World War II Bradford sailed for
Pearl Harbor 18 August 1943. On 25 August, less than 24 hours after arrival in Pearl Harbor, she was underway for
Baker Island to take part in its capture and occupation (1 September). Afterwards,
Bradford joined the carrier striking forces to participate in the
Tarawa raid (18 September) and the
Wake Island raid (5–6 October). She operated as a screening unit in Task Group 52.3 (TG 52.3), covering the occupation of the Gilbert Islands (13 November – 8 December). Following this operation she went to
Espiritu Santo,
New Hebrides, and was assigned to TG 37.2. With this group
Bradford participated in three strikes (25 December 1943, 1 and 4 January 1944) against the shipping and harbor installations at
Kavieng,
New Ireland, during the
Bismarck Archipelago operations. Between 29 January and 8 February she took part in the
occupation of Kwajalein and
Majuro Atolls, during the
Marshall Islands campaign. In the ensuing months
Bradford participated in the
Truk attack (17–18 February), during which she scored several
torpedo and 5-inch gunfire hits on an enemy
cruiser and destroyer, and the
Marianas raids (21–22 February). She then supported • the occupation of
New Guinea as part of the
Fast Carrier Task Force (then TF 58) (21 April – 1 June); • the
invasion of Saipan (11–24 June); • 1st
Bonins raid (15–16 June), •
Battle of the Philippine Sea (19–20 June), • 2nd Bonins raid (24 June); • 3rd Bonins raid (3–4 July); •
assault on Guam (12 July – 15 August); •
Palau-
Yap-
Ulithi raid (25–27 July); • and 4th Bonins raid (4–5 August). In September she returned to the United States for a complete overhaul.
Bradford steamed to Pearl Harbor in December 1944 and, after undergoing training as a fire support ship, took part in the
assault on Iwo Jima (19–27 February 1945). In the
Okinawa operation (24 March – 25 July) she supported the landing and occupation operations as a screening unit of TG 52.1 and as a
radar picket ship. From 25 July to 10 August she participated In
3rd Fleet operations against Japan. She acted as a fire support and fighter director ship for the
minesweeping operations in the
East China Sea-
Ryukyus area (10–25 August). After a number of transport missions in the Far East
Bradford left for
San Diego 31 October 1945 where she was placed out of commission in reserve 11 July 1946.
1950–1961 Bradford was recommissioned 27 October 1950 and reported to the
Pacific fleet. Between 29 January 1951 and 2 November 1953 she completed three Far Eastern tours (29 January–August 1951, 22 March–November 1952, and May–November 1953) during which she acted as a unit of TF 77 and TF 95 on duty off
Korea. While on this duty she engaged in shore bombardment and patrolling in support of the
United Nations ground forces. She made three additional cruises to the Far East. Between these cruises she operated out of San Diego conducting extensive individual and type training exercises.
Bradford was decommissioned 28 September 1961.
Greek service The ship was transferred to
Greece 27 September 1962. She served in the
Greek Navy as '''
Thyella (D28)''' ("Storm"). She was stricken in 1981 and scrapped. ==Awards==