USS Arnold J. Isbell (DD-869) - Korean War

Korean War

Arnold J. Isbell was operating out of San Diego when Communist forces invaded South Korea on 27 June 1950 and the Korean War began. She promptly began preparations for an active role in the conflict. she joined Destroyer Division (DesDiv) 52 and sailed for Korean waters on 6 November. Some of her duties in the combat zone included acting in the screen of Task Force (TF) 77 visiting Taiwan as part of the Seventh Fleet display of strength, and escorting the troop transports that brought the 45th Army Division to Hokkaidō, Japan. In May 1951, the destroyer was reassigned to TF 95 and participated in the bombardment of enemy troop concentrations highways, and railroads at Songjin, Chongjin, and Wonsan before returning to San Diego in August for repairs and training exercises along the west coast.

In January 1952, the ship again got underway for Korean action. Between 19 February and 10 August, she acted as a unit of TF 77, the Seventh Fleet striking force. Arnold J. Isbell also operated with TF 95 and took part in hunter/killer operations. For a short time, she was a member of the Taiwan Strait patrol and joined St. Paul (CA-73) in bombarding Songjin before she returned to the United States in August. Arnold J. Isbell then began a three-month overhaul at Bremerton, Washington, in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

The destroyer sailed on 21 July 1953 for more operations off the embattled Korean peninsula. Upon her arrival there, she joined TF 95 for patrols along the Korean coast. A highlight of the cruise was her escorting New Jersey (BB-62) into Pusan harbor, where President Syngman Rhee presented the Seventh Fleet with a unit citation from the Republic of Korea. Arnold J. Isbell also served a brief stint as a training ship for the Nationalist Chinese Navy at Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Returning to the Korean coast, she acted as a rescue and communications ship at Pusan during a major fire. In January 1954, the ship and her sister members of DesDiv 112 escorted released Nationalist Chinese prisoners of war to Keelung, Taiwan.