editor's note: This
history has been compiled from
DANFS and
other source material regarding the
operations and significant events of the USS
Ernest G. Small (DD/DDR-838). It is a
"Work in Progress", currently extending from
build and launch through 1962. The
remainder of the history will be filled in
upon retrieval and editing of the years
1963-1970.A 2,400 ton GEARING Class
destroyer, DD 838 was named in memory of
Read Admiral
Ernest Gregor Small, USN,
recipient of the Navy Cross for his conning
of the cruiser Salt Lake City (CA 25) during
a night action against Japanese surface
units off Savo Island, in the Solomons 11-12
October 1942.
Ernest G. Small
(DD-838) was launched on 14 June 1945 by
Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, sponsored by
Mrs. E. G. Small, and commissioned on 21
August 1945 with Commander T. D. McGrath,
USN, in command. She was reclassified DDR
838 on 18 July 1952.
After completing her shakedown cruise in
Guantanamo Bay, she sailed in company with
Power (DD-839) on 11 January 1946 en
route to Gibraltar whence she proceeded to
Naples. She began a series of peacetime
Mediterranean patrols in company with
Power and Providence (CL-82)
until 7 March. She continued in this mission
independently until 7 August when she
returned to the States.
Following a period of yard availability
she reported to Commander, Submarines
Atlantic, and operated out of New London,
Conn., until 14 December when she was laid
up for repairs at Boston. On 3 April 1947
while anchored off Block Island she grounded
in a violent wind and rain storm, but,
re-floated with aid from two tugs she
returned to Boston where repairs were made.
Ernest G. Small sailed on 12 June
for Norfolk and engaged in type exercises in
the Virginia Capes Operating Area. On 6
August she stood out for the Caribbean,
calling at Guantanamo and Trinidad before
rendezvousing with Task Force 84 which
proceeded to Rio de Janeiro where on 7
September the flagship Missouri
(BB-63) embarked President Truman and his
family for the trip to the States.
Ernest G. Small
steamed on escort station during the voyage.
From 9 February to 10 April 1948 she
cruised in the Caribbean and on 7 June began
a midshipman cruise to the Mediterranean,
calling at Lisbon, Genoa, Casablanca and
returning to Norfolk on 21 July. Her third
tour in the Mediterranean was made between
30 August 1948 and 23 January 1949. For the
remainder of 1949 she operated in the
Caribbean and along the Atlantic coast.
From January to May 1950 she cruised in
the Mediterranean and around northern
Europe. With the outbreak of war in Korea,
she was sent to join the 7th Fleet, and on
29 June she transited the Panama Canal en
route to action. She sailed with carrier
forces, fired shore bombardments, patrolled
off Taiwan, and participated in the landings
at Inchon and Wonsan in September and
October. In December she helped evacuate the
Tenth Army Corps from Hungnam and Inchon.
On January 29, 1951, the Ernest G. Small
left Yokosuka, Japan and set her course for
Pearl Harbor and the U.S. Mainland
Following a brief overhaul at San Diego
in the first half of 1951, Ernest G.
Small set sail for her second tour of
duty in Korean waters with a new commanding
officer,
Commander Robert Neyman of La
Jolla, California. She was first assigned
duty as an escort for the carrier Rendova
(CVE-114) off the west coast of Korea. On
October 5, she arrived on Korea’s east coast
in company with the cruiser HELENA
and the battleship NEW JERSEY. She
participated in the naval bombardment of
Hungnam and was so occupied on 7 October
when she suffered an underwater explosion
presumed to be a mine. Nine men were killed
and eighteen were injured. The forward 100
feet of the ship was extensively damaged,
causing the ship to back down from Korea to
Japan at 6 knots, assisted by a fleet tug.
Four days later heavy seas broke the bow
off forward of Mount 52 while she was in
transit. At Kure, Japan she was fitted with
a new stubby replacement bow which enabled
her to steam to the states at speeds up to
10 knots. Ernest G. Small arrived at
Long Beach, California on 18 December 1951.
She was decommissioned on 15 January 1952
and the bow of the unfinished Seymour D.
Owens (DD-767) was grafted to her hull.
She also underwent conversion to a radar
picket ship at this time.
Recommissioned as DDR 838 on 2 December
1952, Ernest G. Small was commanded
by Commander
Millard J. Smith of Carmel
Valley, California. After a shakedown
cruise, the ship participated in a Memorial
Day tribute at sea off Point Loma, San Diego
on 30 May 1953. She followed training
exercises off the California coast with her
first peacetime tour of the Far East which
lasted from 11 July 1953 through 29 January
1954. Attached to Task Force 77, she was a
unit of the blockade and escort force for
the Taiwan area.
A period of overhaul ensued and on 10
August 1954 Ernest G. Small departed
with Destroyer Squadron 13 for the Taiwan
Patrol. While on Taiwan Patrol in
December 1954, the Ernest G. Small
played host to CBS television crews in the
filming of “Life aboard a Destroyer on
Formosa Patrol”, presented on Edward R.
