USS ''Clarence K. Bronson'' (DD-668) was a ''Fletcher''-class

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

of the United States Navy.

Namesake

Five early American naval aviators at Pensacola, Florida

Clarence K. Bronson was born on 21 July 1888 in Bushnell, Illinois. He was a member of the United States Naval Academy Class of 1910. After service afloat, he was trained in aviation in 1914 at the Curtiss Aeroplane Company in Hammondsport, New York, and at Naval Air Station Pensacola. Lieutenant (junior grade) Bronson was killed at the Naval Proving Ground Indianhead, Indianhead, Maryland, on 8 November 1916, while testing experimental aerial

bomb A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-t ...

Construction and commissioning

''Clarence K. Bronson'' was launched 18 April 1943 by the

Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. The Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company was a United States shipyard, active from 1917 to 1948. It was founded during World War I to build ships for the United States Shipping Board. During World War II, it built ships as part of the U.S. Gov ...

Kearny, N.J. Kearny ( ) is a town in the western part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States and a suburb of Newark. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 40,684,commissioned 11 June 1943.

World War II

''Clarence K. Bronson'' reached Pearl Harbor 21 November 1943 for final training, remaining in Hawaiian waters aside from a single escort voyage to Tarawa, until January 1944, when she joined the Fast Carrier Task Force (then 5th Fleet's TF 58). ''Bronson'' screened this force for strikes supporting the landings on Kwajalein, and raids on Truk,

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

, and Guam through February, and on 15 March, sailed from Espiritu Santo to screen

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

s covering the landings in the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about 50,000 square km. History The first inhabitants o ...

from 19 to 25 March. With Task Group 36.1 (TG 36.1) she rejoined TF 58 two days later for strikes on Palau, Yap, and

Woleai Woleai, also known as Oleai, is a coral atoll of twenty-two islands in the western Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district in the Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia and is located approximately west-n ...

. In late April 1944, ''Bronsons force covered the New Guinea landings, and returned to raid Truk on 29 and 30 April. The destroyer was drydocked at Majuro during May, and sailed again with TF 58 on 6 June for the Marianas operation. After screening during preinvasion air strikes on Saipan,

Rota Rota or ROTA may refer to: Places * Rota (island), in the Marianas archipelago * Rota (volcano), in Nicaragua * Rota, Andalusia, a town in Andalusia, Spain * Naval Station Rota, Spain People * Rota (surname), a surname (including a list of peop ...

, Tinian and Guam, ''Bronson'' stood off Saipan as the assault on that island began, then guarded her carriers as they launched their planes in the aerial Battle of the Philippine Sea, 19 and 20 June, an American victory from which Japanese naval aviation never recovered. ''Clarence K. Bronson'' was one of the ships which displayed her searchlight aloft as a homing beacon for carrier pilots at the close of the battle as the Fleet audaciously revealed itself to save its aviators. After replenishing at Eniwetok early in July, TF 58 covered the

invasion of Guam The Battle of Guam (21 July–10 August 1944) was the American recapture of the Japanese-held island of Guam, a U.S. territory in the Mariana Islands captured by the Japanese from the United States in the First Battle of Guam in 1941 during t ...

, and launched air strikes on enemy bases in the Palaus and

Bonins The Bonin Islands, also known as the , are an archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands, some directly south of Tokyo, Japan and northwest of Guam. The name "Bonin Islands" comes from the Japanese word ''bunin'' (an archaic readi ...

. ''Clarence K. Bronsons force covered the capture of the Palaus in September 1944 and in October neutralized Formosan bases, hurled raids against the Philippines and Visayas, and played its part in the epic Battle for Leyte Gulf of 23 to 26 October, in the Battle off Cape Engaño, 25 October. In November and December 1944, air strikes covered the Mindoro landings, and through January 1945, raids on Japanese bases on Formosa, Luzon, the

Nansei Shoto The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

and Chinese ports made possible the Lingayen assault. February's strikes on Tokyo prepared for the assault on Iwo Jima, and ''Clarence K. Bronson'' left the main body of her task force 18 February to escort

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

s to

Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...

for preinvasion bombardment and fire support to the forces ashore after the assault on 19 February. She offered this aid for 4 days, then rejoined her task force for another round of strikes on Tokyo and the Nansei Shoto. She returned to fire support and antisubmarine patrol duties off Iwo Jima from 3 to 29 March, then sailed for a west coast overhaul. ''Clarence K. Bronson'' returned to Pearl Harbor 9 July 1945 for training, and put to sea 2 August to bombard Wake Island 6 days later. Continuing west, she entered

Sagami Wan lies south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshu, central Japan, contained within the scope of the Miura Peninsula, in Kanagawa, to the east, the Izu Peninsula, in Shizuoka Prefecture, to the west, and the Shōnan coastline to the north, while t ...

27 August, and took part in the occupation by patrolling

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese waters until 5 December. Homeward bound, she called at San Diego and New York City, and on 12 April arrived at

Charleston, S.C. Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint ...

Here she was decommissioned and placed in reserve 16 July 1946.

1951 – 1960

Recommissioned 7 June 1951, ''Clarence K. Bronson'' had training along the east coast and in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

until 18 May 1953, when she sailed from her home port,

Newport, R.I. Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yo ...

, to join TF 77 in Korean waters 3 July. She operated with TF 77 and TF 99 on blockade, patrol, and escort duty until 10 November, when she began the final leg of her round-the-world cruise, calling at Hong Kong,

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, Bermuda, and many other ports before she stood up Narragansett Bay 15 January 1954. Through the next 4 years, she alternated training and local operations with exercises in the Caribbean, NATO operations in the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

, assignment as engineering school ship, and two Mediterranean cruises with the 6th Fleet in 1955 and 1957. In 1958 ''Clarence K. Bronson'' was assigned to experimental duty with the Underwater Sound Laboratory, and in 1959, made naval reserve training cruises along the east coast and in the Caribbean from Charleston, and her new home port, Mayport, Fla. On 11 April 1960, she was placed in commission in reserve at Orange, Tex., and on 29 June 1960 was decommissioned.

TCG ''İstanbul'' (D 340)

''Clarence K. Bronson'' was transferred to Turkey 14 January 1967, served in the Turkish Navy as TCG ''İstanbul'' (D 340), after the city of İstanbul. She was stricken and broken up for scrap in 1987.

Awards

* Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with nine battle stars * World War II Victory Medal * Navy Occupation Medal with "ASIA" clasp * National Defense Service Medal * Korean Service Medal with one battle star * Philippine Presidential Unit Citation * Korean Presidential Unit Citation * Philippine Liberation Medal with two stars * United Nations Korea Medal * Korean War Service Medal

References

* *

External links

navsource.org: USS ''Clarence K. Bronson''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarence K. Bronson (DD-668) Fletcher-class destroyers of the United States Navy Ships built in Kearny, New Jersey 1943 ships World War II destroyers of the United States Cold War destroyers of the United States Korean War destroyers of the United States Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Turkish Navy Fletcher-class destroyers of the Turkish Navy