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USS William R. Rush (DD-714)
Encyclopedia
USS William R. Rush (DD/DDR-714) was a in the United States Navy
during the Korean War
. She was named for William R. Rush
.
William R. Rush was laid down on 15 October 1944 at Newark, New Jersey
, by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation; launched on 8 July 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Dorothy Flagg Biddle, a cousin of Captain Rush; and commissioned on 21 September 1945, Commander Theodore E. Vogeley in command.
and Casco Bay, Maine, William R. Rush took part in 8th Fleet
maneuvers off the eastern seaboard into May 1946. The destroyer then moved southward, to Pensacola, Florida
, where she served as a plane guard for as the veteran carrier conducted flight training operations. Arriving back at Newport, Rhode Island
, her home port, on 28 July, William R. Rush spent the rest of the year in local operations.
The destroyer departed Newport on 9 February 1948, bound for Europe and her first overseas deployment. She touched at ports of call in England
, Ireland
, Norway
, France
, Germany
, Denmark
, French Morocco
, and Gibraltar
before returning to Newport in June. For the next two years, William R. Rush operated off the eastern seaboard, exercising with submarine
s and escorting and plane-guarding for carriers.
In July 1949, William R. Rush sailed for Europe for an extended European and Mediterranean deployment that lasted into the following year. She touched at ports in France, Greece, Crete
, Turkey
, Gibraltar, England, Scotland
, and Belgium
, before she returned to Newport. Subsequently overhauled for three months at Boston, Massachusetts the destroyer carried out refresher training in Guantanamo Bay from May into July 1950. Commencing in mid-July, William R. Rush conducted a training cruise that took the warship and her embarked midshipmen from Halifax, Nova Scotia
, to Guantanamo Bay.
and St. John's, Newfoundland
, during October; spent much of the following month engaged in Operation "Convex I"—a convoy and striking force exercise; and underwent a period of upkeep back in her homeport, preparing for her next extended deployment.
On 3 January 1951, William R. Rush sailed for the Far East. Steaming via the Panama Canal
, Pearl Harbor
, Midway
, and Sasebo
, Japan
, the destroyer subsequently joined Task Force (TF) 77 in Korea
n waters and conducted her first shore bombardment mission on 7 February, shelling North Korea
n rail lines along the coast. Bombardment and escort missions kept the ship continuously occupied until 13 June, when she began her voyage to the United States, steaming via the Indian Ocean
, the Suez Canal
, the Mediterranean Sea
, and the North Atlantic.
William R. Rush completed her circumnavigation of the globe when she returned to Newport on 8 August 1951. She spent the rest of 1951 on maneuvers and exercises from her home port before she entered the Boston Naval Shipyard at the end of the year for conversion to a radar picket ship. The ensuing refit—during which she was decommissioned on 21 December 1951—entailed replacing the ship's 40-millimeter Bofors batteries with rapid-fire 3 inch mounts; removing her torpedo tubes; and receiving improved electronic and radar equipment to enable the ship to perform her new picket role, itself an outgrowth of World War II experience with kamikazes in the Pacific. Reclassified to DDR-714 on 18 July 1952, William R. Rush was recommissioned on 3 September 1952, Comdr. N. B. Macintosh in command.
Returning to Newport from her shakedown cruise as a DDR soon thereafter, William R. Rush underwent refresher training in Guantanamo Bay before she called at Mobile Bay, Alabama, for the 1953 Mardi Gras
festivities.
William R. Rush conducted her second 6th Fleet deployment from April to October and then operated locally out of Newport. She performed varying duties into the summer of the following year, carrying out, in succession: antisubmarine warfare (ASW) exercises; plane-guard duties with carriers; and a tour as engineering school ship for the Atlantic Fleet Destroyer Force. She next embarked 66 NROTC midshipmen and sailed for the British Isles
, touching at Irish and British ports before she returned to Guantanamo Bay for training. Disembarking the midshipmen at Norfolk on 3 September 1954, William R. Rush soon thereafter shifted to Boston, Massachusetts for a three-month overhaul.
