Brush (DD-745)
Charles Francis Brush, a physicist, inventor, and manufacturer, was born in Euclid, Ohio, 17 March 1849. In 1878, after successful experimentation with electric lighting, he produced the electric arc light which bears his name. In 1880 he founded the Brush Electric Co., which became the owner of his numerous patents in the filed of electric lighting. He died at Cleveland, Ohio, 15 June 1929.
Brush (DD-745) was launched 28 December 1943 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Staten Island, N. Y.; sponsored by Miss Virginia Perkins, great-granddaughter of Charles Brush; and commissioned 17 April 1944, Commander J. E. Edwards in command.
On 30 August 1944 Brush arrived at Pearl Harbor and after training got underway for Eniwetok, Marshall Islands, 28 September. From Eniwetok she escorted convoys to Ulithi and the Palau Islands.
Serving with the 5th and 3d Fleets she took part in the Leyte operation (5 November-16 December 1944); Luzon-Formosa-China coast-Nansei Shoto strikes (3-22 January 1945); invasion of Iwo Jima and the supporting 5th Fleet raids (15 February-5 March), and Okinawa operation (17 March-27 April), including the 21 April bombardment of Minami Daito Shima. She retired to Ulithi, Caroline Islands, where she lay 30 April-10 May before joining the 5th Fleet for the projected invasion of Kyushu, Japan. Brush lay at anchor in Leyte Gulf from 13 June to 1 July 1945 and then departed for a raid on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. On 22 July Brush and other destroyers of her squadron conducted an anti-shipping sweep near the entrance of Tokyo Bay. She remained in this area on air-sea rescue duty until 14 September when she steamed into Tokyo Bay. On 24 September 1945 she left the Far East for the United States.
She arrived at Seattle, Wash., 15 October 1945 and operated along the west coast until early 1946 when she departed for Guam. She remained at Guam until 9 March and then steamed to Tsingtao, China, arriving on the 19th. With the exception of two voyages to the Philippine Islands, she operated in the East China Sea between Tsingtao and Shanghai until January 1947. Brush returned to Guam 18 January 1947 for repairs.
Repairs completed 16 February 1947, she sailed to San Diego, via Saipan, Kwajalein, and Pearl Harbor, arriving 24 March. Until May 1950 Brush remained on the west coast participating in local operations, plane guard duties, and type training. In May 1950 she was ordered to the Far East and entered Formosan waters as a unit of TF 77 on 29 June 1950. She screened the carrier units during the United Nations air strikes against North Korea and participated in shore bombardment. On 26 September 1950 while shelling the shore off Tanchon, Korea, Brush struck a mine, ripping her midships section and breaking her keel. Thirteen men were killed and 31 injured. Brush received temporary repairs at Japan and returned under her own power to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, arriving 22 December 1950.
Almost a year later Brush departed on her second Korean cruise. She stopped at Pearl Harbor for the month of December 1951 and then joined TF 77 for anti-submarine and anti-aircraft duties off Korea. On 20 December the destroyer joined battleship Wisconsin (BB-64) for shore bombardment operations near Wonsan. In March Brush was assigned to the Formosan patrol and then participated in hunter-killer exercises off Okinawa. She returned to Japan 12 April and joined the blockade of Korea's west coast with TF's 95 and 77. She returned to San Diego 26 June 1952.
Brush operated off the California coast until February 1953 when she commenced her third Korean cruise. During gunline operations in May, the destroyer was struck by one enemy shell, injuring nine men in the forward 5-inch gun mount. In July, Brush conducted a short Formosa patrol to the Pescadores Islands before returning to Korea for bombardment operations with battleship New Jersey (BB-62). She returned to the United States 30 August.
Brush conducted seven more Western Pacific deployments over the next decade (4 May - 5 Dec 54; 30 Jun 55 - 15 Feb 56; 31 Aug 57 - 1 Mar 58; 25 Oct 58 - 22 Apr 59; 1 Jan - 28 Jul 60; 29 Jul 61 - 9 Mar 62; 13 Mar - 1 Oct 64), each involving carrier escort, ASW exercises and the occassional Formosa patrol. During the last 1964 deployment, Brush cruised in the Gulf of Tonkin as American intervention in Vietnam escalated.
Over the next five years, Brush conducted three Vietnam deployments (20 Nov 65 - 13 May 66; 8 Apr - 6 Oct 67; 20 Aug 68 - 4 Mar 69), each marked by intensive patrol and gunnery operations in the South China Sea.
Brush decommissioned at San Francisco on 27 October 1969 and transferred to the Republic of Taiwan on 9 December 1969. The destroyer served in the Taiwanese Navy as Hsiang Yang (D 986, then D 901) until scrapped in 1993.
Brush received five battle stars for World War II service, four battle stars for her Korean operations and seven battle stars for Vietnam service.
25 November 2005
