Keppler (DDE 765) - Naval Cruise Book

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-25311 E74 lr H 3 n l i I 6 i. 3 X B X K fr 2 ? E 1 -J mi I ,I .4 ' ,F :i U' fl 'ff 1 ' ix 3 I i CCS!! 2, 'fm Division 'ilu R . . X , I x i 'xr' . i hi A 'J 1' i . ,A . Q 'gl' a' F' 1:32 W5 'f gf 21.2 , A , I f,5i'g I , U it N x li ' lr J rx , , x ga Left to Right, Front Row: Laboissonniere, Worsham, McMurray, Kurtz, George, Steeleman, Haney, Siler, Sgro. Left to Right, Rear Row: Aguon, Tanney, Ordway, Prestigiacomo, Waugh, Unstead, Twyman, Venti, Wynn, Morgan, Vizzinni, Ferrier. U

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v 5 .. s f 1 , id l 5 , I. I .-- P4 2, E 1 an .X'f f I 1 t -A-J Left to Right, Front Row: ff ff n Left to Right, Front Row: Cullen, Carron, Marshall Jones, Wilson, Ruttkoy Berezny, Vay, Gonzales Quinliven, Breckenridge Degenais. Left to Right, Rear Row: Emmite, Walsh, Lewin Cameron, McKenna, Hom- mond, Kelahon, Rosin, Rie, Kyle, Marone, Tonnclotti Bricker, Twyman, Kennon r f 1 U ' Q i it Y u 'l '- 1 4 l wig' j 6699 ' E Dlvlslon Q Y I 1 in fylz ,!'N YL '-iii-In iq' McKee, Darrell, Suther- land, Pontbriand, Turking- ton, Grlllllll, Gqmgr P9f Y, Galure, Sivley Webber. Left to Right, Rear Row: Hughes, Trow Chartier Huber, Steer, Benyon, Pa- rado, Rie, Rench, Knie- biehly, Leone, Gibson Burlone. I 1 P eh- .ov ,.. A ll ' kd F -1 1

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On july 20, 1950, the Keppler departed Norfolk. Virginia, arriving at Cibraltar on 20 july reporting to ComSixth Fleet. Being assigned to Sixth Fleet she pro- ceeded to Phaleron Bay, Greece, on 27 july only to find orders to proceed to Buckner Bay, Okinawa. Passed through the Suez Canal 29-30 july and changed front operational control ComSixth Fleet to CINCPAC and arrived at Colombo, Ceylon, on 7 August, 1950. lvfi left Colombo, Ceylon, 9 August, reporting to Seventh Fleet on ll August and arrived Buckner Bay, Okinawa, on 19 August. The lvepplct' along with the Norris. Berry and McCnHcry were assigned Neutrality Patrol in the northern part of the Formosa Strait. The base of oper- ations for this patrol unit was Keelong, Formosa, a city with a large Chinese population situated on the north- ern coast of the island. The capital city of Formosa is Taipeh which is located about thirty 1305 miles inland from Keelung and is well surrounded by mountains. Taipeh is the home ol' Chiang Kai-shek since his de- parture from the mainland. Duty there lasted for a period of approximately six weeks. Two ships were sent out each time and stayed out for a period of 4 to fi days. The patrol was a line between the mainland and the island, to observe ship- ping and movements of large existing groups of Chinese junks and sampans along with other fishing vessels. .-Xt times many as 3 to 6 hundred junks were observed at anchor along the mainland. At this par- ticular time there existed a threat that the Chinese on the mainland would attempt to invade Formosa and that the Chinese Nationalists would attempt to cross to the mainland. Upon completion of this patrol duty the lvcjnplcr' was ordered to Sasebo. japan, where she reported to Task Force 77 on 8 November, 1950. Our hrst assignment was, along with other DD's. as a screen- ing veswl for the heavy unit of the Task Force. During the first part of December we were assigned to escort the USS Missoiwi into the southern part of Korea for a conference. XVe arrived back at the main force and continued at screening. After being out for a period of forty-one f-llj days we went into port of Sasebo, japan, for stores and a little recreation. Many ships were tied up and hundreds of sailors were seen on the beach. After a few days in port we rejoined Task Force 77 and were assigned to escort the USS Missouri into the coast for a bombardment mission. YYhen arriving along the coast, the fog was very heavy, ROUND THE WORLD V A KORE the weather was vero, and due to certain unknown fac- tors the Missouri did not fire. WVe proceeded back to the main group and shortly after joining them a report was received that one of the patrol planes had gone down near the coast. XVe were detached to proceed to tl'. ' last known position of the plane and commence a search and attempt to rescue the pilot, considering the fact that he had gotten out of the plane. After a search of about four hours our lookout spotted a light which he believed to be a flare so we proceeded in that direction. About 20 minutes later we located the pilot in the water. The searchlight was held on him and we proceeded to make a shipboard recovery. He had suffered no injuries except shock and chill, but said he had all but given up hope. Upon re- turn to the task force we transferred him back to the carrier and received our quota of ice cream as reward. Christmas was approaching and day by day the crew continued to chip layers of ice from the decks and bulkheads. On Christmas Day we were detached to rendezvous with a tanker and pick up mail for Task Force 77. life took 300 bags aboard and returned to the force about noon and commenced transfer to all ships. Upon completion of this transfer we realized that we were the only ship that hadn't received any mail. It did come in at a later time and everyone was happy. XVe continued duty with the Task Force until 7 February, 1951, at which time we proceeded to the port of Yokosuka, Japan, where we spent three days before starting our long journey home. Mfe left Yokosuka, japan, for Pearl Harbor, T. H., and the Continental United States on 10 February. En- route we again changed operational control to ComCru DesPac. Everyone set Pearl Harbor as the half way mark and it was soon upon us, as on the 18th of Feb- ruary we tied up in Pearl Harbor. This was a short visit, but nobody cared much as we were again on our way home. On the 21st Pearl Harbor was behind us which meant the Canal Zone was our last port before arriving in Newport, R. I. XVe had eighteen days of steady cruising before we reached Balboa. Canal Zone on the 7th of March, and reported to ComDesLant and CinCLantFlt for duty. The shores of Newport were visible on the 15th of March and we were home again, after completing a round the world cruise of approximately eight months duration. i ,Sl FL i EL 5, . s