Over the next decade, from 1954 to 1964, William R. Rush was deployed to the Mediterranean, for tours of duty with the 6th Fleet, on eight occasions, touching at ports that ranged from Gibraltar to Beirut
, Lebanon
, and including Pollensa Bay and Palma, Majorca; Naples
and Livorno
, Italy
; Athens
and Salonika, Greece
; Golfe Juan, France; Barcelona
and Rota, Spain
. During her service with the 6th Fleet, William R. Rush operated as plane guard and radar picket for fast carrier task forces and participated in NATO exercises. There were highlights of the cruises: in 1955, while at Golfe Juan, the destroyer hosted Mrs. James J. Cabot, the daughter of Capt. William R. Rush; and, in 1957, the ship cruised the Mediterranean with Naval Academy
midshipmen embarked.
In between the Mediterranean deployments, William R. Rush operated from the Arctic Circle
to the Caribbean
, homeported first at Newport, from 1954 to 1958, and then from Mayport, Florida, from 1958 to 1964. She twice penetrated north of the Arctic Circle, in the autumn of 1957 and late in 1960, both times on NATO exercises.
, Canada
; Hamilton, Bermuda
; and Poughkeepsie, New York
, during the cruise. That autumn, the ship served on "barrier patrol" when Cuban Premier Fidel Castro
threatened the Caribbean nations of Nicaragua
and Honduras
. Two years later, in the fall of 1962, after American reconnaissance planes discovered the presence of Soviet offensive missiles in Cuba, William R. Rush returned to the area and operated with TF 135 on the Cuban "quarantine" line from 20 October to 3 December. The ship was at sea continuously during that period, except for an availability alongside the destroyer tender from 12 to 17 November.
William R. Rush departed Mayport, Florida on 22 June 1964 and arrived at the New York Naval Shipyard on the 26th. Once at the shipyard, the ship commenced a 10-month Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) overhaul, at the completion of which she would resume her old classification, DD-714.
William R. Rush departed New York on 30 April 1965. Homeported back at Newport, the modernized destroyer soon commenced regular operations with the Fleet, following essentially the same sort of schedule that she had pursued since commissioning in 1945.
As a member of Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 10, she operated off the eastern seaboard between Newport and Key West, Florida
, assuming a new role as an antisubmarine warfare ship. Returning to Newport on 27 July 1965 from refresher training out of Guantanamo Bay and a week of providing services to the Fleet Sonar School at Key West, William R. Rush embarked 25 NROTC midshipmen for three weeks at sea with Royal Canadian Navy
units on exercise "CANUS (Canadian and United States) SILEX 1-65."
The ship then went back to Newport for availability alongside Yosemite and then conducted two weeks of type training before moving south to Key West for a month of Sonar School services. A highlight of that deployment to Florida coastal waters came in September, when she rescued seven Cuban nationals who had originally been bound back to Cuba to bring out relatives. Their two boats had developed engine trouble and were in danger of capsizing in heavy seas.
William R. Rush returned to Newport shortly before Thanksgiving of 1965 and spent the remainder of the year in home waters before getting underway on 14 February 1966 for the Mediterranean. Highlighting the ship's 10th Mediterranean deployment were the usual good will stops at ports in Italy, Rhodes
, Sicily
, and Turkey; ASW exercises with American and Spanish Navy
units, including Exercise "Spanex 1-66"; and 6th Fleet antiaircraft and ASW maneuvers. Relieved on 21 June at Gibraltar, the destroyer returned to the East Coast of the United States.
William R. Rush spent the remainder of 1966 on operations off the eastern seaboard, ranging from Newport to the Virginia Capes
, pursuing a well-rounded slate of exercises including, among others, such areas as gunfire support and ASW. Early in 1967, the ship enhanced her capabilities as an ASW destroyer by receiving two Drone Antisubmarine Helicopters (DASH) and becoming fully qualified in DASH operations.
William R. Rush departed Newport on 1 March 1967 and crossed the Atlantic in company with . The destroyer subsequently called at Gibraltar, Sardinia
, and Athens before transiting the Suez Canal on 1 April. She relieved the following day at Port Suez. William R. Rush then set course for Bahrain
. En route, the destroyer was fueled from the French oiler Aritrea at Massawa
, Ethiopia
, on 6 April.
