Theodore E. Chandler (DD-717) was laid down on 23 April 1945 at Kearny, N.J., by the Federal Shipbuilding
Co.; launched on 20 October 1945, sponsored by Mrs. Theodore E. Chandler, and commissioned on 22 March 1946, Comdr. Francis
O. Fletcher, Jr., in command.
After shakedown near Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, she escorted Saipan (CVL-48) and Leyte (CV-32) while
the two carriers trained new pilots. Then, on 20 September, she stood out of New York bound for the west coast. The destroyer
transited the Panama Canal on the 26th and joined Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 17 at San Diego on 7 October. After amphibious
and fleet exercises on the west coast, she departed San Diego on 6 January 1947 bound for Japan.
The warship reached Yokosuka on the 25th and began showing the flag and observing events in China
during the struggle between communists and Nationalists. Operating from Japan where she called at such places as Fukucka,
Kagoshima, and Sasebo she visited Tsingtao, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Amoy to keep a wary eye on the events occurring in China
until she returned to San Diego on 20 September.
After operating along the west coast for the next year, Theodore E. Chandler headed west on 1 October
1948 for her second tour of duty in the western Pacific. That assignment was abbreviated on 24 November when she collided
with Ozbourn (DD-846) during highspeed, darkened-ship, night maneuvers off Tsingtao. After stops at Tsingtao and at Yokosuka
for temporary repairs, she headed back to the west coast on 14 January 1949. The destroyer reached Long Beach on 5 February
and, after completing a five month repair period, resumed operations along the Pacific coast which, save for a run to Pearl
Harbor in the fall of 1949, occupied her until events in Korea summoned her back to the Orient.
When the North Korean People's Army invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950, Theodore E. Chandler was
operating out of San Diego. She spent another nine days at sea, then joined Helena (CA-75) and the rest of Destroyer Division
(DesDiv) 111 to form the first unit dispatched from the west coast to the new Asian conflict. After brief stops at Pearl Harbor
and Yokosuka, she arrived in Sasebo on 25 July.
A brief conference held there organized the various support and escort forces into Task force (TF)
96. Theodore E. Chandler became a unit of Task Group (TG) 96.5, the Japan Korea Support Group, made up of an escort element,
a west Korean supporting element and two east Korean support elements. DesDiv 111, with Helena as flagship, made up one of
the rotating, east Korean support elements. On the 26th, the unit departed Sasebo and shaped a course for Korea to conduct
shore bombardments in support of United Nations (UN) land forces. En route, however, the task element received orders changing
its destination to the Taiwan Strait. Chandler and her sister warships completed their mission in the narrow waters separating
Taiwan from communist-controlled mainland China and headed for Japan on 2 August. The ships reached Sasebo on the 4th and
departed again three days later. Finally, on 7 August, they took up station off the Korean coast.
Initially, they delivered gunfire to relieve the pressure upon the northeastern end of the Pusan
perimeter. During her first assignment, Theodore E. Chandler steamed to Yongdok to bombard enemy supply lines running south
along the coast, bypassing the ROK 3d Division isolated at Chongha, and on toward Pohang where UN lines ended at the Sea of
Japan. On 14 August, the destroyer joined Helena in a highly successful shoot near Sinehang, during which the two ships destroyed
a North Korean supply train and damaged several bridges and tunnels. By the following day, however, North Korean pressure
on the Chongha enclave had become so intense that Lt. Gen. Walton H. Walker decided to evacuate the ROK 3d Division by sea.
While shipping for the evacuation assembled, the situation at Chongha continued to deteriorate, but the 3d Division relied
upon the gunfire delivered by Chandler and the other ships of the Helena task element to hold back North Korean forces until
TF 77 could arrive with the Sunday punch. Even after the carrier planes arrived on the afternoon of the 16th and started close
support, the destroyer and her sisters continued to help Helena support the ROK forces during the two more days it took to
complete the evacuation.
On the 18th, she retired from the Korean coast with the rest of the Helena group and set course
for Japan. The task element reached Sasebo that same day but on the 23rd returned to Korean waters. The next day Chandler
and the other destroyers of DesDiv 111 helped Helena subject the railroad cars and warehouses at Tanchon to a severe pounding.
