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Hull Number: DD-723

Launch Date: 10/27/1943

Commissioned Date: 01/21/1944

Decommissioned Date: 11/30/1970

Call Sign: NTXS

Voice Call Sign: JOINTWEED (KOREA), STRAW BOSS (58-61)


Class: ALLEN M. SUMNER

ALLEN M. SUMNER Class

Data for USS Allen M. Sumner (DD-692) as of 1945


Length Overall: 376’ 6"

Beam: 40’ 10"

Draft: 14’ 5"

Standard Displacement: 2,200 tons

Full Load Displacement: 3,315 tons

Fuel capacity: 3,293 barrels

Armament:

Six 5″/38 caliber guns
Two 40mm twin anti-aircraft mounts
Two 40mm quadruple anti-aircraft mounts
Two 21″ quintuple torpedo tubes

Complement:

20 Officers
325 Enlisted

Propulsion:

4 Boilers
2 General Electric Turbines: 60,000 horsepower

Highest speed on trials: 34.2 knots

Namesake: HENRY A. WALKE

HENRY A. WALKE

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, October 2015

Henry A. Walke, born on Christmas Eve 1809 in Princess Anne County, Va., was appointed a midshipman on 1 February 1827 and reported for duty at the navy yard at Gosport, Va. (Norfolk). Walke received his initial naval training at Gosport and, from July 1827 to November 1828, cruised the West Indies in sloop Natchez in the campaign against pirates in that area. He made a voyage to the Mediterranean in Ontario between August 1829 and November 1831. Walke received his warrant as a passed midshipman on 12 July 1833 and, after several months of post-sea duty leave, transferred to duty ashore at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 7 March 1834. Between January 1836 and June 1839, he cruised the Pacific Station in the 74-gun ship-of-the-line North Carolina, primarily along the western coast of South America protecting American commerce during a period of unrest caused by strained relations between the United States and Mexico and the war between Peru and Chile.

During service in the receiving ship at New York, Walke was promoted to lieutenant before reporting on board Boston on 5 October 1840. While Lt. Walke was assigned to that sloop of war, she made a cruise to the East Indies. Returning home in 1843, he went ashore for an extended leave before returning to sea in the brig Bainbridge in May 1844 for a cruise along the Brazilian coast.

He returned home early in 1846 and, after a year assigned to the receiving ship at New York, made an eight-month voyage in Vesuvius during which his ship participated in the Mexican War, blockading Laguna and supporting landings at Tuxpan and Tabasco. In October 1847, Lt. Walke went home for another extended leave after which he reported back to the receiving ship at New York on 22 September 1848.

On 23 June 1849, he returned to sea in Cumberland for a cruise to the Mediterranean which lasted until mid-January 1851. Following a post-voyage leave, he reported to the Naval Observatory on 22 April for a very brief tour before beginning further duty in the receiving ship at New York. That tour lasted three years, from 17 July 1851 to 17 July 1854, but consisted of two distinct periods separated by a very short tour of duty in St. Mary’s during September of 1853.

In January 1861, as the American Civil War approached, Comdr. Walke found himself on board Supply at Pensacola, Fla. On the 12th, Capt. James Armstrong surrendered the navy yard to Confederate forces from Alabama and Florida. After providing temporary support for the defenders of Fort Pickens who refused to follow Armstrong’s example, Walke took off some of the loyal sailors and navy yard employees and got underway for New York on the 16th. After arriving at New York on 4 February, the commander and his ship loaded supplies and reinforcements for Fort Pickens. Supply set sail on 15 March and anchored near the fort on 7 April and landed the troops and supplies.

Operations supporting the nascent Union blockade occupied the ship for the next month, at the end of which Walke received orders to New York to take command of one of the Navy’s newly acquired steamers. Following that service, during the summer of 186, and a four-day tour as lighthouse inspector for the 11th District early in September, Walke headed west in response to orders to special duty at St. Louis, Mo.

That assignment proved to be the command of Tyler, one of the river gunboats of the Army’s Western Flotilla. In September and October, he took his gunboat downriver to bombard Confederate shore batteries at Hickman and Columbus in western Kentucky and traded a few shots with the Confederate gunboat Jackson. Early in November, his ship supported Grant’s move on the Southern camp at Belmont, Mo., escorting troop transports, bombarding shore batteries and, finally, covering the withdrawal of Grant’s mauled forces.