Arriving at Bahrain on 13 April, William R. Rush joined , the flagship of Rear Admiral E. R. Eastwold, Commander, Middle East Forces (Mid-EastFor). In the ensuing weeks, the destroyer—on her first MidEastFor deployment—visited Al Misirah, where the British
Royal Air Force
maintained a small logistics airfield; Karachi
, Pakistan
; and Massawa for a fuel stop. William R. Rush returned to Port Suez on 21 May and was relieved there by .
The next day, William R. Rush transited the Suez Canal on her way back to the Mediterranean. At that time, tension was great in the Suez since the President of the United Arab Republic
, Gamal Abdel Nasser
, had demanded on 17 May that the United Nations
Expeditionary Force (UNEF) be withdrawn from Egypt
and the Gaza Strip
posthaste. On the 20th, Egypt began patrolling Israel
's coast.
The destroyer's commanding officer subsequently reported: "As (William R.) Rush passed through the Canal we could feel an atmosphere of tension all about us; gun emplacements and troops were obvious on both sides of the Canal."
William R. Rush moored alongside , where she spent the first few days of June undergoing a tender availability. However, the outbreak of full-scale war between Israel and her Arab neighbors on 5 June meant a hurried deployment seaward.
The destroyer operated with 6th Fleet units as they conducted emergency contingency force operations until the 17th. She subsequently called at Istanbul from 21 to 26 June before serving as plane guard and picket for south of Crete. The destroyer later touched at Kavalla, Greece, and Sardinia and Rota, homeward bound. She finally reached Newport on 20 July, ending the eventful deployment.
That autumn, William R. Rush operated off the coast of Florida, aiding the Fleet Sonar School in training officers and participating in ASW exercises. She then enjoyed a period of leave and upkeep at her home port to round out the year.
Late in January 1968, William R. Rush operated out of Newport as school ship for the Naval Destroyer School. In mid-March, she continued her training-oriented activities when she embarked 32 prospective destroyer officers and sailed for the Caribbean in company with and . During that cruise, she visited St. Croix, Virgin Islands
, and San Juan, Puerto Rico
. Soon after the ship returned to her home port, she shifted to the Boston Naval Shipyard for a four-month overhaul.
, Genoa
and San Remo
, Italy; Sfax, Tunisia
; and Valetta, Malta
. A social highlight of the 1969 deployment was when the officers and men of the ship were hosted royally on three separate occasions by Contessa Catherine Rush Visconti-Prasca—the daughter of the ship's William R. Rush—at her villa.
During that deployment, the ship participated in the usual slate of maneuvers and exercises including stints plane-guarding for and , and taking part in NATO Exercise "Dawn Patrol." Returning home, William R. Rush visited Liverpool
, England, and Oslo
, Norway, and then spent a grueling period in the North Atlantic—operating, on occasion, north of the Arctic Circle again—with a hunter-killer group tasked with perfecting ASW tactics. For her part in that significant evolution— operating in company with —William R. Rush received the Meritorious Unit Commendation.
Highlighting the ship's 1970 and 1971 6th Fleet deployment was a special intelligence mission. On 23 January 1971, William R. Rush departed Naples and, over the next 26 days, shadowed the Soviet helicopter carrier Leningrad in the Gulf of Sollum, gathering new and noteworthy intelligence data on that ship and her operations. Following that event, the destroyer resumed her other duties, ultimately returning home to Newport on 2 May 1971.
On 5 April 1972, William R. Rush—in company with -—departed Newport, bound for the Middle East and Indian Ocean. En route, the ship visited Port-au-Spain, Trinidad; Recife, Brazil; Luanda, Angola; and Lourencp Marques, Mozambique, before arriving at Port Louis, Mauritius, on 11 May. William R. Rush subsequently stopped at Moroni, Grand Comoro, Comores Islands; Mombasa, Kenya; Karachi, Pakistan; and Kharg Island, off the coast of Iran. Additionally, the ship spent a two-week upkeep period at the MidEastFor home port, Bahrain, where she was visited by the Honorable William P. Rogers
, the Secretary of State
, on 3 July. She later called at Dammam, Saudi Arabia, where she embarked 19 Royal Saudi Naval Force
officers for underway training from 15 to 19 July.
