JUL 1952

    The Navy's role in Korea called for sorties by carrier aircraft against enemy targets on land, for extensive minesweeping operations, for amphibious landings and evacuations, for shore bombardment actions, and for keeping the sea lanes open for logistics. In all of these operations, the destroyers were on hand with the support necessary for success. They screened the carriers and they rescued Navy pilots who ditched in the sea on their way back from attack missions. They operated close to shore with the minesweepers at night, guarding those busy craft from landbased artillery. In the amphibious action, as in the Ichon landing, they reverted to the lessons learned in World War II and performed their support missions with daring and brilliant success. They kept the sea lanes safe for the transport and supply ships. And they demolished countless shore targets, ranging from enemy gun emplacements to railroad trains, bridges, highways, tank columns, troop concentrations, and whatever else of a critical nature they could catch in their gun sights.

   

    "Train Busting" was one of the prime missions of the destroyers. This operation brought the DD's close to shore, to hurl their shells at the North Korean and Chinese supply trains barrleing down the coastal railroad tracks. As a follow-up to this action, a DD that scored a direct hit and derailed a train was expected to stay around until a railroad repair crew arrived on the scene, and then harass the enemy workmen with more gunfire. Ship competition in this strange category of warfare became so acute that in July, 1952, officers of Task Force 95 organized the "Train Busters Club" and began awarding appropriate certificates to all ships credited with wrecking an enemy train. Among United States destroyers, Endicott won top club honors with three trains to her credit. Orleck and Pierce each scored twice. One train each was chalked up for destroyers Porter, Jarvis, Boyd, Trathen, Eversole, James E. Kyes, Chandler, Carmick, Maddox, and McCoy Reynolds.

   

SOURCE: Two paragraphs from a book titled Destroyers-60 Years, by CAPT William G. Schofield U.S.N.