On the 26th, the task element arrived off Pohang to relieve the Toledo (CA-133) unit in supporting the northeastern end of
the UN line. The warships remained in that area with Helena until 29 August when they returned to Sasebo for an overnight
stopover and, the next day, resumed station off Pohang. After three days off the east coast of Korea, the destroyer reentered
Sasebo on 2 September. Ten days later, she headed for the western coast of Korea and the amphibious operation at Inchon.
For almost a month, she cruised the waters of the Yellow Sea. She helped soften the enemy positions
until the landings on 15 September and, after that, covered the amphibious forces and conducted bombardments which aided the
troops ashore in pushing their advance forward. Early in October, she completed her mission in the Yellow Sea and returned
to Sasebo on the 5th. During the next two months, she operated along Korea's eastern coast, interdicting communist supply
lines with gunfire. Early in December, she made a very brief stop at Sasebo before beginning a month of duty on station off
Hungnam. During the evacuation of UN troops from that North Korean port, Theodore E. Chandler once again had the opportunity
to aid land forces hard-pressed since the intervention of communist China in late November to hold a precarious perimeter
during an evacuation operation. The maneuver itself took just less than a fortnight from 11 December to Christmas Eve but
Theodore E. Chandler remained in the general neighborhood for an additional two weeks to dampen somewhat the enemy's victory
jubilation by reminding him that strong United States forces remained nearby.
Between 8 and 19 January 1951 she returned to Sasebo and enjoyed her first extended period in port
in over three months. When the destroyer put to sea again, she began with an entirely new type of duty, screening the fast
carriers of TF 77. For the two months of combat duty before she returned to the United States, the warship alternated between
familiar bombardment duty and assignments with the fast carriers. Throughout that period, enemy logistics operations remained
the primary target of United States naval might. Finally, on 9 March, she cleared Korean waters to return home, and, after
one day stops at Yokosuka, Pearl Harbor, and San Francisco, the destroyer arrived back in San Diego on 26 March.
During the seven months that the warship spent on the west coast, the conflict in Korea changed
from a war of movement and settled down to a war of position much like that experienced in Europe during World War I but one
in which both sides measured victory by a political, rather than a military, yardstick. The exclusion of total military victory
as an objective transformed the struggle into a process of jockeying about for speedie geographical advantages which could
be translated into diplomatic leverage at the negotiating table. Gains and losses were reported more frequently in yards than
in miles. Men died to secure an isolated piece of topography instead of some broader geographic expression. An anonymous hill
became more significant than a province.
This change in the nature of the conflict shifted the United Nation's offensive initiative to their
naval and air forces. The war of position made enemy lines of communication and supply the targets of interdiction activities
by TF 77 and by the blockading forces. Thus, upon Theodore E. Chandler's return to Korea for a second tour of duty during
the winter of 1951 and 1952 she settled into more routine assignments. She server with both TF 77, screening the carriers
while their aerial arm reached deep into North Korea, and with the UN Blockading and Escort force (TF 95). The latter duty
proved to be more variegated because it involved blockade duty, escort duty, and frequent coastal bombardment missions. Short
tours of duty patrolling the Taiwan Strait, visits to Japan, and liberty calls at Hong Kong all served to break up her long
stretches of service along the Korean coast.
Her third and final Korean War deployment lasted from January to mid-August 1953 and, with it, came
more of the same type of duty she encountered during the preceding assignment. That tour also brought an end to the hostilities
when, late in July after two years of negotiation, see-saw land warfare, and a tight naval blockade both sides agreed to an
armistice. The destroyer remained in the vicinity of Korea for three weeks after hostilities officially ended and then returned
to the United States.