A Red Sea excursion took William R. Rush to Massawa and return visits to Mombasa, Port Louis, and Bahrain. In the course of the deployment and during transits between ports, William R. Rush twice conducted surveillance operations at Russian naval anchorages near Socotra Island and Cape Guardafui and once at Coetivy Island.
During the time spent operating under the aegis of Commander, MidEastFor, William R. Rush operated primarily as an ambassador of good will, "showing the flag" in an area where the Soviet Union's naval presence was becoming more marked.
Ultimately, after conducting exercises with Charles H. Roan and the British frigate , William R. Rush departed Bahrain. She continued her circumnavigation of the globe with visits to the ports of Karachi, Pakistan; Colombo, Sri Lanka; Singapore; Hong Kong; Yokosuka, Japan; Midway; Pearl Harbor; San Diego; and the Panama Canal before she arrived back at Newport on 31 October 1972.
William R. Rush subsequently operated out of Newport on local operations into March 1973. Then, after an overhaul at the Boston Naval Shipyard, William R. Rush was assigned to DesRon 28 on 2 July 1973 for service as a Naval Reserve
training ship.
Homeported at Fort Schuyler, Bronx, N.Y., William R. Rush spent the next five years training selected reserve crews and operating between the Virginia Capes Operating Area and Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The USS William R. Rush was decommissioned at Fort Schuyler on 1 July 1978 and was simultaneously struck from the Navy List
. Transferred that same day to the navy of the Republic of Korea (ROK) under the terms of the Security Assistance Program, the destroyer became ROKS Kang Won (DD-922).
As of 2006, no other ship in the United States Navy has been named William R. Rush.
at the South Korean naval headquarters in Jinhae
.
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. She was named for William R. Rush
William R. Rush
William Rees Rush was an officer in the United States Navy during the Spanish-American War, the 1914 United States occupation of Veracruz, and World War I, and was a recipient of the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross.-Early career:...
.
William R. Rush was laid down on 15 October 1944 at Newark, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
, by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation; launched on 8 July 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Dorothy Flagg Biddle, a cousin of Captain Rush; and commissioned on 21 September 1945, Commander Theodore E. Vogeley in command.
1946–1949
After fitting out at the New York Navy Yard and shakedown training out of Guantanamo BayGuantanamo Bay Naval Base
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located on of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased for use as a coaling station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas...
and Casco Bay, Maine, William R. Rush took part in 8th Fleet
United States Eighth Fleet
The United States Eighth Fleet was a fleet of the U.S. Navy established 15 March 1943 from Northwest African Force. It operated in the Mediterranean Sea during World War II with a main mission of amphibious warfare, and then was active in 1946-47 as the heavy striking arm of the United States...
maneuvers off the eastern seaboard into May 1946. The destroyer then moved southward, to Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...
, where she served as a plane guard for as the veteran carrier conducted flight training operations. Arriving back at Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
, her home port, on 28 July, William R. Rush spent the rest of the year in local operations.
The destroyer departed Newport on 9 February 1948, bound for Europe and her first overseas deployment. She touched at ports of call in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, French Morocco
French Morocco
French Protectorate of Morocco was a French protectorate in Morocco, established by the Treaty of Fez. French Morocco did not include the north of the country, which was a Spanish protectorate...
, and Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
before returning to Newport in June. For the next two years, William R. Rush operated off the eastern seaboard, exercising with submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s and escorting and plane-guarding for carriers.
In July 1949, William R. Rush sailed for Europe for an extended European and Mediterranean deployment that lasted into the following year. She touched at ports in France, Greece, Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, Gibraltar, England, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, before she returned to Newport. Subsequently overhauled for three months at Boston, Massachusetts the destroyer carried out refresher training in Guantanamo Bay from May into July 1950. Commencing in mid-July, William R. Rush conducted a training cruise that took the warship and her embarked midshipmen from Halifax, Nova Scotia
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
, to Guantanamo Bay.
