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Hull Number: DD-857

Launch Date: 10/29/1944

Commissioned Date: 03/17/1945

Decommissioned Date: 08/21/1969

Call Sign: NBEZ

Voice Call Sign: COLLARBONE (60-62)


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: MARK LAMBERT BRISTOL

MARK LAMBERT BRISTOL

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, June 2015

Born in Glassboro, N.J., 17 April 1868, Mark Lambert Bristol graduated from the Academy in 1887. During the Spanish-American War he served aboard Texas and participated in the battle of Santigao, Cuba. From 1901 to 1903 he served as aide to the Commander-in-Chief, North Atlantic Fleet. He commanded Oklahoma (BB 37) during World War I and then served as United States High Commissioner in Turkey (1919-27). In 1927 Rear Admiral Bristol assumed command of the Asiatic Fleet. He died 13 May 1939.


Disposition:

Transferred to Taiwan, as sale, on 12/23/1969 as HWA YANG (DD-3).


A Tin Can Sailors Destroyer History

USS BRISTOL DD-857

The Tin Can Sailor, January 2002

The BRISTOL was launched on 29 October 1944 at San Pedro, California, and was commissioned on 17 March 1945. She steamed for the Western Pacific in June and arrived at Guam in July to join a logistic support task group supplying Task Force 38. On 5 August 1945, the BRISTOL collided with the ASHTABULA (AO-51), damaging her bow. She returned to Guam for repairs and then proceeded to Japan for occupation duty. She returned to San Pedro in March 1946.

In April 1946 the BRISTOL reported to the Atlantic Fleet and operated along the East Coast until February 1947 when she steamed to England for a cruise in European waters that lasted until August. Upon her return, she served as a naval reserve training ship operating out of New Orleans, Louisiana. During the summer and fall of 1950, the BRISTOL visited several Caribbean ports with interim periods of training at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The BRISTOL’s home port was changed to Newport on 21 October 1950. In March 1951, she proceeded to the Mediterranean for duty, returning to Newport during the summer. On 2 October 1951, she began a round-the-world cruise which took her through the Panama Canal to California, Hawaii, Midway, Japan, Okinawa, and Korea where she served from 31 October to 27 February 1952. She then returned to Newport via the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean, arriving in April 1952. The BRISTOL spent the summer in Boston undergoing an overhaul.

Following refresher training at Guantanamo Bay, she got underway for a five-month tour of duty in Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. She was in Amsterdam when disastrous floods struck the Netherlands, and her crew assisted flood victims with money and clothes. Her deployment with the Sixth Fleet ended in May 1953. That summer, a midshipman cruise took her to the Caribbean and then, it was back to the Boston Naval Shipyard for repairs.

The BRISTOL began 1954 with a trip to England and Ireland and finished the year with routine operations along the East Coast and fleet exercises in the Atlantic and Caribbean. She spent the spring of 1955 in antisubmarine warfare training and then got underway for the Mediterranean in July. Antisubmarine duty, NATO exercises, a midshipman cruise, and overhaul occupied her through 1956. A midshipman cruise to Valparaiso via the Panama Canal, NATO exercises north of the Arctic Circle, a Mediterranean cruise, another midshipman cruise to Europe, fleet exercises, a Caribbean cruise, and routine operations along the East Coast kept her busy until the spring of 1960 when she was assigned duty as an engineering school ship.

On 6 May 1960, the BRISTOL put to sea as part of the search and rescue detail during the president’s flight to Paris for a summit conference. That duty was followed by a trip to Denmark with the U.S. Ambassador and Naval Attaché. During her 1960 Mediterranean deployment, the ship transited the Suez Canal to patrol Middle Eastern waters. She spent Christmas and New Year’s in France and returned to Newport in February 1961. That April she participated in Operation Mercury, visiting the Canary Islands before returning to Newport. While in the Caribbean in 1961, the BRISTOL was involved in disaster operations in the wake of Hurricane Hattie in Honduras. She later joined the task force operating off the coast of the Dominican Republic near Santa Domingo. Back in the Mediterranean in March 1962, she relieved the WREN (DD-568) and made stops in Greece, Turkey, and Sicily. She left the Mediterranean bound for Newport with the HARLAN R. DICKSON (DD-708) in May. The BRISTOL was again underway for the Mediterranean in February 1963. A brief stint on Red Sea patrol and joint operations with the Italian and French navies completed her Sixth Fleet tour. She again stood by as rescue destroyer during the president’s flight to Europe and then visited the Azores and Newfoundland.

In September 1963, the BRISTOL was transferred to Reserve Destroyer Squadron Thirty and her home port was shifted to New York. Her reserve training cruises took the destroyer from Nova Scotia to the Great Lakes and the Caribbean and into the Atlantic for fleet exercises. During her Great Lakes cruise in July 1965, the BRISTOL participated in the search for survivors of a downed Canadian jet fighter plane in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Training operations off Florida and in the Caribbean were followed by gunfire support exercises at Bloodsworth Island, Maryland, training marine air spotters for Vietnam. She concluded her career with routine reserve training cruises and was finally decommissioned and stricken from the naval register on 21 November 1969.

She was sold to Taiwan on 9 December 1969, and served in that navy as the HUA YANG until 1993.

USS BRISTOL DD-857 Ship History

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, June 2015

The second Bristol (DD-857) was launched 29 October 1944 by Bethlehem Steel Co., San Predo, Calif.; sponsored by Mrs. August Frederick Eberly; and commissioned 17 March 1945, Commander K. P. Letts in command.

Bristol departed San Diego 13 June 1945 enroute to Pearl Harbor, arriving 19 June 1945. Arriving at Guam 29 July she joined TG 30.8, a logistic support group supplying TF 38. On 5 August 1945 Bristol collided with Astabula (AO-51). Bristo’s bow was damaged and she returned to Guam for repairs. Repairs completed 1 September, she departed for Far Eastern occupation duty. Her tour of duty ended 21 February 1946 and she returned to San Pedro 15 March.

In April 1946 Bristol proceeded to the east coat and reported to the Atlantic Fleet. She operated along the east coast until February 1947 when she steamed to England for a cruise in European waters that lasted until August. Between August 1947 and September 1948 she conducted local operations in the Atlantic and from September 1948 until January 1949 made a second tour of Europe.

Upon return, she was designated as a Reserve training ship and operated for the next 18 months out of New Orleans, La. During the summer and fall of 1950 Bristol visited several Caribbean ports, with interim periods of training at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Bristol‘s home port was changed to Newport 21 October 1950 and after refresher training at Guantanamo Bay, she reported to Newport for general duty. On 5 March 1951 Bristol proceeded to the Mediterranean for duty with the 6th Fleet, returning to Newport during the summer. On 2 October 1951 she commenced a round-the-world cruise which took her first to Korea where she served from 31 October 1951 to 27 February 1952. She then returned to Newport, via the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean, arriving 21 April 1952.

Since that time Bristol has served with the Atlantic Fleet and has carried out her normal peacetime operating schedule along the east coast, in the Caribbean, and with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean.

Bristol received one battle star for her World War II service and two battle stars for her Korean service.

Update for 1952 to 1969 pending.

Bristol was placed out of commission and in reserve on 21 November 1969. She was struck from the Navy listing on 21 November 1969 and sold to the Republic of China on 23 December 1969.