A View from the Deckplates

On 10 July SOUTHERLAND rejoined TG 95.2 on bombardment patrol in Wonsan Harbor. From the 11^th to the 13^th we patrolled off Yang Do Island, in the vicinity of Songjin, and between Nan Do Island and the Korean mainland. On the 14^th, SOUTHERLAND was in the vicinity of Kojo when we were hit four times by shells from Communist shore batteries. As we were patrolling, several of our crewmembers saw the North Koreans removing camouflage from in front of caves and rolling out their guns. Eight enlisted men suffered minor injuries. SOUTHERLAND silenced five of the seven “Red” batteries and was back in action two hours after receiving hits. My GQ station was in the ECM (Electronic Countermeasures[i]) Room directly under the after tripod radar mast. At the time we had many crates of potatoes stored on the weather deck directly under the mast. One of the “Red” shells landed in the potatoes, but fortunately did not explode. It did cause the light bulbs in the ECM Room to shatter raining glass down upon my head. In the middle of delivering counter-battery fire and taking evasive action, we had a steering casualty! When I returned to my normal watch station in CIC, I overheard the embarked Army liaison officer remark (jokingly, I hope), “Well I’ve got my [rotation] points, now I have to get my sergeant’s.” At that time Army personnel had to accumulate “points” earned in a combat situation in order to rotate home.[ii]

On the 18^th, we were scheduled to rendezvous with a Netherlands’s destroyer PIET HEIM, D-805, in the vicinity of Ch’ongjin to conduct night operations in amongst some offshore islands. The North Koreans would use these islands as bases for guerrilla operations and as radar sites. On the 21^st, we were once again in the Ch’ongjin area to meet HMS ST. BRIDES BAY, F-600 in the Yang Do Islands area. That evening, when we picked up a contact on our surface search radar, I tried to establish voice radio contact without success. After several attempts and as the target came closer, Captain Wesche ordered that we light it up by firing a star shell over it. When the star shell went off, we received an urgent radio message from the ship, “SOUTHERLAND, are you illuminating me?” in a thick English accent. Yes, it was the ship with which we were supposed to operate.

On 22 July, we were relieved by USS JOHN R. PIERCE, DD-753, and headed for Sasebo. On the 25^th, DesDiv 51 left Sasebo after a refueling stop and stopped in Yokosuka before returning stateside, via Midway and Pearl Harbor.