1950–1959
Returning to Newport on 1 September 1950, William R. Rush visited NS ArgentiaNaval Station Argentia
Naval Station Argentia is a former base of the United States Navy that operated from 1941-1994. It was established in the community of Argentia in what was then the Dominion of Newfoundland, which later became the tenth Canadian province .-Construction:Established under the British-U.S...
and St. John's, Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
, during October; spent much of the following month engaged in Operation "Convex I"—a convoy and striking force exercise; and underwent a period of upkeep back in her homeport, preparing for her next extended deployment.
On 3 January 1951, William R. Rush sailed for the Far East. Steaming via the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
, Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, Midway
Midway Atoll
Midway Atoll is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean, near the northwestern end of the Hawaiian archipelago, about one-third of the way between Honolulu, Hawaii, and Tokyo, Japan. Unique among the Hawaiian islands, Midway observes UTC-11 , eleven hours behind Coordinated Universal Time and one hour...
, and Sasebo
Sasebo, Nagasaki
is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. As of 2011, the city has an estimated population of 259,800 and the density of 609 persons per km². The total area is 426.47 km². The locality is famed for its scenic beauty. The city includes a part of Saikai National Park...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, the destroyer subsequently joined Task Force (TF) 77 in Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
n waters and conducted her first shore bombardment mission on 7 February, shelling North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
n rail lines along the coast. Bombardment and escort missions kept the ship continuously occupied until 13 June, when she began her voyage to the United States, steaming via the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
, the Suez Canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
, the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
, and the North Atlantic.
William R. Rush completed her circumnavigation of the globe when she returned to Newport on 8 August 1951. She spent the rest of 1951 on maneuvers and exercises from her home port before she entered the Boston Naval Shipyard at the end of the year for conversion to a radar picket ship. The ensuing refit—during which she was decommissioned on 21 December 1951—entailed replacing the ship's 40-millimeter Bofors batteries with rapid-fire 3 inch mounts; removing her torpedo tubes; and receiving improved electronic and radar equipment to enable the ship to perform her new picket role, itself an outgrowth of World War II experience with kamikazes in the Pacific. Reclassified to DDR-714 on 18 July 1952, William R. Rush was recommissioned on 3 September 1952, Comdr. N. B. Macintosh in command.
Returning to Newport from her shakedown cruise as a DDR soon thereafter, William R. Rush underwent refresher training in Guantanamo Bay before she called at Mobile Bay, Alabama, for the 1953 Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras
The terms "Mardi Gras" , "Mardi Gras season", and "Carnival season", in English, refer to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday...
festivities.
William R. Rush conducted her second 6th Fleet deployment from April to October and then operated locally out of Newport. She performed varying duties into the summer of the following year, carrying out, in succession: antisubmarine warfare (ASW) exercises; plane-guard duties with carriers; and a tour as engineering school ship for the Atlantic Fleet Destroyer Force. She next embarked 66 NROTC midshipmen and sailed for the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
, touching at Irish and British ports before she returned to Guantanamo Bay for training. Disembarking the midshipmen at Norfolk on 3 September 1954, William R. Rush soon thereafter shifted to Boston, Massachusetts for a three-month overhaul.
Over the next decade, from 1954 to 1964, William R. Rush was deployed to the Mediterranean, for tours of duty with the 6th Fleet, on eight occasions, touching at ports that ranged from Gibraltar to Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, and including Pollensa Bay and Palma, Majorca; Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
and Livorno
Livorno
Livorno , traditionally Leghorn , is a port city on the Tyrrhenian Sea on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of approximately 160,000 residents in 2009.- History :...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
; Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
and Salonika, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
; Golfe Juan, France; Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
and Rota, Spain
Rota, Spain
-External references:*, official website * On-line since 1999! News, premiere information, pictures, weather, etc. Into Spanish, English... ****- External links :...
. During her service with the 6th Fleet, William R. Rush operated as plane guard and radar picket for fast carrier task forces and participated in NATO exercises. There were highlights of the cruises: in 1955, while at Golfe Juan, the destroyer hosted Mrs. James J. Cabot, the daughter of Capt. William R. Rush; and, in 1957, the ship cruised the Mediterranean with Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
midshipmen embarked.