In the decade between the end of hostilities in Korea and America's involvement in yet another Asian
conflict, Theodore El. Chandler participated in peacetime preparations and duties. During that interlude, she deployed to
the Far East seven times; and, for the most part, she busied herself in training exercises with 7th Fleet units and with Allied
naval units such as those of the Taiwan Navy. She also served periodically with the Taiwan Strait patrol. When not deployed
to the Orient the destroyer trained with 1st Fleet units along the west coast. Most frequently, she conducted antisubmarine
warfare (ASW) drills with hunter-killer groups built around aircraft carriers specially modified to stalk submarines. Finally,
during that period, she entered the yard twice for rather extensive repairs and modifications. In mid-February 1961, the destroyer
began a year-long Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) overhaul during which the San Francisco Naval Shipyard refurbished
her and brought her physical plant up to date. The second extended yard period came in December 1962, when after her return
from the western Pacific, she enterer the yard for repairs to her generating plant which she completed in March 1963. At that
time, she resumed training operations in the eastern Pacific where, save for a cruise to Hawaii with Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31)
late in November, she remained until the summer of 1964.
Her next deployment coincided with the beginning of America's extensive buildup in Vietnam. On 19
June she departed the west coast with ASW Group 1 bound for what appeared to be a normal peacetime deployment to the western
Pacific. However, on 2 August, North Vietnamese torpedo boats allegedly made a torpedo attack upon Maddox (DD-622) while she
cruised international waters in the Gulf of Tonkin. Theodore E. Chandler received orders to join the ASW screen of American
carriers dispatched to deliver retaliatory air strikes on North Vietnamese torpedo boat bases. After the strikes, the warship
resumed her normal duties with ASW Group 1 and the 7th Fleet; but a new Asian conflict cast its shadow upon her and would
dominate eight of the 10 years remaining in her career.
Theodore E. Chandler returned to Long Beach on 6 January 1965 for an overhaul at the Long Beach
Naval Shipyard. After 10 weeks of refresher training and ASW exercises, she began preparations early in August for another
deployment to the western Pacific. She departed Long Beach on 20 August and, following a nonstop voyage in company with DesDiv
92 and oilers Kennebec (AO-36) and Navasota (AO-106), arrived in Yokosuka on 4 September. Four days later, the warship put
to sea again bound for the Philippines. Upon her arrival at Subic Bay, she received orders to the Taiwan Strait, and she patrolled
those vital waters from 16 to 20 September. When she returned to the Philippines, Theodore E. Chandler began shore bombardment
training at the Tabones range.
That duty, however, was interrupted on 30 September by a special assignment. Two days earlier, Indonesian
communists fearful that President Sukarno's failing health might result in their political eclipse staged a coup. In rapid
succession, they captured and executed most Indonesian right-wing military leaders. In response to a potential blood bath,
Theodore E. Chandler raced through the South China Sea, rendezvoused with the 7th Fleet Amphibious Ready Group, and prepared
to evacuate United States citizens from Indonesia should the need arise. Fortunately, that eventuality never came to pass.
The Indonesian Defense Minister, General Nasution, managed to elude those sent to liquidate him and led the swift, decisive
counter stroke that throttled the revolt before it gained momentum. Consequently, the special task organization was dissolved
and Theodore E. Chandler departed the area in company with Hollister (DD-788)
During the second portion of the deployment, the warship began regular tours of duty with the naval
forces operating off the Vietnamese coastline. On 9 October, she and Hollister joined Bon Homme Richard to form Task Group
(TG) 77.4 which operated on "Dixie Station" off the central coast of South Vietnam until the 18th. The next day, she steamed
north with the task group to "Yankee Station" whence Bon Homme Richard planes struck targets in North Vietnam. After 10 days
of air operations, Theodore E. Chandler departed the area with the rest of the task group for five days of rest and relaxation
at Hong Kong.
The warships left Hong Kong on 11 November to take up station off the coast of North Vietnam again.
On the 18th, the destroyer received orders detaching her from the Bon Homme Richard group for duty an an antiaircraft warfare
(AAW) picket ship. After serving 22 days as an AAW picket, she rejoined the carrier group again on 10 December. The carrier
launched air strikes during the following eight days; and then, on the 18th, the entire group shaped a course for Subic Bay
and thence proceeded to Hong Kong for another five-day port call.
While in Hong Kong, Theodore E. Chandler was detached from TG 77.4 and ordered back to Subic Bay
for shore bombardment training. In January 1966, she returned to the coast of South Vietnam and rendered naval gunfire support
for the troops operating ashore. On one occasion, the destroyer brought her 5-inch guns to bear on Viet Cong forces staging
a major attack on Allied troops and received credit for thwarting the guerrillas. In mid-January, she completed her assignment
in the Far East and headed back to the United States.
