USS O'Brien (DD-725) - Chinese Involvement

Chinese Involvement

From the end of the Korean action through 1960, O'Brien made annual operational cruises to the western Pacific. In late January and early February 1955, she operated with Wasp when the 7th Fleet discouraged People's Republic of China resistance to the Nationalist Chinese evacuation of the Tachen Islands off mainland China.

February to October 1961 was spent in Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California for FRAM II conversion. The ship now specialized in antisubmarine warfare (ASW) procedures and periodically deployed to the western Pacific. In May 1965, operating with Antisubmarine Warfare Group 1, she was one of the first ships successfully to refuel a helicopter inflight. In June O'Brien successfully refueled a helicopter from Hornet off San Francisco while it made a pioneer non-stop helicopter flight from Seattle, Washington to Imperial Beach, California.

The ship sailed for 7th Fleet duty in August and was assigned to Taiwan patrol. On 14 November 1965, while patrolling the Taiwan Straits, the ship was ordered to the aid of a Chinese Nationalist patrol craft under attack by Chinese Communist torpedo boats. Arriving after the vessel had sunk, she rescued all fifteen survivors, and was praised by Commander in Chief, Nationalist Chinese Navy.