In between the Mediterranean deployments, William R. Rush operated from the Arctic Circle
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....
to the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, homeported first at Newport, from 1954 to 1958, and then from Mayport, Florida, from 1958 to 1964. She twice penetrated north of the Arctic Circle, in the autumn of 1957 and late in 1960, both times on NATO exercises.
1960–1969
There were highlights of the ship's closer-to-home deployments as well. In the summer of 1960, the ship embarked 35 Naval Academy midshipmen and took part in operations off the eastern seaboard with the Atlantic Fleet. She visited Quebec CityQuebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
; Hamilton, Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
; and Poughkeepsie, New York
Poughkeepsie (city), New York
Poughkeepsie is a city in the state of New York, United States, which serves as the county seat of Dutchess County. Poughkeepsie is located in the Hudson River Valley midway between New York City and Albany...
, during the cruise. That autumn, the ship served on "barrier patrol" when Cuban Premier Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
threatened the Caribbean nations of Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
and Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
. Two years later, in the fall of 1962, after American reconnaissance planes discovered the presence of Soviet offensive missiles in Cuba, William R. Rush returned to the area and operated with TF 135 on the Cuban "quarantine" line from 20 October to 3 December. The ship was at sea continuously during that period, except for an availability alongside the destroyer tender from 12 to 17 November.
William R. Rush departed Mayport, Florida on 22 June 1964 and arrived at the New York Naval Shipyard on the 26th. Once at the shipyard, the ship commenced a 10-month Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) overhaul, at the completion of which she would resume her old classification, DD-714.
William R. Rush departed New York on 30 April 1965. Homeported back at Newport, the modernized destroyer soon commenced regular operations with the Fleet, following essentially the same sort of schedule that she had pursued since commissioning in 1945.
As a member of Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 10, she operated off the eastern seaboard between Newport and Key West, Florida
Key West, Florida
Key West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 , Sigsbee Park , Fleming Key , and Sunset Key...
, assuming a new role as an antisubmarine warfare ship. Returning to Newport on 27 July 1965 from refresher training out of Guantanamo Bay and a week of providing services to the Fleet Sonar School at Key West, William R. Rush embarked 25 NROTC midshipmen for three weeks at sea with Royal Canadian Navy
Royal Canadian Navy
The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...
units on exercise "CANUS (Canadian and United States) SILEX 1-65."
The ship then went back to Newport for availability alongside Yosemite and then conducted two weeks of type training before moving south to Key West for a month of Sonar School services. A highlight of that deployment to Florida coastal waters came in September, when she rescued seven Cuban nationals who had originally been bound back to Cuba to bring out relatives. Their two boats had developed engine trouble and were in danger of capsizing in heavy seas.
William R. Rush returned to Newport shortly before Thanksgiving of 1965 and spent the remainder of the year in home waters before getting underway on 14 February 1966 for the Mediterranean. Highlighting the ship's 10th Mediterranean deployment were the usual good will stops at ports in Italy, Rhodes
Rhodes
Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
, Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
, and Turkey; ASW exercises with American and Spanish Navy
Spanish Navy
The Spanish Navy is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Armada is responsible for notable achievements in world history such as the discovery of Americas, the first world circumnavigation, and the discovery of a maritime path...
units, including Exercise "Spanex 1-66"; and 6th Fleet antiaircraft and ASW maneuvers. Relieved on 21 June at Gibraltar, the destroyer returned to the East Coast of the United States.
William R. Rush spent the remainder of 1966 on operations off the eastern seaboard, ranging from Newport to the Virginia Capes
Virginia Capes
The Virginia Capes are the two capes, Cape Charles to the north and Cape Henry to the south, that define the entrance to Chesapeake Bay on the eastern coast of North America....
, pursuing a well-rounded slate of exercises including, among others, such areas as gunfire support and ASW. Early in 1967, the ship enhanced her capabilities as an ASW destroyer by receiving two Drone Antisubmarine Helicopters (DASH) and becoming fully qualified in DASH operations.
