James Kyes (DD 787) - Naval Cruise Book

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Destroyer Squadron 23 Captain Lewis E. Davis, Ji , USN Captain Lewis E. Davis, Jr., is a graduate of Pennsylvania Nautical School and George Washington University and was com- missioned in 1941. He has served in USS WILKES BARRE and USS SITKA, and has commanded USS THOMAS E. ERASER (DM-24), USS H. D. CROW (DE-252), and USS FRED T. BERRY (DDE- 858). He has served on the COMCRUDESIANT Staff, and graduated from the U. S. Naval War College at Newport, R. I. and then served as Commanding Officer of USS BRYCE CANYON (AD-36). Captain Davis, Jr. assumed command of Destroyer Squadron 23 on 24 November 1965.

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fflSTORY OF THE LITTLE BEAVERS The original Little Beavers squadron was commissioned in December 1942, when the destroyers Charles AUSBURNE, CONVERSE, CLAXTON, DYSON. SPENCE, FOOT, and STANLEY formed Destroyer Squadron 23 at Orange, Texas. Five months later, under Admiral BURKE, then a Captain, the group joined the Pacific Fleet during the Solomons campaign and began a series of historic naval actions that led to the award of the Presidential Unit Citation, personally presented by Secretary of the Na , James Forrestal. Captain BURKE, ordered to intercept and destroy a formation of Japanese destroyers, was told to proceed at full speed. Although his ships had a rated top speed of 30 knots, Captain BURKE replied to the order with pursuing enemy at 31 knots . Under cover of darkness. Destroyer Squadron 23 attacked with such ferocity the only enemy ship managing to escape reported she and her formation had been struck by a division of cruisers and a division of destroyers, assisted by a number of PT boats . Like beavers, the ships of Destroyer Squadron 23 had done their work at night and left the results for all to see the next day - three Japanese destroyers sunk and one badly damaged. 31-knot BURKE had led his Little Beavers in what historians describe as the near perfect surface action . This was the beginning of a new chapter to destroyer warfare in the Pacific. The smash and run technique of the Little Beavers helped sweep Japanese power in the Pacific. Intheir battle march in the South Pacific, the Little Beavers were credited with sinking, or assistance in sinking, nine Japanese warships, three merchant vessels and six naval barges. One squadron ship alone was credited with destroy- ing nine enemy planes. Besides the Battle of Cape St. George, other smashing victories leading to the award of the Presidential Unit Citation included the bombardment of Bouganville, the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, the Invasion of Green Island, and bombard- ments of Kavieng, New Ireland, and Rabaul. Captain BURKE relinquished command of Destroyer Squadron 23 in December 1944, to become Chief of Staff for Admiral Mark Mitscher. His successor, Captain T. B. DUGAN, led the Little Beavers in the Okinawa campaign, and as the Japanese Empire crumbled, they returned to Pearl Harbor for a well-earned rest. In February 1946, the Little Beavers were inactivated and placed in mothballs at Charleston, S. C. The history books were reopened April 4, 1956 with the reactivation of Destroyer Squadron 23, under the command of Captain E. K. WAKEFIELD. By authority of the present Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral BURKE The Little Beavers were re-dedicated by Admiral Chester C. WOOD, Commander Cruiser- Destroyers, U. S. Pacific Fleet on December 10, 1956 in Long Beach, California.

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Commander Henry G. Rollins Jr. USN, entered the Navy in December 1941, undergoing recruit training at the Naval Reserve Officer Training Center, San Diego, California. He entered the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps Program in January 1944 while attending the University of New Mexico and was commissioned an Ensign in June 1946. Commander Rollins has served in both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets, on board the USS ELDORADO (AGCll), USS CARMICK (DD493), USS TAYLOR (DD648), the USS WALKER (DD517) where he was Executive Officer, USS CHOWANOC (ATFIOO), which he commanded, and the USS DIXIE (AD14) where he was Executive Officer. Commander Rollins came to command of the KYES from duty with the U. S. Naval Training Group, San Diego, California.