destroyer L. Thomas. He graduated from the Naval War College in 1955. The squadron commander's war experiences include evacuation from Corregidor and Java by submarine. The Commodore, a native of Butte, Montana, is mar- ried to the former Miss Roberta Thorington of Montgom- ery, Alabama. They have one son, Joseph.