In mid-January 1862, Comdr. Walke assumed command of the ironclad gunboat Carondelet, also assigned to the Western Flotilla. In February 1862, during his tenure as Carondelet’s commanding officer, Walke led her during the captures of Forts Henry and Donelson which guarded the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, respectively. In April, he led her in the passing of heavily fortified Island No. 10 and in the attack on and spiking of shore batteries below New Madrid, Mo. From April through the end of June, his ship participated in the drawn-out series of operations against Plum Point Bend, Fort Pillow, and Memphis. On 15 July, Comdr. Walke almost met his match when the Confederate ironclad ram Arkansas made its move down the falling Yazoo River toward Vicksburg. Carondelet supported by Queen of the West and Walke’s former command, Tyler, engaged the Southern ironclad. During the brisk opening exchange, Carondelet suffered heavy damage and was forced out of action in a disabled, though floating, condition. Queen of the West retreated immediately, leaving only little Tyler to face the powerful ram. The Southern warship, consequently, made it safely to the stronghold at Vicksburg.

On 4 August 1862, Walke was promoted to captain and assumed command of the ironclad ram Lafayette then under conversion from a river steamer at St. Louis. He put her in commission on 27 February 1863 and commanded her during the dash past Vicksburg on 6 April and during the duel with shore batteries at Grand Gulf on the 29th. That summer, his ship briefly blockaded the mouth of the Red River early in June.

Later, on 24 July, Capt. Walke was ordered back to the east coast to prepare the sidewheeler Fort Jackson for service. He put her in commission on 18 August 1863 at New York, but his command of that steamer proved brief. On 22 September, he was transferred to the screw sloop Sacramento, which he commanded through the final two years of the Civil War, cruising the South American coast in search of Confederate commerce raiders. On 17 August 1865, he was detached from Sacramento and returned home to await orders.

On 31 July 1866, Walke was promoted to Commodore. From 1 May 1868 until 30 April 1870, he commanded the naval station at Mound City, Ill. While waiting orders to his next assignment, Walke was promotedto rear admiral on 20 July 1870. He was placed on the retired list on 26 April 1871. However, his service to the Navy did not end for, on that same day, he reported for some variety of special duty under the senior admiral of the Navy, Admiral David Dixon Porter. That tour lasted until 1 October at which time he was appointed to the Lighthouse Board. Detached on 1 April 1973, he retired to a life of writing and sketching until his death on 8 March 1896 at Brooklyn, N.Y.


Disposition:

Stricken 2/1/1974. Sold 3/1/1975 to General Metals Corp. of Tacoma, WA, for scrapping.


A Tin Can Sailors Destroyer History

USS WALKE DD-723

The Tin Can Sailor, January 2011

The WALKE (DD‑723) was launched on 27 October 1943 by Maine’s Bath Iron Works and commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard on 21 January 1944. By 14 May, she was headed for Europe where, with DesDiv 119, she headed for Normandy’s beaches on 6 June. There, she conducted shore bombardments destroying blockhouses and machine‑gun positions and helping to repulse a counterattack by German armored units. On the 23d and 24th, she supported minesweeping operations at Cherbourg and dueled with enemy shore batteries. The WALKE returned to Boston for repairs on 3 July and was soon underway with the TICONDEROGA (CV-14) en route to the Western Pacific.

In November, she was screening the fast carrier task force that sortied for a series of air strikes in the Philippines. On 6 December, she was in Ormoc Bay supporting landings on the western coast of Leyte. The next day, kamikazes attacked the supporting ships and three crashed the MAHAN (DD‑364). The WALKE went to her assistance, rescuing a number of her crew. She, then, sent the stricken destroyer to the bottom with a torpedo and gunfire. By 15 December, she and six other destroyers and three cruisers were off Mindoro as a part of a covering force. Besides protecting the heavier ships from air and submarine attack, her guns destroyed the grounded Japanese destroyer WAKABA.

On 6 January 1945, the WALKE covered American minesweepers in the Lingayen Gulf during the invasion of Luzon. That day, four enemy Oscars attacked her, approaching low over the water on her starboard side. She splashed the first two, but a third plane persisted in his strafing run. Though hit several times, he plowed into the WALKE’s bridge on the port side and burst into flames. The plane collision knocked out all communications, radars, gyro repeaters, and electricity throughout the superstructure. The devastation extended beyond the bridge to the gun and torpedo directors. Fortunately, the plane’s 250‑pound bomb passed completely through the ship near the combat information center without exploding.

