Worcester

USS Worcester entering San Francisco Bay in 1958.

History

Design

Service

Worcester was assigned to Cruiser Division (CruDiv) 10, and for first year of her commissioned service fitting out and conducting shakedown training off the eastern seaboard. In the summer of 1949 she conducted her first large scale training exercise in Guantanamo Bay and visited Kingston, Jamaica. Later that summer, she departed for the Mediterranean on 6 September 1949 and arrived in Gibraltar 10 days later. During deployment with the 6th Fleet she engaged in exercises and maneuvers with fast carrier task forces, including the carrier USS Leyte (CV-32) and the heavy cruiser USS Des Moines (CA-134). She returned to Norfolk on 10 December.

During her drills and exercises in the Mediterranean, on 20 July 1950, she put into Phaleron Bay; however, she was only there a week before she received orders to sail to the Far East. She departed for Korea and transited the Suez Canal on 29 July. Reaching Colombo for fuel and supplies, she and her escorts sailed stayed there from 7-9 August before pushing on to the Malacca Strait. They then proceeded through the Bashi Channel towards Okinawa; while en route, the ships were diverted through the Bashi Channel to be available to counter any invasion attempt by the communist Chinese of Formosa. Worcester joined the Formosa Patrol and got underway on 27 August to add her powerful AA punch to the screen of Task Force 77, consisting of carriers USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) and USS Valley Forge (CV-45), operating in the Yellow Sea off the coast of Korea.

On 4 September 1950, Worcester’s radar picked up an unidentified contact at 13:31. The Combat Air Patrol (CAP) — F4U Corsairs off of Valley Forge — soon reported the stranger as a twin-engined bomber with a pointed nose, single tailfin, and high inverted gull wings; it also bore red star markings. At 13:45, the F4Us directed the bogey over USS Fletcher (DDE-445), which unceremoniously splashed the intruder 49 miles away. The next day Worcester went to general quarters at 11:08 and commenced maneuvering at 20 knots to avoid possible attack when her radar picked up an unidentified aircraft closing in on the formation. Three minutes later she fired three rounds of 6-inch shells at the bogey to deter the craft; fortunately, the craft was a British Short Sunderland flying boat on patrol. At 21:43 Worcester secured from general quarters and resumed cruising with TF 77.

Over the ensuing days Worcester patrolled off the coast with TG 95.2. She relieved USS Helena (CA-75) in her fire support duties at 06:00 on 24 September freeing the heavy cruiser to proceed to Sasebo, Japan. While her own helicopter was aloft providing an anti-sub screen, Worcester commenced firing at 08:05, shelling nine North Korean troop concentrations ashore. Directed by Korean Military Advisory Group (KMAG) personnel ashore, Worcester delivered call-fire throughout the day with pinpoint accuracy at troop concentrations and command posts. She was relieved by USS Samuel N. Moore (DD-747) as fire support ship. Worcester returned the next day and continued firing on the already beaten and retreating North Korean forces. Throughout the 25th, using KMAG spotting, she delivered for the advancing UN forces breaking up troop concentrations with her precise 6-inch gun fire. As the ship's war diary at one point recorded: "Spotter reported troops dispersed. KMAG reported that all firing has been very effective and instrumental in enemy retreat."

Worcester spent the night hours on the 25th and into the 26th patrolling eight-mile of a stretch of coast between Yonghae and Utchin. The rapid advance of the UN forces on the 26th obviated fire support from Worcester; but the cruiser received word that USS Brush (DD-745) had hit a mine off Tanchon at 12:20. While Samuel N. Moore took over the on-call fire support duties in the vicinity, Worcester put on steam and went to Brush’s aid at 27 knots. The cruisermen found Brush down by the bow with 3-degree list to port. There were five dead and 30 injured. At 01:01 on the 27th, Worcester commenced taking on board the more seriously wounded of the destroyer's company via highline transfer, eventually receiving 15 stretcher cases — all men suffering from burns — by 02:28. The cruiser then made for Japan and, later that day took on four more stretcher patients, six ambulatory patients, and one dead. Proceeding in company with Brush, Worcester headed for Sasebo and reached port late on the 29th. As she was being tied up at port in Sasebo, Worcester received a warm message from Brush’s crew: "With us you are not only big league, but world champions. The kindness, consideration, and eagerness to help of Worcester's ship's company will never be forgotten by the Brush."