Murrow’s 28 December 1954 nationwide
telecast of “See It Now”. It was at this
time that the Ernest G. Small also
launched “Operation Saint Nick”, a Christmas
party for the children of Saint Mary’s
Church at Kaohsiung. Ernest G. Small
later assumed defensive position to control
part of the 7th Fleet air coverage during
the Tachen Islands evacuation in February
1955. Early in March she returned to Long
Beach whence she operated with TG 7.3 in
testing of an underwater atomic bomb off the
west coast (2-20 May). She deployed with the
7th Fleet for the remainder of the year.
The Ernest G. Small left Long
Beach as a unit of Destroyer Division 132 on
November 1, 1956, destined for the Olympic
Games in Melbourne, Australia, via Hawaii
and Samoa. International tensions brought
the trip to “Down Under” to a halt while the
Division was en route to Samoa. Ernest
G. Small then assumed a operating
station in the Northern Pacific for the
remainder of November. After extensive task
force operations and intertype training
exercises, the ship returned to the United
states by way of Brisbane, Australia and
American Samoa. The Ernest G. Small
arrived in Long Beach on 28 April 1956. The
remainder of that year was occupied with
task force operations and intertype training
exercises off the west coast.
Ernest G. Small began another
western Pacific tour in January 1958 as a
unit of Destroyer Division 132 and was
deployed in various operations, highlighted
by participation in the SEATO exercise
"Ocean Link." Various units of Great
Britain, Pakistan and Australia combined
forces to make this a most interesting and
beneficial operation for the nations
involved. After “OCEAN LINK”, the Small
paused briefly in Subic Bay, Philippines to
receive needed repairs and a new Commanding
Officer,
Commander William C. Dozier, Jr.,
USN. The Ernest G. Small arrived in
Long Beach, California on 27 June 1958.
In March 1959 she was assigned while on
her annual Pacific cruise to the operational
control of the Air Force to aid in the
"Discoverer" earth satellite program. Until
July 1959 she was engaged in competitive
exercises and nose cone recoveries. The
second half of the year was designated for a
period of overhaul and local operations.
During this period, the Ernest G. Small
received the Battle Efficiency Competition
Plaque for the competitive year 1958-1959,
the Red Engineering “E” and the Green
Operations “E”. The Ernest G. Small
also received an Efficiency “E” gunnery
performance award to Mount 31 and the MK 56
director. On 28 August 1959,
Lieutenant
Commander Charles H. Carroll,
USN relieved
Commander William C. Dozier, Jr.,
USN as Commanding Officer of the Ernest
G. Small.
Again, she deployed to the western
Pacific on 17 May 1960 with Destroyer
Division 131. Her duty was principally to
screen and picket Ticonderoga
(CVA-14) and Coral Sea (CVA-43), and
she participated in Operation Cosmos.
During the next four months Ernest G.
Small was to be commended by
Admiral Ni-Yue-Si,
GRCN,
Commander in
Chief, GRCN for rendering assistance
to a Chinese Nationalist warship while
operating off the Chinese mainland.
She arrived back at Long Beach on 16
November and on 29 December entered San
Francisco Naval Shipyard for FRAM II (Fleet
Rehabilitation and Modernization). On 5
January 1961
Lieutenant Commander Alan J. Kaye,
USN relieved
Commander Charles H. Carroll,
USN as Commanding Officer of USS Ernest
G. Small (DDR-838). Ernest G. Small
commenced the FRAM retrofit on 6 January
1961. During the ensuing months Ernest
G. Small received numerous
modifications, including improved
communication, radar, ECM, and ASW
installations. A sizable allowance was
included to modernize the ships living
spaces.
Commander
Joe E. Chambliss, USN
relieved
Commander Alan J. Kaye, USN
as Commanding officer on 29 April 1961.
Under his guidance, Ernest G. Small
completed FRAM II on 9 August 1961. After a
brief period of sea trials, Ernest G.
Small returned to her home port of Long
Beach, California on 22 August 1961. During
September and October 1961 Ernest G.
Small engaged in Refresher Training at
the Fleet Training Center, San Diego,
California. On 2 June 1962 Small
deployed to the western Pacific with an ASW
task group built around USS Hornet
(CVS-12). On her way to the Far East,
she participated in exercises with
Amphibious Squadron 5 in the Hawaiian
Islands. Later, she joined the screen of
Hancock (CVA-19), operating off the
southern coast of Honshu, Japan. During
this deployment, areas of operations
included the Sea of Japan, Pacific east of
Japan, the South China Sea, and Ernest G.
Small visited the ports of Sasebo,
Japan, Iwakuni, Japan and Beppu, Japan. She
was operating in the South China Sea in
October 1962 and spent 12 days at Condition
3 during the Cuban Missile Crisis 16-28
October 1962. Ernest G. Small visited
Yokosuka, Japan in early December and on the
7th she steamed back to the
United States, arriving in Long Beach on 21
December 1962.
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