Following four months of duty in and out of Long Beach, Theodore E. Chandler departed that port
in June for an extended deployment to the western Pacific. Records of her activities during the 1966 portion of the two years
she spent in the Far East are incomplete. However, it can be reasonably assumed that she spent a great deal of time off the
coast of Vietnam providing naval gunfire in support of troops ashore, escorting and plane-guarding aircraft carriers during
air strikes on targets in both North and South Vietnam, and interdicting enemy coastal logistics operations.
On the other hand, records do tell that she joined Mansfield (DD-728) east of Okinawa during the
fall of 1966 to patrol the secondary recovery zone for the Gemini 11 space project. When the capsule splashed down successfully
in the primary zone located in the Atlantic Ocean, the two destroyers resumed their normal duties. In mid-October, while en
route back to the combat zone, she received orders to join Franklin D. Roosevelt ( CVA 42) and screen that carrier during
operations in the Gulf of Tonkin. When the carrier had to return to Yokosuka for repairs in October, Theodore E. Chandler
went along as escort.
By early November, the warship had returned to Vietnamese waters. Halfway through the forenoon watch
on the 13th, she responded to a call for help from SS Rutgers Victory, on fire and burning furiously in Nha Trang harbor about
200 miles northeast of Saigon. Within two hours, the destroyer entered the harbor, the first Navy ship to answer the call.
Shortly after her arrival, Prime (MSO-446) joined the battle against the flames. Chand ler's damage control party led the
struggle against the flames burning deep in the stricken ship. Two Army tugs, which also joined the fray concentrated on cooling
the victory ship's hull while Chandler and Prime crewmen fought the fires themselves. The combined efforts of two Navy ships,
two Army tugs, an Air Force fire fighting team, and Rutgers Victory's own crew eventually conquered the blaze in a fine display
of inter service cooperation, and the warship cleared Nha Trang to resume a heavy schedule of shore bombardment missions.
Records of the subsequent portions of that deployment are much more detailed. The beginning of 1967
found her in Yokosuka and off Tokyo Bay for type training. On the 16th, she headed back to Vietnam to resume gunfire support
duty. After bombardments in support of the 1st Air Cavalry's Operation "Thayer II" near Qui Nhon in late January and early
February, she departed Vietnamese waters to visit Taiwan and to conduct an ASW exercise in the northern Ryukyus.
The destroyer returned to Japan in mid-February and remained there almost a month before taking
up duty on "Yankee Station" in the Gulf of Tonkin with Bon Homme Richard on 17 March. Five days later, she shifted her plane-guard
service to Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) and remained so employed until the 27th when she joined Bainbridge (DLGN-25), Duncan (DDR-874)
and Henderson (DD-785) in a fruitless, two-day search for a plane lost at sea. On 29 March, she rejoined Kitty Hawk and headed
for Subic Bay, whence she operated through 4 April conducting gunnery drills and ASW exercises.
On the 7th, the destroyer returned to Vietnamese waters. After two days of anti-PT boat training
at Danang, she began duty on the south SAR (Search and Rescue) station. Almost a month later, Arnold J. Isbell (DD-869) relieved
her, and Theodore E. Chandler returned to Yokosuka on 11 May. The warship remained in Japan until the end of the month; then
steamed south to the Philippines. After two days at Subic Bay, she got underway on 5 June to return to the Gulf of Tonkin.
On the 7th, she joined Constellation (CVA-64) on "Yankee Station" and served as the carrier's escort and plane guard for five
days
Theodore E. Chandler parted company with the carrier on 12 June and joined Allen M. Sumner (DD-692)
for an 11-day assignment with Operation "Sea Dragon.' The two destroyers moved in close to shore and patrolled the Vletnamese
coastline In an effort to Interdict enemy waterborne logistics. Working in conjunction with Navy spotter aircraft, they ferreted
out enemy cargo barges and sank them with gunfire. On two occasions during the assignment, Theodore E. Chandler came under
fire from hostile shore batteries but managed to avoid any hits. The other half of Operation "Sea Dragon" consisted of shore
bombardments to destroy depots and marshalling areas as well as to interdict coastal lines of communication. Theodore E. Chandler
helped to destroy a number of buildings and to silence several North Vietnamese shore batteries that responded to the ships'
barrage. On 23 June, her "Sea Dragon" relief arrived and, after two days of operations with Hancock (CVA-19), the warship
pointed her bow toward Yokosuka where she arrived on the 29th.