William R. Rush departed Newport on 1 March 1967 and crossed the Atlantic in company with . The destroyer subsequently called at Gibraltar, Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
, and Athens before transiting the Suez Canal on 1 April. She relieved the following day at Port Suez. William R. Rush then set course for Bahrain
Bahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
. En route, the destroyer was fueled from the French oiler Aritrea at Massawa
Massawa
Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa (Ge'ez ምጽዋዕ , formerly ባጽዕ is a city on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. An important port for many centuries, it was ruled by a succession of polities, including the Axumite Empire, the Umayyad Caliphate,...
, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, on 6 April.
Arriving at Bahrain on 13 April, William R. Rush joined , the flagship of Rear Admiral E. R. Eastwold, Commander, Middle East Forces (Mid-EastFor). In the ensuing weeks, the destroyer—on her first MidEastFor deployment—visited Al Misirah, where the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
maintained a small logistics airfield; Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
; and Massawa for a fuel stop. William R. Rush returned to Port Suez on 21 May and was relieved there by .
The next day, William R. Rush transited the Suez Canal on her way back to the Mediterranean. At that time, tension was great in the Suez since the President of the United Arab Republic
United Arab Republic
The United Arab Republic , often abbreviated as the U.A.R., was a sovereign union between Egypt and Syria. The union began in 1958 and existed until 1961, when Syria seceded from the union. Egypt continued to be known officially as the "United Arab Republic" until 1971. The President was Gamal...
, Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
, had demanded on 17 May that the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Expeditionary Force (UNEF) be withdrawn from Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
posthaste. On the 20th, Egypt began patrolling Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's coast.
The destroyer's commanding officer subsequently reported: "As (William R.) Rush passed through the Canal we could feel an atmosphere of tension all about us; gun emplacements and troops were obvious on both sides of the Canal."
William R. Rush moored alongside , where she spent the first few days of June undergoing a tender availability. However, the outbreak of full-scale war between Israel and her Arab neighbors on 5 June meant a hurried deployment seaward.
The destroyer operated with 6th Fleet units as they conducted emergency contingency force operations until the 17th. She subsequently called at Istanbul from 21 to 26 June before serving as plane guard and picket for south of Crete. The destroyer later touched at Kavalla, Greece, and Sardinia and Rota, homeward bound. She finally reached Newport on 20 July, ending the eventful deployment.
That autumn, William R. Rush operated off the coast of Florida, aiding the Fleet Sonar School in training officers and participating in ASW exercises. She then enjoyed a period of leave and upkeep at her home port to round out the year.
Late in January 1968, William R. Rush operated out of Newport as school ship for the Naval Destroyer School. In mid-March, she continued her training-oriented activities when she embarked 32 prospective destroyer officers and sailed for the Caribbean in company with and . During that cruise, she visited St. Croix, Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands are the western island group of the Leeward Islands, which are the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, which form the border between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean...
, and San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
. Soon after the ship returned to her home port, she shifted to the Boston Naval Shipyard for a four-month overhaul.
1970–1978
Over the next 11 years, William R. Rush conducted two more Mediterranean deployments, in early 1969 and from the autumn of 1970 to the spring of 1971, in between which she operated, as before, off the eastern seaboard and into the Caribbean. Ports visited with the 6th Fleet included Rota and Barcelona, Spain; Piraeus, Greece; VeniceVenice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
and San Remo
Sanremo
Sanremo or San Remo is a city with about 57,000 inhabitants on the Mediterranean coast of western Liguria in north-western Italy. Founded in Roman times, the city is best known as a tourist destination on the Italian Riviera. It hosts numerous cultural events, such as the Sanremo Music Festival...
, Italy; Sfax, Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
; and Valetta, Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. A social highlight of the 1969 deployment was when the officers and men of the ship were hosted royally on three separate occasions by Contessa Catherine Rush Visconti-Prasca—the daughter of the ship's William R. Rush—at her villa.
During that deployment, the ship participated in the usual slate of maneuvers and exercises including stints plane-guarding for and , and taking part in NATO Exercise "Dawn Patrol." Returning home, William R. Rush visited Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, England, and Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, Norway, and then spent a grueling period in the North Atlantic—operating, on occasion, north of the Arctic Circle again—with a hunter-killer group tasked with perfecting ASW tactics. For her part in that significant evolution— operating in company with —William R. Rush received the Meritorious Unit Commendation.
