USS The Sullivans (DD-537) - Korean War Service

Korean War Service

The Sullivans remained decommissioned at San Diego until May 1951, when she began to undergo reactivation. This was due to naval fleet expansion because of the Korean War. She was recommissioned on 6 July 1951 with Commander Ira M. King in command. The Sullivans soon headed to her home port in Newport, R.I. by way of the Panama Canal. During the winter of 1951–52, the ship conducted training exercises off the east coast and in the Caribbean. The Sullivans departed Newport on 6 September 1952 bound for Japan. Proceeding via the Panama Canal, San Diego, Pearl Harbor, and Midway she arrived at Sasebo, Japan on 10 October 1952. The next day she got underway to join Task Force 77 off the eastern shores of Korea. Her duties included screening the fast carriers which were launching repeated air strikes to interdict enemy supply lines. She also supported United Nations ground forces who were battling communist forces. The Sullivans remained on this duty until 20 October 1952 when she steamed to Yokosuka, Japan for a brief refit.

Following the refit, The Sullivans stopped at Buckner Bay, Okinawa and then proceeded to rejoin Task Force 77. Upon her arrival on 16 November 1952 she resumed screening activities and plane guard duty. She supported the carriers as they made the northern-most stab at North Korean supply lines, approaching within 75 miles (120 km) of the Soviet base at Vladivostok, Russia. MiG-15 fighters approached the task force, but combat air patrol Grumman F9F Panthers downed two of the attackers and damaged a third in history's first engagement between jet fighters over water. The destroyer arrived back at Sasebo, Japan on 5 December 1952. From Sasebo she joined United Nations forces on 14 December 1952 in blockading the Korean coasts. Her mission was to interdict seaborne traffic and bombard shore targets to support United Nations ground troops and interdict enemy supply operations. Arriving in Area "G" the following day, The Sullivans made contact with the enemy on the 16th off Songjin, North Korea which was an important rail terminus and supply center. For the next few days, she bombarded railroad trains and tunnels. She frequently opened fire to destroy railroad rolling stock, depots and prevented repairs to railroad tracks and buildings.

On Christmas Day 1952, The Sullivans scored direct hits on a railroad bridge while under fire from enemy artillery positions on shore. Fifty rounds from enemy guns failed to touch the ship, although near-misses showered the warship's decks with shell fragments. Counter-battery fire from the ship destroyed at least one of the enemy artillery positions.

The Sullivans was ordered home and departed Yokosuka, Japan on 26 January 1953. On the voyage home the ship called at Buckner Bay, Okinawa, Hong Kong, Subic Bay, Singapore, Colombo, Ceylon, Bombay, India, Bahrein and Aden. The Sullivans then steamed through the Red Sea, transited the Suez Canal, and proceeded to Cannes, France via Naples. After a brief fueling stop at Gibraltar the warship reached Newport, R.I. on 11 April 1953.