Allied Warships

USS John R. Pierce (DD 753)

Destroyer of the Allen M. Sumner class

Navy	The US Navy
Type	Destroyer
Class	Allen M. Sumner
Pennant	DD 753
Built by	Bethlehem Steel Corp. (Staten Island, New York, U.S.A.)
Ordered	7 Aug 1942
Laid down	24 Mar 1944
Launched	1 Sep 1944
Commissioned	30 Dec 1944
End service
History	Decommissioned at an unknown date. Stricken 1 July 1973. Sold 6 November 1974 and broken up for scrap.

Commands listed for USS John R. Pierce (DD 753)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

	Commander	From	To
1	T/Cdr. Clayton Rogers Simmers, USN	30 Dec 1944	21 May 1946

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Notable events involving John R. Pierce include:

She was named after Lt. Cdr John Reeves Pierce, Commanding Officer of the submarine USS Argonaut, lost in January, 1943 with all hands.

She served gallantly in WW2 and the Korean War where she was heavily damaged from NR Korean shore batteries.

She was the recovery ship for LCDR Scott Carpenter's spacecraft Aurora 7 in 1960. During the Cuban missile crisis of 1962 she was among the destroyers boarding freighters going to Cuba. The recent movie "13 Days" depicts her. After 30 faithful years she was decommissioned and sold to Aardvark International and scrapped.

(1)

CDR Clayton Rogers Simmers Dec 30 1944 - 1946 LCDR Clay Hayes Raney 1946 - May 1 1947 (Decommissioned May 1 1947 - Apr 11 1949) CDR Oscar William Goepner Apr 11 1949 - Jul 1950 LCDR Lyttleton Brockenbrough Ensey Jul 1950 - Aug 1950 CDR John Remey Wadleigh Aug 1950 - Oct 1951 (Later RADM) CDR Ovid Clemens Foote Jr. Oct 1951 - 1953 CDR Raymond Berthrong 1953 - Nov 1954 CDR John Toomer Garrow Nov 1954 - 1957 CDR Robert Gregory Bill 1957 - 1958 CDR Cecil Owens Williamson 1958 - May 2 1960 CDR Adrian Vincent Lorentson May 2 1960 - May 10 1962 CDR James Warren Foust May 10 1962 - Jul 13 1964 CDR Kenneth George Hylind Jul 13 1964 - Mar 28 1966 CDR Robert William Hall Mar 28 1966 - Oct 4 1968 CDR Charles Lemuel Meserve Oct 4 1968 - May 8 1970 CDR James William Kehoe Jr. May 8 1970 - 1971 CDR Douglas Hills Borden Jr. 1971 - 1973 LCDR Thomas Joseph Deevy 1973 - Jul 2 1973 (1)

18 Jan 1945
USS John R. Pierce (Cdr. Clayton R. Simmers) departed from New York for shakedown training at Bermuda.

20 Jan 1945
USS John R. Pierce (Cdr. C.R. Simmers) arrived at Bermuda.

21 Feb 1945
With her shakedown completed USS John R. Pierce (Cdr. C.R. Simmers) departed from Bermuda bound for New York.

23 Feb 1945
USS John R. Pierce (Cdr. C.R. Simmers) arrived back at New York.

9 Mar 1945
USS John R. Pierce (Cdr. C.R. Simmers) departed from New York for Norfolk.

10 Mar 1945
USS John R. Pierce (Cdr. C.R. Simmers) arrived at Norfolk. She is used as a training ship for the next two / three months.

11 Jun 1945
USS John R. Pierce (Cdr. C.R. Simmers) departed from Norfolk bound for the Pacific.

17 Jun 1945
USS John R. Pierce (Cdr. C.R. Simmers) transits the Panama Canal.

26 Jun 1945
USS John R. Pierce (Cdr. C.R. Simmers) arrived at San Diego.

30 Jun 1945
USS John R. Pierce (Cdr. C.R. Simmers) departed from San Diego bound for Pearl Harbor.

6 Jul 1945
USS John R. Pierce (Cdr. C.R. Simmers) arrived at Pearl Harbor.

12 Aug 1945
USS John R. Pierce (Cdr. C.R. Simmers) departed from Pearl Harbor to participate in a raid against Wake Island.

19 Aug 1945
With the raid against Wake Island cancelled due to the Japanese surrender USS John Reeves Pierce (Cdr Clayton R. Simmers) was diverted to Eniwetok arriving later same day.

26 Aug 1945
USS John R. Pierce (Cdr. C.R. Simmers) arrived at Buckner Bay, Okinawa.

11 Sep 1945
USS John R. Pierce (Cdr. C.R. Simmers) arrived at Wakayama, Honshu, Japan to participate in the occupation of mainland Japan.