Two minutes later, the last of the four Oscars began his dive. As he came in on the destroyer’s starboard quarter, he was riddled by fire from her Number-three, 5‑inch mount in local control and from the starboard 40‑ and 20‑millimeter guns. Engulfed by flames, the plane splashed into the sea close aboard. Soon, the secondary conn had control of the ship. Within 15 minutes the fires were under control.

The ship’s CO, Cdr. George F. Davis, was seriously wounded and badly burned, but throughout the action, he continued to conn his ship, urging her crew to save her. Once he was sure she would survive, he relinquished command to the executive officer and allow himself to be carried below. Cdr. Davis later died to his wounds. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his gallant action and the destroyer DD-937 was named in his honor.

The WALKE operated with her task group through the landings on 9 January before heading for the states and permanent repairs at the Mare Island Navy Yard. She was back in action for the invasion of Okinawa on 10 May, serving on radar picket stations and screening the amphibious support force. She was headed for screening duty when hostilities ended. She operated along the West Coast until May 1946, when she took part in the atomic tests at Bikini Atoll. Returning to San Diego in August, she was decommissioned on 30 June 1947.

She was recommissioned after the outbreak of war in Korea and in January 1951 headed for WestPac to screening carriers of TF 77 off the Korean coast and bombard targets at Yondae Gap, Wonsan, Songjin, Chongjin, and Chuminjin, among others. On 12 June, while steaming 60 miles off the Korean coast, the WALKE struck a floating mine, which severely damaged her hull on the port side, killed 26 men, and wounded another 40. After temporary repairs she was underway for Mare Island.

Back off Korea in June 1952, she resumed her screening and shore bombardment missions. Hostilities ended during her Korean deployment in the summer of 1953. Between 1953 and 1964 when the U.S. became involved in the Vietnamese civil war, the WALKE alternated six  deployments to the western Pacific with West Coast operations out of Long Beach.

That routine ended on August 1965, when the WALKE arrived off Vietnam to screen carriers on Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin and provide close-in gunfire support for troops ashore. Her return in June 1966 was delayed because of a fire in her after fire room. The blaze was quickly controlled but she ran aground when her tow line broke as she was being towed back into Long Beach.

Repairs complete, she was back in Vietnam in August for duty on Yankee Station and the gun line, on Taiwan patrol, and SEATO exercises out of Subic Bay. Her next Vietnam deployment was in October 1967. Besides serving in the Tonkin Gulf, her guns supported troops in the I Corps combat zone and near the DMZ. After a four-month overhaul and West Coast operations in 1968, she began her final WestPac deployment in March 1969. Again she alternated screening the carriers, SEATO exercises, and fire support missions in the I Corps area and at Danang. She steamed out of Vietnamese waters for the last time on 4 October.

The WALKE spent her last year of active service operating out of Long Beach along the West Coast. On 30 November 1970, she was decommissioned at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet. On 1 February 1974, her name was struck from the navy list and she was sold for scrapping on 16 April 1975.

A Tin Can Sailors Destroyer History

USS WALKE DD-723

The Tin Can Sailor, July 2006

The WALKE was launched on 27 October 1943 at Bath, Maine, by the Bath Iron Works and was commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard on 21 January 1944. By mid-May she was underway for the Normandy invasion. During the landings, on 7 and 8 June, she conducted shore bombardments, destroying blockhouses and machine-gun positions as well as helping to repulse a counterattack by German armored units. On the 23d and 24th, she covered minesweeping operations at Cherbourg while trading fire with enemy shore batteries.

In July, the WALKE returned to Boston and the following month was screening carriers during air strikes in the Philippines. By November, she was  underway with DesRon 60 to support the landings at Ormoc Bay. When the MAHAN (DD-364) was hit by three kamikazes, the WALKE rescued a number of her crew before sinking the stricken destroyer with a torpedo and gunfire. The next day, she helped splash an enemy aircraft.