The stay in Sasebo was short however, because she left port on the 30th to return to Korean waters to resume fire support duties. Worcester — having served as flagship for TG 95.2, Rear Admiral C. C. Hartman embarked — arrived back at Sasebo for replenishment on 8 October and refueled while the admiral disembarked. While still in port, Worcester became flagship again the next day when Rear Admiral Allan E. Smith, Commander, TF 95, came aboard with his staff and transferred his flag to the cruiser. At 12:48 on the 10th she got underway to return to the east coast of Korea-this time to screen mine-sweeping ops at the port of Wonsan and to support the 3rd Republic of Korea Army Division.

Early on the 11th, the op became truly an international one, when the British destroyer HMS Cockade, the Australian destroyer HMAS Warramunga, and the Canadian destroyer HMCS Athabaskan joined Worcester’s group, which already included the British light cruiser HMS Ceylon and the heavy cruiser USS Helena, besides the other US warships USS Rochester (CA-124), USS Harold J. Thomas (DDR-833), and USS Maddox (DD-731). On the 12th, USS Missouri (BB-63) joined, bringing her big guns to the fleet.

While Missouri’s helicopter searched the bombardment track for mines, the UN force formed up for battle. At 11:50, when a shell from an unobserved shore battery fell 5,000 yards short of the group, it apparently signaled the beginning. Worcester hoisted the blue and white UN flag to the foretruck and commenced firing at exactly noon on 12 October. For the next 90-odd minutes, Worcester’s 6-inch guns hammered at iron works and railroad tunnels in the vicinity. The next day, she extended her target list to include railroad marshalling yards, tearing up sections of track and blasting rolling stock. Over the next few days, Worcester and the ships in company with her proceeded to rain destruction on targets of opportunity near Wonsan: targets ranging from railroad marshalling yards, to rolling stock and adjacent warehouse areas. Also, on 16 October, in an action reminiscent of the "Battle of the Pips" in World War II, Worcester, Helena, and the accompanying destroyers fired at unidentified radar contacts: "blips" on the radar screens that approached from the north. The contacts were probably two flocks of geese.

Worcester left the Far East on 27 October 1950, bound for Pearl Harbor. The day after she sailed, Worcester received a dispatch from Admiral C. Turner Joy, Commander, Naval Forces, Far East, which said: "Upon the Worcester’s departure from the Far East, I wish to extend a hearty 'well done' to the entire ship's company. Your rapid deployment from the European station to the Far East, followed by your immediate and most effective participation in the Korean effort, clearly demonstrates that your status of war readiness was excellent."

The rest of Worcester’s life was far more relaxed than that frenzied summer of 1950. She was overhauled at the Boston Naval Shipyard from 1 December 1950 until 20 March 1951. She then conducted four more 6th Fleet "Med" deployments into the mid-1950s and twice visited northern European ports, during which she participated in fleet maneuvers and exercises and paid good-will calls on many ports-ranging from Bergen, Norway; to Copenhagen, Denmark; to Dublin, Ireland; and Portsmouth, England. She transferred from the Atlantic to the Pacific Fleet in January 1956, and made two more deployments with the 7th Fleet visiting ports such as Sasebo and Yokosuka, Japan; Hong Kong; Manila; as well as the Japanese ports of Hakodate, Nagasaki, Shimoda, Yokohama, and Kobe.

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  USS Worcester (CL-144) in November 1949

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  Worcester underway in the Mediterranean Sea, 1953.

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  The stern section of Worcester as seen from USS Baltimore (CA-68).

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  Superstructure of Worcester as seen from Baltimore.

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  The bow of Worcester as seen from Baltimore while in the Mediterranean during 1952.

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  Worcester with her crew at quarters during a Memorial Day service, May 1952.

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  Worcester in icy seas during North Atlantic Ops, 1949-1950.

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  Worcester moored in Boston, 1954.

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  Worcester moored alongside USS Albany (CA-123), and USS Northampton (CLC-1).