USS Roberts (DE-749) - Reassigned As A Training Ship

Reassigned As A Training Ship

On 2 March Roberts arrived at Norfolk and on the 3rd, she was decommissioned and placed "in service, in reserve". For the remainder of the decade she served in that capacity and conducted reserve training cruises along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean.

In June 1950, war broke out in Korea. On 13 August, Roberts was recommissioned, in reserve, and 1 December she was placed in commission, active. Continuing her training duties, she expanded her operations, including fleet maneuvers on a large scale, in her cruises. In June 1952 she extended her training cruises to the Mediterranean, and, in 1953, she participated in NATO exercises. In the summer of 1954, an extended cruise took her to South American ports, while her two-week cruises ranged from Nova Scotia to Florida, and in the Caribbean.

Until October 1961, Roberts continued her reserve training duty. Then, with the Berlin Crisis, the Selected Reserve was called to active duty and Roberts was assigned to the newly formed escort squadron CortRon 12, based at Norfolk. On 1 August 1962, after the release of her reserve crew, she returned to Reserve Destroyer Squadron 34 and resumed Naval Reserve training.