During the assault on Mindoro on 15 December, she turned her guns on the grounded Japanese destroyer WAKABA and drove off several enemy planes. On 2 January 1945, she was underway for the invasion of Luzon where she covered minesweepers clearing the way into the Lingayen Gulf. There, on 6 January, four kamikazes dove on her, approaching low over the water. She succeeded in splashing the first two attackers, but the third broke through and, though hit several times, managed to crash into WALKE’s bridge. The destroyer lost all communications, radars, gyro repeaters, and electricity throughout the superstructure and suffered extensive damage to the bridge itself as well as to her gun and torpedo directors. The plane’s 250-pound bomb didn’t explode but passed completely through the ship near the combat information center.

Two minutes after the first kamikaze hit, the last of the four came in on the destroyer’s starboard quarter. Her 5-inch number-3 gun and starboard 40- and 20-mm guns brought the plane down in flames before it could hit the ship. Though mortally wounded, her captain, Cdr. George F. Davis, continued to conn his ship until the fires were under control and his ship was out of danger. He died several hours later and posthumously received a Medal of Honor. He was further honored with a new destroyer, DD-937, bearing his name.

The WALKE remained on duty until 10 January 1945 when she got underway for home and repairs at Mare Island. She was en route to the war zone again by 4 April and on 10 May, began serving on radar picket stations around Okinawa. In early July, she left the Ryukyus, and she and the BARTON (DD-722) operated with TF 38 until the war ended.

Back home in September, she operated along the West Coast and out of Pearl Harbor until May 1946 when she left for the Bikini Atoll and atomic bomb tests. She ended the year in San Diego. In January 1947, she left for Pearl Harbor and special duty with the  TARAWA (CV-40) and SHANGRI-LA (CV-38). Upon her return to San Diego, she was decommissioned on 30 June 1947.

The WALKE was recommissioned on 5 October 1950, and in January 1951 left for the Far East and the Korean War. Over the next six months, she screened the carriers and delivered close-in bombardment of Yondae Gap, Wonsan, Songjin, Chongjin, and Chuminjin. On 12 June, some 60 miles off the Korean coast, the WALKE struck a floating mine, which severely damaged her hull on the port side, killed 26 men, and wounded another 40.

Following repairs and overhaul at the Mare Island shipyard, the WALKE was back off Korea in June 1952, alternating screening duty with shore bombardment. In January 1953, she returned to Long Beach and, then, returned to Korea in July, screening carriers until the armistice ending her combat operations.

Between July 1953 and 1964, the WALKE deployed six times to the Orient, usually  screening the fast carriers of TF 77 and patrolling the Taiwan Straits. In 1961, she received a FRAM II overhaul. With increasing hostilities in South Vietnam, the WALKE’s Far East deployments after 1965 involved combat duty, including SEATO exercises in the Philippines and Taiwan Strait patrols. August 1965 found her on duty as a picket ship on Yankee Station in the Tonkin Gulf. In early September, she joined the gun line, then, returned to Yankee Station before heading home.

On 9 June 1966, the WALKE was leaving Long Beach for the Western Pacific, when fire broke out in her after fire room. Damage control efforts extinguished the blaze, but, while under tow, the line broke, and she ran aground. Late on the 10th, she was back in Long Beach for repairs to her hull and main propulsion plant. She finally set out for the Far East and a six month deployment that included tours on Yankee Station and gunfire-support duty interspersed with Taiwan Strait patrols and SEATO exercises.

The destroyer began her next WestPac deployment in September 1967, and on 23 October, arrived in the Gulf of Tonkin. Following SEATO exercises, she was back on Yankee Station, then, on 11 December, her guns supported troops in the I Corps combat zone and near the demilitarized zone into January 1968. Following an overhaul, the WALKE got underway in March 1969 for her last WestPac tour. On 5 May, she resumed her schedule of screening carriers on Yankee Station, duty on the gun line, and Taiwan Strait patrols. In the fall, she supported troops in the I Corps and Danang areas, steaming homeward in November.

On 30 November 1970, she was decommissioned at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet. On 1 February 1974, her name was struck from the navy list and she was sold on 16 April 1975 for scrapping.

USS WALKE DD-723 Ship History

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, October 2015

The third Walke (DD-723) was laid down on 7 June 1943 at Bath, Maine, by the Bath Iron Works; launched on 27 October 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Douglas Dillon; and commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard on 21 January 1944, Comdr. John C. Zahm in command.

