Welcome to the USS Doyle DD-494 Guestbook Forum

Hi, Glad to see the USS Doyle has not been forgotten even after all these years. My short tenure aboard was after she had been put into reserve after WWII, then brought back to active service and re-numbered to DMS-34 (Destroyer Mine Sweeper). She was the head of MinRon 1, stationed in San Diego Harbor along with two sister ships. I was only a deck hand in the 2nd Division but I came to love that old girl. Weeks after I was reassigned to the Destroyer Base in San Diego, for discharge, the Korean Conflict erupted, and she was ordered to Sasebo, Japan, then over to do mine sweeping duties off the Korean Coast. In earlier activities during WWII (as DD494) she made passes along the beaches of Normandy during the invasion, shelling the German defenses. And to add to her accomplishments, in the mid 1950s she was selected to appear in the movie, “The Caine Mutiny”, starring Humphrey Bogart. Sadly, later she was de-comissioned and sold as scrap in Galveston, TX. There was a DD494/DMS34 reunion for many years but due to flagging membership it finally faded away. It is my understanding that a new Doyle, a frigate, is or was operating from Norfolk, VA. I believe the name Doyle was taken from a naval man involved in the War of 1812. Thanks for the opportunity to relive those old days.