Her next line period came during the second week in July. Though it consisted of a mix of assignments
similar to previous tours working with carriers and conducting "Sea Dragon" operations events occurred to give the duty a
slightly different twist in each instance. On 25 July, while the destroyer conducted "Sea Dragon" missions along the coast,
the 3d Marine Division called upon her guns to assist them in driving the Viet Cong 806th Battalion west toward waiting South
Vietnamese forces. She delivered gunfire along the coast between Quang Tri and Hue and, although the Viet Cong managed to
evade the marines, the combined effect of naval gunfire and 3d Division amphibious operations still resulted in a major collision
between the evacuating enemy and Allied forces. The operation code named "Bear Chain" ended the next day, and Theodore E.
Chandler resumed logistics interdiction duty.
Three days later, she was called upon to provide assistance of a different nature. She departed
her assigned " Sea Dragon" operating area in company with HMAS Hobart to rendezvous with Forrestal (CVA-59). A fuel tank dropped
off one of the carrier's A-4 aircraft during preparations for take-off, and the flames from it engulfed the ordnance and fuel
tanks on nearby planes, causing a series of explosions which bathed her stern area in liquid fire and holed her armored flight
deck. Theodore E. Chandler joined the group of ships assisting the carrier in removing her wounded and dead and in readying
her for a painful retirement to Subic Bay, the first leg of a voyage back to the United States and major repairs.
The destroyer parted company with the carrier shortly after midnight on 30 July in response to orders
to return with HMAS Hobart to "Sea Dragon" duty off Vietnam. On 8 August, she reentered Yokosuka once more for a brief respite
from combat duty. From there, she moved to Subic Bay with a task force built around Coral Sea (CVA-43) and, after three days
in the Philippines, headed back to Vietnamese waters. During that tour of duty, she provided escort and plane-guard services
to Coral Sea and, later, to Intrepid (CVS-11). Before returning to Yokosuka on 17 October, the warship participated in a series
of ASW exercises, visited Hong Kong, and conducted surveillance of Russian trawlers operating in the vicinity.
The destroyer underwent a restricted availability at Yokosuka between mid-October and mid-December.
On the 12th, she departed Japan bound for Kaohsiung, Taiwan, where she joined a convoy heading to Vietnam. She departed Kaohsinug
on 16 December and relieved Hamner (DD-718) in the northern "Sea Dragon" area on 19 December 1967. That duty continued for
almost a month until 16 January 1968, when she moved close to the shores of the First and Second Corps Zones of South Vietnam
to provide naval gunfire support for the 5th Marines until early February. After another two-week in-port period at Yokosuka,
Theodore E. Chandler resumed search and rescue duty on the north SAR station in the Gulf of Tonkin followed by five days of
shore bombardment in the First Corps Zone once again from 11 to 16 March. After that assignment, she made a leisurely voyage,
first to Subic Bay, thence to Taiwan, and finally to Yokosuka where she remained through the third week in April.
On 23 April, the destroyer headed back to Vietnam where, upon arrival, she started logistics interdiction
once more. On 6 May, while the destroyer was engaged in a mission to destroy enemy supply traffic, a shore battery opened
up on her and scored two 85-millimeter hits before she could silence it with counterbattery fire. One shell penetrated her
hull, caused extensive damage in the crew's shower aft, and wounded one man. The other hit glanced off the hull and exploded
in the water close aboard. Emergency repairs enabled the ship to return to duty in only three hours and complete her next
scheduled mission. Two days later, Theodore E. Chandler came under enemy fire again, but she easily evaded the 40 rounds thrown
at her and St. Paul (CA-73).