After fitting out at the Boston Navy Yard, Walke got underway on 12 February for Washington, D.C., which she visited from the 14th to the 18th before heading for Bermuda and shakedown training. She returned to Boston on 19 March 1944 for availability before moving to Norfolk, Va., to conduct high-speed, over-the-stern fueling exercises with Aucilla (AO-56) under the auspices of the Bureau of Ships. From Hampton Roads, the destroyer moved to Key West, Fla., at the end of the first week in April to conduct antisubmarine warfare (ASW) tests on a new type of sound gear. She completed that duty on 17 April and headed to Norfolk where she arrived two days later for almost a month of duty training nucleus crews for newly constructed destroyers.

On 12 May, Walke got underway for New York where she arrived the following day. On the 14th, she headed for European waters to participate in the Normandy invasion. She arrived in Greennock, Scotland, on the 24th. As a unit of Destroyer Division (DesDiv) 119, Walke participated in the Normandy invasion between 6 and 26 June. On the 7th and 8th, she conducted shore bombardments, destroying blockhouses and machine-gun positions as well as helping to repulse a counterattack mounted by German armored units. On the 23d and 24th, the warship supported minesweeping operations at Cherbourg and duelled with enemy shore batteries.

After the Allied ground forces had pushed the fighting front inland out of range of the destroyer’s guns, Walke departed European waters on 3 July and arrived at the Boston Navy Yard on the 9th. Following repairs there and refresher training at Casco Bay, Maine, she sailed south and arrived at Norfolk on 26 August.

Four days later, the ship departed Norfolk in the screen of Ticonderoga (CV-14), bound ultimately for the western Pacific. Steaming via the Panama Canal and San Diego, Calif., the destroyer arrived in Pearl Harbor on 25 September. She conducted training exercises there for almost a month before departing the Hawaiian Islands on 23 October in the screen of North Carolina (BB-55). Steaming via Eniwetok and Manus, she arrived in Ulithi on 5 November. There, she became a unit of Task Group (TG) 38.4, of the fast carrier task force, with which she sortied that day for a series of air strikes on targets in the Philippines. The warship returned from that foray to Ulithi on 22 November and lay at anchor there until the 27th when she got underway with Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 60 for the Philippines. She arrived in San Pedro Bay, Leyte, on the 29th and joined the screen of TG 77.2 operating in Leyte Gulf. She returned to the anchorage at San Pedro Bay on 4 December and remained there until the 6th when she departed with TG 78.3 to support landings from Ormoc Bay on the western coast of Leyte. The troops of the Army’s 77th Infantry Division stormed ashore unopposed on the 7th, but the Japanese mounted heavy kamikaze attacks on the supporting ships in an attempt to foil the assault. During those air raids, Walke assisted Mahan (DD-364) when three kamikazes of a nine-plane raid succeeded in crashing into her. After rescuing a number of Mahan’s crewmen, Walke sent the stricken destroyer to the bottom with a torpedo and gunfire. The next day, en route back to San Pedro Bay, she helped to splash an attacking enemy aircraft. She safely reached her destination later that day and operated in Leyte Gulf and at San Pedro Bay until the 13th.

That day, she got underway with TG 77.3 to support the assault on Mindoro. She arrived off that island on 15 December as a part of Rear Admiral Berkley’s close covering force, made up of one heavy cruiser, two light cruisers, Walke, and six other destroyers. Besides protecting the heavier elements from air and submarine attack, she destroyed by gunfire the grounded Japanese destroyer Wakaba. After completing that mission, she headed back to Leyte Gulf. En route, she drove off by antiaircraft fire several planes which approached her and arrived safely in San Pedro Bay on 18 December 1944.

The destroyer remained there until 2 January 1945 when she got underway for Lingayen Gulf and the invasion of Luzon. American minesweepers moved into the gulf on 6 January, and Walke steamed in with them to provide covering fire and antiaircraft defense. That day, four enemy “Oscars” approached the destroyer from her starboard side forward, low on the water. She opened fire and succeeded in splashing the first two attackers. The third plane pressed home his combination strafing run-suicide attack and, though hit several times, managed to crash into Walke’s bridge on the port side and burst into flames. The destroyer lost all communications, radars, gyro repeaters, and electricity throughout the superstructure. She also suffered extensive damage to the bridge itself as well as to her gun and torpedo directors. The 250-pound bomb the plane carried fortunately did not explode but passed completely through the ship in the vicinity of the combat information center.

