Destroyer Kennedy at Battleship Cove.

A DD-850 gun crew takes a breather during a break in the action.

With the advent of war in Korea USS Kennedy carried out reserve training during July 1950, followed by bombardment and convoy exercises to prepare for action defending South Korea from Communist aggression.

Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. sailed for Japan 3 January 1951 by way of the Panama Canal, Pearl Harbor, and Midway. At Sasebo she loaded ammunition and, exactly 1 month after departure from Newport, joined Task Force 77 off Korea. From February to April she screened the attack carriers as they pounded enemy positions and supply lines. She departed 8 April for the Formosa Patrol, helping to prevent further hostilities across the volatile Straits.

Kennedy then returned to Korea arriving off Wonsan 20 May to take up bombardment station in support of the Allied siege and occupation of harbor islands. This duty continued until 13 June, a period of almost constant bombardment of great importance to the operation, after which the ship steamed to Sasebo.

USS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. earned two battle stars for her Korean War service.

SOURCE

Ens. Jesse Brown
1926-1950

A NEW ERA IN NAVAL AVIATION: The Korean War heralded a new era in the US Navy, an age of desegregation. Although African-American aviators such as the "Tuskegee Airmen" built an astonishing combat record in World War II, not until Korea were blacks permitted to fly Naval combat missions.

Ensign Jesse Brown was the Navy's first African American pilot, earning his wings in 1948. While providing close air support as part of Fighter Squadron 32 from the USS Leyte, Brown was shot down by enemy fire over the Chosin Resevoir.

Visit this page at the Naval Historical Center to learn more about Ensign Jesse Brown.

DASH TO DANGER: Battleship Cove and Kennedy volunteers have restored DD-850's DASH (Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter). Click here to learn more about this spindly Cold War relic.

STARS & STRIPES: Join the elite ranks of the Stars & Stripes Commission! Battleship Cove's most prestigious level of annual membership, Stars & Stripes enlists an exclusive group of...Ctd.