USS Laffey (DD 724) - Naval Cruise Book

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You could hear the dull water-deadened thud of concussion aga inst the bulkheads below the water line during the battle on 30 April. There was a gnawing uneasiness in the pit of every stomach and a tendency to want to see what was going on in spite of the fact that it was raining shrapnel on all exposed decks. They lost the windshield on the bridge, a bit of jagged steel missing the captain by inches. On all sides there was almost constantly a geyser of water from the bracketing shells and yet no one who was on the ship that day will ever forget the teamwork in the common defense that the entire crew displayed. It was later estimated that 170 rounds of enemy fire fell around the ship, with 424 rounds of counter-battery fire returned with devastating results on the enemy bunkers. In the 28 days in Wonsan harbor, we fired 5,657 rounds of five inch ammunition and many of the dug-in batteries fired at us only long enough to let our sharp-eyed lookouts spot them and then they were silenced. It was a fitting record for a proud fighting ship to add to a previous out- standing record in World War II. Patt FIFTY-FOUR

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SUNSET OVER WONSAN Pav FIFTY-FIVE