On 13 May, she headed back to Subic Bay where her battle damage was quickly repaired enabling the
warship to. be back in the Gulf of Tonkin by the 20th. PIRAZ duty with Long Beach (CLGN-9), a visit to Singapore, and the
loss of a gunfire spotting drone to enemy antiaircraft fire near the mouth of the Song Gian River highlighted that combat
cruise. Ozbourn (DD-846) relieved Theodore E. Chandler on 28 June, and she shaped a course for Japan and preparations for
the return voyage to the United States. After 11 days in Yokosuka, she and Hollister got underway on a voyage that took them
to Brisbane, Australia, Wellington, New Zealand; Pago Pago, Samoa; and Pearl Harbor. The two ships pulled into Long Beach
on 25 August, and Theodore E. Chandler ended a long and arduous deployment for which she later received the Navy Unit Commendation./
On 13 February 1969, Theodore E. Chandler completed a four-month overhaul at Long Beach and
began 1st Fleet operations along the west coast. After seven months of exercises and training cruises, she departed the west
coast on 24 September and headed back to the western Pacific. During that deployment, she spent most of her time at sea off
the coast of Vietnam engaged in familiar duty as naval gunfire support ship, SAR picket, and as escort for aircraft carriers.
In addition to stops at Sasebo, Yokosuka, and Kaohsinng, she made a port call at Bangkok, Thailand. On 17 March 1970 after
six weeks in and out of Sasebo as escort to Hancock (CVA-19l, the destroyer departed Japan to return to the United States.
She reached Long Beach on 1 April and resumed operations with the 1st Fleet. That summer, she participated in an NROTC summer
training cruise and then spent all of August and most of September in port at Long Beach. Late the following month, she began
preparations to return to the western Pacific; and, on 13 November, the warship departed Long Beach.
During the remainder of her career, Theodore E. Chandler made two more deployments to the western
Pacific. Though she spent a great deal of time off the coast of Vietnam during both, only the first can be considered a wartime
deployment in any real sense. That tour of duty came in the winter of 1970 and 1971 and consisted of duty as plane guard,
as SAR picket, and as naval gunfire support ship. The last deployment began in January of 1973, after more than 20 months
of normal 1st Fleet operations which included a four month overhaul at the beginning of 1972. However, soon after she arrived
in the Far East the Vietnam ceasefire ended American involvement in the conflict. During the American withdrawal, she cruised
the Gulf of Tonkin as plane guard for the aircraft carriers of TF 77 and then returned to the west coast in July. Upon returning
to the United States, she resumed normal operations until the fall. On 1 October 1973, the destroyer was transferred to Naval
Reserve training duty at Seattle, Wash. Theodore E. Chandler continued that duty until 1 April 1975. On that day, she was
decommissioned at Seattle, and her name was struck from the Navy list. On 30 December 1975, she was sold to General Metals,
Tacoma, Wash., for scrapping.
Theodore E. Chandler earned nine battle stars during the Korean War and eight battle stars and the
Navy Unit Commendation for Vietnam service.
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Admiral Theodore Edson Chandler
On 8 December 1944, Rear Admiral Chandler was shifted to command of CruDiv 4 and flew his flag above
Louisville (CA-28). During the voyage from Leyte to Lingayen for the invasion of Luzon, Chandler's cruisers came under heavy
Japanese air attacks mostly by kamikazes. Late in the afternoon of 5 January 1945, a group of 16 suicide planes swooped in
on the force then about 100 miles (200 km) from Manila Bay. One of the four successful kamikazes crashed into Rear Admiral
Chandler's flagship at her number 2 turret, but she continued in her mission. The next day, however, the cruiser suffered
more severely during a repeat performance. At 17:30, another suicide plane plunged into the cruiser's starboard side at the
bridge. His explosives wreaked havoc with the flag bridge where Rear Admiral Chandler stood. Horribly burned by gasoline flames,
the flag officer responded to the occasion like a true sailor. He manhandled fire hoses alongside enlisted men to stop the
flames and then waited his turn for first aid with those same ratings. The admiral, his lungs scorched very severely, was
beyond help. He died the next day in spite of the Herculean efforts of the medical department.