Two minutes after the first suicider crashed Walke, the last of the four “Oscars” began his death dive. As this attacker came in toward the destroyer’s starboard quarter, he was subjected to fire from 5-inch mount number 3 in local control and from the starboard side 40- and 20-millimeter guns. Their concentrated fire saved the ship from a second crash when the plane burst into flames and splashed into the sea close aboard. Soon thereafter, control was shifted aft to secondary conn, and fires were under control within 15 minutes.

Throughout the action, though seriously wounded and horribly burned, the warship’s commanding officer, Comdr. George F. Davis, continued to conn his ship and exhorted her crew to heroic efforts to save the ship. Only after he was certain that she would remain afloat and intact, did he consent to relinquish command to the executive officer and allowed himself to be carried below. Comdr. Davis succumbed to his wounds several hours later; but, for his gallant action, he was awarded the Medal of Honor, posthumously. He was further honored by having Davis (DD-937) (q.v.) named for him.

Amazingly, Walke continued to operate with TG 77.2 until after the landings on 9 January. The next day, she departed the gulf with Task Unit (TU) 78.4.2 and headed for Leyte. She arrived in San Pedro Bay on the 13th and remained there undergoing patching for two days before getting underway for the Admiralty Islands. She received further temporary repairs at Manus from 18 to 21 January and then resumed her voyage home, via Pearl Harbor. The ship reached the Mare Island Navy Yard on 6 February and began permanent repairs. The last of her extensive battle damage had been corrected by 4 April, when the ship set a course, via Pearl Harbor, Eniwetok, and Ulithi, for Okinawa where, on 10 May, she joined the campaign to capture that island. During the first part of her stay in the Ryukyus, she served as a support ship on radar picket stations around Okinawa. On 24 June, she was ordered to join the screen of Task Force (TF) 32, the Amphibious Support Force, with which she operated until 23 July. The following day, she departed the Ryukyus in the screen of a task unit, bound for Leyte, and underwent an availability at San Pedro Bay from 28 July to 14 August. On the latter day, Walke and Barton (DD-722) got underway to rendezvous at sea with TF 38. The destroyer joined the screen of TG 38.3 on 18 August, three days after hostilities ended. On 10 September, she switched to the screen of TG 38.1 and operated with the fast carriers.

The warship remained in Japanese waters until 30 September when she headed via Guam for the northwest coast of the United States. She arrived in Seattle on 24 October and operated along the western seaboard until the following spring. On 18 March 1946, the ship departed San Diego for a round-trip voyage to Pearl Harbor, returned to San Diego on 10 April, and remained there until 13 May. After steaming back into Pearl Harbor on the 19th, she departed that port again two days later, but this time she continued west toward the Marshall Islands. She reached Bikini Atoll on 26 May and, for the next two months, supported the atomic tests carried out there. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 15 August, remained overnight, and got underway for the west coast on the 16th. Walke entered San Diego on 22 August and then moved to the Mare Island Naval Shipyard for three months of repairs.

The warship returned to San Diego on 15 November  and remained there through the end of the year. On 6 January 1947, Walke departed San Diego for Pearl Harbor whence she operated with Tarawa (CV-40), and later with Shangri-La (CV-38), on special duty under the auspices of the Commander, Naval Air Force Pacific Fleet. That duty lasted until 1 May when she joined the unit sent to Sydney, Australia, to commemorate the Battle of the Coral Sea. The ship returned to San Diego in mid-June and was decommissioned there on the 30th.

Following a little over three years in the San Diego Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet, Walke was recommissioned on 5 October 1950, Comdr. Marshall F. Thompson in command. After shakedown training along the west coast, the destroyer departed San Diego on 2 January 1951 and set a course for the Far East and service in the six-month old Korean conflict. She repaired storm damage at Yokosuka, Japan, before joining TF 77 off the coast of Korea.

In addition to providing antisubmarine protection for the carriers of TF 77, she moved close to the Korean coast to bombard such places as Yondae Gap, Wonsan, Songjin, Chongjin, and Chuminjin as well as various other rail and road locations. On 12 June, while steaming some 60 miles off the Korean coast with TF 77, Walke struck a floating mine which severely damaged her hull on the port side, killed 26 men, and wounded another 40 Sailors.

