USS McKean (DD-784) was a of the United States Navy built by the Todd Pacific Ship Building Company in Seattle, Washington state.
Ship history
1940s
The USS McKean was launched on 31 March 1945 and commissioned on 9 June 1945, named after Commodore William Wister McKean, a squadron commander on the Union side during the American Civil War. DD-784 is the second ship in the United States Navy to be so named for Commodore McKean. In total, the McKean was one of the 98 Gearing class destroyers built.
Her first duty assignment was in the autumn of 1945 in a three-month tour as part of the overall occupation forces following the surrender of Japan. This included clearing Allied floating mines from Japanese waters.
1950s
Following the outbreak of war in Korea in June 1950, McKean sailed from Long Beach, California, joining the 7th Fleet in August. She was assigned to Task Force 77, initially as part of DesDiv 112. She participated in the Inchon invasion which spearheaded the ground offensive operations against the North Korean Communists. Later, while steaming independently off the Chinnampo River, she discovered the first naval minefield reported during the Korean War. McKean dropped five depth charges on a suspected submarine on 23 September 1950. Commander John Weatherwax, a former World War II submarine officer, took command of McKean in November 1950. From October to December 1950, she joined patrolling destroyers with Task Force 72 in the Taiwan Strait with the light cruiser , and the destroyers , , and . They had to battle Typhoon Clara which broke apart into two typhoons.
On the night of 25 November 1950, hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops had crossed the Yalu River into North Korea to attack advancing U.N. forces. Chinese troops cut off and surrounded the 5th and 7th Marine Regiments with a around the Chosin Reservoir on 27 November. The relief of UN troops depended upon air cover and firepower from planes of carriers stationed off the eastern coast. McKean, Hollister and Frank Knox were released from patrolling the Formosa Straits sometime after 8 December. Under a protective canopy of naval air cover, the leathernecks broke through 10 December at Chinhung-ni and moved to Hŭngnam for evacuation. The United States Navy completed the Hŭngnam withdrawal of 24 December after embarking 105,000 troops, 91,000 refugees, and vast quantities of military cargo. Needing upkeep, McKean first ported at Yokosuka, then to Sasebo until 23 December 1950. She was to rejoin TF 77 on 24 December 1950, Christmas Eve. At that time TF 77 was the largest assembled fleet since World War II, with four carriers, the battleship Missouri, two cruisers and over 30 destroyers.
According to the book Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage by Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew; "U.S. intelligence officials have long believed that a U.S. surface ship sank a Soviet sub that came close to an aircraft carrier attack force in 1950, early in the Korean War, according to two former intelligence officers." The United States was so concerned that the Soviet Navy would try to help the North Koreans that surface ships were under orders to protect U.S. warships by depth charging any possible hostile submarines, and in this case, a suspected Soviet submarine was attacked, with no signs that it had survived.
On 18 December 1950, McKean, codenamed "Rancher," had just left the harbor at Sasebo to rejoin Task Force 77. Task Force 77 included the battleship , the aircraft carriers , , and , the escort carriers and , the heavy cruiser , the light cruiser , and dozens of destroyers to screen the capital ships. "Rancher" was steaming with the . About an hour after clearing the sub nets, but with the Japanese shoreline still in sight, she received a hard contact from sonar. "Bridge, Sonar, we have a solid contact." Sonar had picked up two contacts. The Duty Quartermaster on the bridge of "Rancher" was QM3 John D. Price, as Cdr. Weatherwax had gone to his stateroom. The officer on deck ordered Price to get the Captain; Cdr. Weatherwax ran to the bridge as fast he could go, and called general quarters.