Highlighting the ship's 1970 and 1971 6th Fleet deployment was a special intelligence mission. On 23 January 1971, William R. Rush departed Naples and, over the next 26 days, shadowed the Soviet helicopter carrier Leningrad in the Gulf of Sollum, gathering new and noteworthy intelligence data on that ship and her operations. Following that event, the destroyer resumed her other duties, ultimately returning home to Newport on 2 May 1971.
On 5 April 1972, William R. Rush—in company with -—departed Newport, bound for the Middle East and Indian Ocean. En route, the ship visited Port-au-Spain, Trinidad; Recife, Brazil; Luanda, Angola; and Lourencp Marques, Mozambique, before arriving at Port Louis, Mauritius, on 11 May. William R. Rush subsequently stopped at Moroni, Grand Comoro, Comores Islands; Mombasa, Kenya; Karachi, Pakistan; and Kharg Island, off the coast of Iran. Additionally, the ship spent a two-week upkeep period at the MidEastFor home port, Bahrain, where she was visited by the Honorable William P. Rogers
William P. Rogers
William Pierce Rogers was an American politician, who served as a Cabinet officer in the administrations of two U.S. Presidents in the third quarter of the 20th century.-Early Life :...
, the Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
, on 3 July. She later called at Dammam, Saudi Arabia, where she embarked 19 Royal Saudi Naval Force
Royal Saudi Navy
The Royal Saudi Navy is the Naval force of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Royal Saudi Navy is sometimes referred to as the RSNF . The Navy has about 15,000 officers and men, including 3,000 Marines. The Naval headquarters is in Riyadh. The Western Fleet is based in the Red Sea with the main base...
officers for underway training from 15 to 19 July.
A Red Sea excursion took William R. Rush to Massawa and return visits to Mombasa, Port Louis, and Bahrain. In the course of the deployment and during transits between ports, William R. Rush twice conducted surveillance operations at Russian naval anchorages near Socotra Island and Cape Guardafui and once at Coetivy Island.
During the time spent operating under the aegis of Commander, MidEastFor, William R. Rush operated primarily as an ambassador of good will, "showing the flag" in an area where the Soviet Union's naval presence was becoming more marked.
Ultimately, after conducting exercises with Charles H. Roan and the British frigate , William R. Rush departed Bahrain. She continued her circumnavigation of the globe with visits to the ports of Karachi, Pakistan; Colombo, Sri Lanka; Singapore; Hong Kong; Yokosuka, Japan; Midway; Pearl Harbor; San Diego; and the Panama Canal before she arrived back at Newport on 31 October 1972.
William R. Rush subsequently operated out of Newport on local operations into March 1973. Then, after an overhaul at the Boston Naval Shipyard, William R. Rush was assigned to DesRon 28 on 2 July 1973 for service as a Naval Reserve
United States Navy Reserve
The United States Navy Reserve, until 2005 known as the United States Naval Reserve, is the Reserve Component of the United States Navy...
training ship.
Homeported at Fort Schuyler, Bronx, N.Y., William R. Rush spent the next five years training selected reserve crews and operating between the Virginia Capes Operating Area and Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The USS William R. Rush was decommissioned at Fort Schuyler on 1 July 1978 and was simultaneously struck from the Navy List
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
. Transferred that same day to the navy of the Republic of Korea (ROK) under the terms of the Security Assistance Program, the destroyer became ROKS Kang Won (DD-922).
As of 2006, no other ship in the United States Navy has been named William R. Rush.
ROKS Kang Won (DD-922)
The ROKS Kang Won (DD-922) was formerly the USS William R. Rush. It was transferred on 1 July 1978 to the navy of the Republic of Korea (ROK) under the terms of the Security Assistance Program. The ship was decommissioned from the ROK navy on 31 December 2000. She is stationed as a museum shipMuseum ship
A museum ship, or sometimes memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public, for educational or memorial purposes...
at the South Korean naval headquarters in Jinhae
Jinhae
Jinhae is a district in Changwon City, South Korea. This region is served by the Korean National Railroad, and is famous for its annual cherry blossom festival every spring....
.