She made temporary repairs at Sasebo and then headed back to the United States where she entered the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in July for permanent repairs and a complete overhaul. Walke returned to the Korean combat zone in June of 1952 and resumed screening duty with TF 77 punctuated by shore bombardment missions. That combat cruise lasted until January 1953, when she arrived in Long Beach, Calif., and took up normal west coast operations. In July, the warship rejoined TF 77 off the Korean coast for another seven months of duty screening the fast carriers; but, by that time, the armistice had been signed ending the combat aspect of her duties.

Between the end of the Korean conflict in July of 1953 and the dramatic increase in American involvement in the Vietnamese civil war that began in August 1964, Walke settled into a routine which alternated peacetime deployments to the western Pacific with periods of normal west coast operations out of Long Beach. In that interval, she made six deployments to the Orient, on each occasion operating as a unit of the 7th Fleet and usually as a part of the ASW screen of the fast carriers of TF 77. She also did periodic duty as a unit of the Taiwan Strait patrol. The ship made frequent visits to such ports as Sasebo and Yokosuka in Japan, Hong Kong, and Subic Bay in the Philippines. On her return voyage from the 1956 to 1957 western Pacific cruise, Walke visited Brisbane, Australia, before steaming back to Long Beach on 28 April 1957.

When not deployed to the Far East, the destroyer operated along the west coast conducting ASW and gunnery training and independent ship’s exercises. Much of the time spent in the United States also went to repairs and overhauls. For instance, in 1961, she received a complete fleet rehabilitation and modernization (FRAM II) overhaul.

In 1964 and 1965, however, events in South Vietnam conspired to make Walke’s final four deployments to the Far East combat tours. She departed Long Beach on 24 March 1965, steamed via Pearl Harbor, and arrived in Yokosuka, Japan, on 30 April. On 4 May, the destroyer headed for the Philippines. She entered Manila Bay on the 10th and joined ships of other SEATO navies. On the 12th, the warship sortied with them to participate in Exercise “Sea Horse” en route to Bangkok, Thailand. She arrived in Bangkok on 22 May and made a two-day liberty call. She returned to the Philippines, at Subic Bay, on the 28th. In June, the ship made a port call at Hong Kong and then headed to Sasebo, Japan, for upkeep and then spent the rest of the month in operations out of Japanese ports. Early in July, Walke paid a visit to Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and then did a four-week tour of duty on the Taiwan Strait patrol.

The ship’s first direct participation in the Vietnam conflict came in August when she served as ASW picket ship for TG 70.4 on Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin. She left Vietnamese waters on the 17th for five days of upkeep at Subic Bay. She returned to Yankee Station on 27 August and resumed ASW picket duty with TG 70.4. On 4 September, the destroyer moved inshore to provide gunfire support for troops operating ashore. That duty lasted until 9 September when she rejoined TG 70.4 on Yankee Station. At Yokosuka on 19 September, she had a four-day upkeep period before heading back toward the United States on 23 September.

Walke spent the remainder of 1965 and the first five months of 1966 engaged in normal west coast operations, mostly ASW exercises. On 9 June 1966, she departed Long Beach for another deployment to the western Pacific. However, while she was passing the outer breakwater, a major fire broke out in her after fireroom. The destroyer’s damage control efforts succeeded in putting the blaze out; but, while the ship was being towed back into Long Beach on the 10th, her towline parted, and she ran aground. Later that day, she finally entered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard for repairs to both her hull and her main propulsion plant.

She completed repairs on 18 July, loaded ammunition at Seal Beach, and set a course for the Far East. She reached Yokosuka on 3 August for a brief fuel stop and then continued on to Sasebo where she arrived on the 5th. She remained there until the 8th, when she got underway for Yankee Station to join the ASW screen of TG 77.9. On 16 August, she took leave of TG 77.9 and set a course for Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and a tour of duty on the Taiwan Strait patrol. On 12 September, she headed back to Yankee Station; but, three days later, a typhoon forced her into Subic Bay. She resumed duty with TG 77.9 on 17 September but remained only until the 22d when she headed for the waters near Luzon to participate in SEATO Exercise “Silverskate.”

