USS Mansfield (DD-728) - Korean War

Korean War

On 27 June 1950, two days after the North Korean invasion of South Korea, Mansfield steamed from Sasebo, Japan, to South Korea to provide gunfire support and escort services. Three months later, as flagship for DesDiv 91, she led the division into Inchon Channel, openly inviting shore batteries to unmask themselves. After the shore opened up upon her, Mansfield smothered them with a 5‑inch bombardment; she suffered no damage or casualties in the action.

Two weeks after Inchon, Mansfield, while searching for a downed Air Force B‑26, struck a mine which severed the bow below the main deck and seriously injured 27 crewmembers. Receiving a stub bow at Subic Bay, she steamed to Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington for repairs; rejoining the U.N. Fleet off South Korea late in 1951 for gunfire support, escort, and shore bombardment duty.

After Korea, Mansfield alternated between duty in WestPac and training West Coast reservists. Overhauled in the fall of 1955 at the Naval Shipyard, Long Beach, California, she returned there in 1960 for FRAM. The Mark II overhaul and conversion replaced her 3 inch 50 cal. battery with Mark 25 and Mark 32 antisubmarine torpedo batteries, and configured the aft superstructure for DASH. From October 1960 to October 1961, the "new" destroyer conducted training exercises with the 1st Fleet off the West Coast. For the following 3 years, home ported at Yokosuka, she provided escort service for the 7th Fleet's Fast Carrier Attack Force.