O Brien (DD 725) - Naval Cruise Book

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Q nu-4 Bom 5 51101 fl WM? v 0 -'if' v. iv' . , p , .A -,,flf,L,, Ut 4 if A I LCDR MAKOTO RA K I Lieutenant Commander M. ARAKI was born in Hawaii where he attended the University of Hawaii, After receiving bachelor's and Master's degrees in Psychology and Social casework, respectively, he entered Officer Candidate School in Newport, R. I. in August 1956. LC DR in December 1956. He has served in the fotl- lowing billets prior to reporting to O'BRIEN in October 1966: First Lieutenant and ASW officer in Uss CARPENTER fDD825J- C , om- munications Watch officer and OIC , Fleet and general Broadcast and ship shore communi- cation centers at NAVCOM ARAKI was commissioned an Ensign MSTA Honolulug ,Xi.a..v..-.-.-M...., :..,4J,.aaau-...m- Operations officer, USS XX',xLliER iDDOl'iI'3li Communications Operations officer 195 - Communications Squaclroli f-'UT FOFCECOH1, munications Scrvicej, Anderson AFB, GUSJBG and Operations officer, USS COCHRAW - 215. The current Wl1ISTP.lXC mloploynicnt is LCD? ARAKl's seventh in eight. years of desiZ1'0Yi0 dutY. He states that he will he content ll serve the rcniaimlur ol' his sea tcurS0 destroyer types. . - ' ht LCDR ARAKI lives with his wilc and 913 year old son in Long llvacfli.

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fx LQJX' COMMANDER G. W. FARRIS Commander George W, FARRIS enlisted in the U,S. Navy in 1942 and served several years prior to being sent to officer's training at the University of South Carolina. He was commissioned in 1946 andserved in various billets in USS FRANK KNOX fDDR742J, USS EPCE QRJ 857 and USS THEODORE E, CHANDLER 1DD'717J, During the Korean War he was serving in USS WALKE qDD723J when she was severely damaged off WON- SAN, Korea. From this followed duty as Commanding Officer USS SAUSALITO QPF- 4l, Administrative Assistant to J-4 at HQ, United Nations CommandfFar East Com- mand in Tokyo, Aide and Flag Lieutenant to COMSERVRON THREE, Executive Of- ficer Of USS MELVIN R. NAWMAN fDE4l6J and Operations Officer of USS CHILTON APA38J which participated in the amphib- ious landing in Beirut, Lebanon in 1958. Commander FARRIS then had duty in the Bureau of Naval Personnel followed by a tour as Executive Officer, USS EDSON fDD946J. He attended the Armed Forces Air in Madrid, Spain, from where he was ordered to command the USS O'BRlEN fDD725J in September 1966. He has been twice awarded the Bronze Star Medal for actions in the Korean War and in Viet Nam operations.

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. ..1 .. .-MA.. . .. .ull-,ua ' Among Sailors, the name O'BRIEN is as old as the US NAVY. In June of 1775, JEREMIAH O'BRIEN and his five brothers won fame when they led the townsmen of Machias, Maine, who captured HMS MARGARETTA, the first British warship to strike her colors to an American on the Atlantic Seaboard. In 1900, the Secretary of the Navy named Torpedo Boat 30 as the first USS O'BRIEN. In 1914, the name O'BRIEN was carried on by DD51. When placed out of commission in 1922 she had compiled an honorable record as a convoy escort and as an ASW ship during the First World War. Not until 1939, was a new successor commissioned. DD415 served in the Atlantic Fleet until early 1942 when she was ordered to the Pacific theater. In September of that year while operating with USS HGRNET and USS WASP Southeast of the Solomons, DD415 was attacked by the same Japanese submarines which sank WASP and damaged USS NORTH CAROLINA, Immediately following the attack it did not appear that the torpedo hit had made O'BRIEN unseaworthy. Temporary repairs were made and DD415 sailed for home. Five days and 2,800 miles from the point where she was hit, O'BRIEN sank. All hands were rescued before the ship went down, Plans were drawn for a new 0'BRIEN almost immediately. Commissioned at Boston on 25 February 1944, DD725 saw her first action at the D day landings at Normandy and the bom- bardment of Cherbourg, Hit by Nazi shore batteries she returned home for repairs. Following a brief period in Boston, O'BRIEN was ordered to the Pacific, and there was twice hit by Japanese suicide planes. In 1947, the ship was placed in the reserve fleet, but reactivated following the outbreak of the Korean War. During the Korean action, Radio Peiping reported O'BRIEN sunk by the North Koreans, in fact, she had only been sprayed with shrapnel. O'BRIEN has twice seen action in Viet Nam commencing in November of 1965.