(DD-839: dp. 3,479 (f.); l. 390'6"; b. 40'0"; dr. 14'4"; s. 35 k.; cpl. 345; a. 6 5", 16 40mm., 20 20mm., 5 21" tt., 2 dct., 6 dcp.; cl. Gearing)

Power (DD-839) was laid down 26 February 1945 by the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine: launched 30 June 1945; sponsored by Mrs. George F. Power, mother of Lt. John Vincent Power; and commissioned 13 September 1945 at Boston, Comdr. John M. Steinbeck in command.

After shakedown out of Guantanamo Bay, Power sailed 9 January 1946 on the first of many Mediterranean deployments. Returning to the east coast 6 months later, she remained in the western Atlantic and Caribbean until late in 1948 when she again sailed for Mediterranean waters, to patrol the coast of Palestine under the direction of the U.N. Mediation Board.

During early 1950, Power operated with units of the British Royal Navy and visited ports in Northern Europe, whence she steamed to the Mediterranean for another tour with the 6th Fleet. In the summer of 1952 Power completed a South American Cruise, then returned to the east coast to resume her schedule of reservist and Midshipman training cruises fleet and type exercises, and Mediterranean deployments.

In 1958 Power faced the Lebanon crisis with the 6th Fleet; and, after her return to the east coast, participated in the first Project Mercury launches. From November 1960 to January 1962 Power received a FRAM I overhaul, giving her the ASROC system and DASH capability. By September 1962 she was back in the Mediterranean.

During her 1963 overseas deployment Power served with the Middle East Force and at the end of the year, into 1964 operated off eastern Florida in connection with the Polaris program. Following another Mediterranean cruise and further east coast exercises in late 1965, she steamed in mid-Atlantic as a member of the recovery teams for Gemini 6 and 7.

During 1966 and 1967, she again served with the 6th Fleet and the Middle East Force, but in August 1968 she transited the Panama Canal for a tour in the western Pacific. With the 7th Fleet from 26 September 1968, she served in the Yankee Station Surveillance Area and provided gunfire support and SAR off South Vietnam. She arrived Mayport, Fla. 9 July 1969 and remains with the Atlantic Fleet into 1970.