USS KENNETH D. BAILEY DD-713

A Tin Can Sailors Destroyer History

USS KENNETH D. BAILEY DD-713

The Tin Can Sailor, January 1999

Launched on 17 June 1945, the KENNETH D. BAILEY was named for a U.S. Marine Corps Major whose indomitable fighting spirit repeatedly inspired his men to heroic endeavors. He led them in the invasion of Tulagi, Solomons Islands; at the Battle of Bloody Ridge, Guadalcanal; and at the Matanikau River, Guadalcanal, where he was killed on 26 September 1942. Major Bailey’s widow sponsored the ship, which was commissioned 31 July 1945. Sailing out of Newport, Rhode Island, and Norfolk, Virginia, the destroyer was primarily engaged in plane guarding during carrier operations and training new destroyer crews.

The BAILEY’s career also took her to the Mediterranean where she joined the Sixth Fleet in its Cold War mission to maintain peace, preserve freedom, contain Communist expansion, and keep the Middle East facing West. During 1948 and 1949, she patrolled the coast of Greece to ensure that nation’s independence, supported the shaky truce in Israel, and helped to maintain peace between Italy and Yugoslavia during their struggle for Trieste.

When not deployed with the Sixth Fleet, the BAILEY operated from the Caribbean to the Arctic Ocean and along the shores of Northern and Western Europe. She trained naval reservists, served as plane guard and screen for carriers, and participated in cold-weather exercises north of the Arctic Circle.

In December 1952, the BAILEY entered the Boston Naval Shipyard for modernization and conversion to a radar picket destroyer. She was recommissioned the DDR-713 on 29 August 1953. Her deployments along the East Coast and in the Mediterranean were relatively routine until February 1956. That month, she was on duty in the Red Sea, patrolling the Israeli and Egyptian coasts during the mounting Suez crisis. A year later, she was in the eastern Mediterranean to demonstrate U.S. support of King Hussein’s Jordanian government then threatened by Communist subversion. In 1958, she was off Lebanon, supporting U.S. operations there to prevent a Communist takeover of the government.

The BAILEY began her FRAM II conversion in January 1960 at the Charleston Navy Yard. With new radar, sonar, and communications equipment, she returned to her home port in Mayport, Florida, the following October. A month later, she was patrolling the waters off Guatemala and Nicaragua to prevent Cuban ships from landing supplies and armed forces to support revolts in the two nations.

Routine duty occupied the BAILEY throughout the 1960s until 1 May 1967 when she entered the Charleston Naval Shipyard for a five-month overhaul period. Due to a shortage of funds, much of the work scheduled to be done by the shipyard was canceled. The ship did receive an extensive overhaul of her underwater sound systems and a considerably improved electronics installation. The real story of this shipyard period, however, was the effort of the ship’s force to accomplish the overhaul and repair of equipment on which shipyard work was canceled.

In addition to routine maintenance, the crew rebricked boilers and repaired the ship’s evaporators. The destroyer’s gunners mates overhauled all three gun mounts, and her electronics technicians overhauled, repaired, and installed radar and communications equipment. Her condition was much improved when she left the yard ready for her next deployment with the Sixth Fleet in March 1968. There she participated in NATO exercises, conducted intensive antiaircraft and antisubmarine warfare drills, and fulfilled a number of screening and picket duties. Upon her return stateside, the BAILEY was soon underway for the North Atlantic where she spent twenty-one days at sea, some of which were on picket stations north of the Arctic Circle.

Ensuing years found her following much the same routine, with deployments to the Mediterranean and exercises along the East Coast and in the Caribbean. The KENNETH D. BAILEY was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 February 1974 and was later sold to Iran.

USS KENNETH D. BAILEY DD-713 Ship History

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, July 2015

Kenneth D. Bailey (DD-713) was launched 17 June 1945 by Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Kearny, N.J.; sponsored by Elizabeth Speissegger Bailey, widow of Major Bailey; and commissioned 31 July 1945, Comdr. G. H. Richards, Jr., in command.

After shakedown in the Caribbean, Kenneth D. Bailey operated in the Atlantic from the New England coast to the Caribbean. Working out of Newport, R.I., and Norfolk, Va., she served as plane guard during the qualification of pilots in carrier operations and trained men for the crews of new destroyers. From 13 February to 26 March 1947 she cruised along the eastern coast of South America and returned to Norfolk 31 March.

On 10 November Kenneth D. Bailey departed Norfolk on the first of many Mediterranean cruises during the Cold War. While deployed with the mighty 6th Fleet, she has strengthened American naval power during its constant vigil to maintain peace, preserve freedom, contain Communist expansion, and keep the Middle East facing west. From 13 December to 5 January 1948, she patrolled the coast of Greece to insure Greek independence despite Communist aggression. While operating in the Mediterranean from 13 January to 12 May 1949, she supported the still unsettled truce in Israel and helped to maintain peace between Italy and Yugoslavia during their struggle for Trieste. Again, from 3 September 1951 to 4 February 1952, she ranged the Mediterranean from Spain to Turkey to maintain the freedom of the nations which rim that ancient sea.

When not deployed with the 6th Fleet, Kenneth D. Bailey joined operations that carried her from the Caribbean and the reaches of the Arctic Ocean to the shores of Northern and Western Europe. Undertaking a variety of duties, she trained naval reservists, served as plane guard and screen during carrier operations, and participated in cold weather exercises north of the Arctic Circle. On 2 December 1952 she entered the Boston Naval Shipyard for modernization and conversion to a radar picket destroyer and decommissioned on the 22d.

Redesignated DDR-713, Kenneth D. Bailey recommissioned 29 August 1953, Comdr. W. D. Gaddis in command. Based at Newport, she operated along the East Coast, then deployed with the 6th Fleet 19 May 1954. Before returning to Newport 28 September, she participated in joint NATO operations in the Eastern Mediterranean. She again deployed to the Mediterranean from 5 November 1955 to 17 March 1956, and in February 1956 she patrolled the Red Sea along Israeli and Egyptian coasts to express U.S. concern over the mounting Suez crisis. In April 1957 she cruised the eastern Mediterranean in support of King Hussein’s pro-Western Jordanian government, then threatened by Communist subversion. And while on her next deployment (2 September 1958-28 March 1959), she supported U.S. operations in Lebanon, begun in July 1958 at the request of Lebanese President Chamoun, who feared a Communist coup.

Kenneth D. Bailey shifted her homeport from Newport to Mayport, Fla., 16 June 1959. After completing destroyer operations in the Atlantic, she entered Charleston Navy Yard 26 January 1960 for a 9-month FRAM II overhaul that equipped her with new radar, sonar, and communication facilities. She returned to Mayport 27 October well prepared to help maintain American security on the seas. She sailed 14 November for waters off Guatemala and Nicaragua to establish barrier patrols to prevent the landing of Cuban supplies and armed forces during small-scale revolts in those Central American nations. She continued this important duty until 4 December, then returned to Mayport 18 December to prepare for further service in the Mediterranean.

Departing Mayport 9 February 1961, Kenneth D. Bailey arrived Gibraltar 18 February to commence 6 months of Fleet and NATO operations that carried her from the coast of France to the shores of Greece, Turkey, and Lebanon. Since that time, she has deployed to the Mediterranean four times within 4 years to support the Fleet’s peace-keeping mission. Returning from her latest deployment 26 October 1966, this versatile destroyer remained off Mayport, Fla., until 12 April 1967 when she arrived at Charleston, S.C., for overhaul, where she remains into the fall of 1967.