She returned to Vietnamese waters on 29 September and took up station just offshore to provide gunfire support for the troops ashore. That duty lasted until 4 October when she headed back to the Philippines for another SEATO exercise before entering Subic Bay for a nine-day tender availability alongside Bryce Canyon (AD-36). She stood out of Subic Bay on 18 October and reached Yankee Station on 20 October and served with the carriers there for eight days. After a visit to Hong Kong, she set a course for Taiwan and another four-week tour of duty on the Taiwan Strait patrol. She concluded that assignment on 1 December and headed for Yokosuka where she underwent an upkeep period from 6 to 9 December. On the 9th, the warship got underway to return home. She arrived in Long Beach on 20 December and began post-deployment standdown.

Walke devoted the next seven months to local operations out of Long Beach. For the most part, this duty consisted of ASW exercises conducted with aircraft carriers. On 17 August, the destroyer departed Long Beach and set a course for the western Pacific. Steaming via Pearl Harbor, the warship arrived in Yokosuka on 24 September. She operated out of Japanese ports conducting ASW exercises until 18 October at which time she got underway for Yankee Station. The destroyer joined TF 77 in the Gulf of Tonkin on 23 October and served in the ASW screen until 16 November when she retired to the Philippines. She arrived in Subic Bay on 14 November and remained there 10 days undergoing a tender availability. Following that, she put to sea to participate in another “Silverskate” ASW exercise which she completed on the 28th.

From there, the warship headed for the Gulf of Tonkin and duty with carriers on Yankee Station. That assignment lasted until 11 December at which time she moved inshore to provide gunfire support for troops operating ashore in the I Corps combat zone. On the 17th, she moved up the coast to the vicinity of the demilitarized zone between North Vietnam and South Vietnam to support troops fighting in that neighborhood. On 19 December, the ship departed Vietnamese waters and set a course for Sasebo where she arrived on the 23d.

On 3 January 1968, Walke departed Sasebo to return to Vietnam. She arrived in the combat zone on the 7th and spent the following month on the gunline providing gunfire support for troops fighting ashore. On 20 February, the warship shaped a course for Sasebo where she conducted an upkeep period. Following a series of ASW exercises in the Sea of Japan, she got underway on 24 March to return to the United States.

She arrived in Long Beach on 6 April and began post-deployment standdown. On 14 May, the destroyer entered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard for a four-month overhaul. At the conclusion of that repair period in September, she conducted shakedown training and then began normal west coast operations.

That duty continued until 29 March 1969 at which time she got underway for the final western Pacific tour of her career. Steaming by way of Pearl Harbor, she arrived in Yokosuka on 26 April. On the 30th, she set a course for the Tonkin Gulf. The destroyer joined the fast carriers on 5 May and provided ASW defense for them until the 15th when she headed for Subic Bay. Following upkeep at Subic Bay and a visit to Manila, she put to sea on the 26th to participate in SEATO Exercise “Sea Spirit.” She returned to Subic Bay on 7 June, remained there until the 10th, and then headed back to Vietnam via Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The warship reached Yankee Station on the 19th and served in the ASW screen of TG 77.3 until July. She visited Kaohsiung again from 7 to 15 July and then headed for Sasebo where she arrived on the 17th.

The warship departed Sasebo on the 18th for Exercise “Sea King” before a brief return to Sasebo. Walke soon headed back toward Vietnam and reached Yankee Station on 25 July. She served there until 7 August and then headed back to Kaohsiung. She visited the Taiwanese port from 8 to 14 August and then made a call at Hong Kong from 15 to 22 August. She returned to Yankee Station on 25 August and served on the gunline until 21 September. She retired to Subic Bay on 23 September and, after five days, steamed back to Vietnam. She provided gunfire support in the I Corps combat zone and at Danang until 4 October when she shaped a course for Japan.

She conducted upkeep at Sasebo from 9 to 17 October and then got underway with Constellation (CVA-64) for exercises in the Sea of Japan. After a return visit to Sasebo and a stop at Okinawa, she returned to Yokosuka to prepare for the voyage home. On 6 November, the destroyer sailed for the west coast. She made stops at Midway Island and at Pearl Harbor before arriving at Long Beach on 21 November.

Walke spent her last year of active service operating along the west coast. On 30 November 1970, she was decommissioned at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and was berthed with the Columbia River Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet, until 1974. On 1 February 1974, her name was struck from the Navy list. She was sold to General Metals, of Tacoma, Wash., on 16 April 1975 for scrapping.

Walke (DD-723) earned six battle stars during World War II, four battle stars in the Korean conflict, and seven battle stars for Vietnam service.