USS Joh A Bole (DD-755)

USS John A. Bole (DD-755)

Allen M. Sumner Class Destroyer

Displacement 3218 Tons (Full), Dimensions, 376' 6"(oa) x 40' 10" x 14' 2" (Max)
Armament 6 x 5"/38AA (3x2), 12 x 40mm AA, 11 x 20mm AA, 10 x 21" tt.(2x5).
Machinery, 60,000 shaft horsepower; General Electric Geared Turbines, 2 screws
Speed, 36.5 Knots, Range 3300 NM@ 20 Knots
Crew 336

Laid down by Bethlehem Steel, Staten Island NY May 20, 1944.
Launched November 1 1944 and commissioned March 3, 1945.
Decommissioned November 6, 1970.
Stricken February 1, 1974.
Sold to Taiwan May 6, 1974 and cannibalized for spare parts.

Additional links for USS John A. Bole:
http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/755.htm
http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/j3/john_a_bole-i.htm
http://www.hullnumber.com/DD-755

My Duties with USS John A.Bole

Oct 1966 to Mar 1967

I was transferred to USS John A. Bole which was laying out board of USS Shelton in a nest of destroyers. My transfer consisted of basically tossing my sea bag over the rail to the next ship.

Most Gearing and Sumner class destroyers had been lengthened (FRAM) to accommodate ASROC, John A. Bole had not. She retained hedgehogs and her fixed torpedo tubes between the stacks. She also one of the last ships to have the experimental variable depth sonar and DASH (Drone Anti Submarine Helicopter). The bulkheads of her DASH hanger were lined with broken rotor blades - mementos of all of the crashes - which explains why DASH didn't stay in the fleet very long.

I was into photography and was always looking for something new to photograph. One day I over heard a shipmate comment that he was about to make his 100th sky diving jump. Thinking it would be fun, I offered to photograph it for him. That hooked me on the sport which I continued until 1972, having made just under 100 jumps with over 20 min of total free fall time.

In Mar 1967 my two years of reserve ActDu was up and I was separated from active duty.

I returned to SelRes crew of USS Uhlmann (DD-687).

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