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The Allied lead destroyers, Beale among them, charged toward the retreating enemy at flank speed and began firing at extreme range in the hope of closing the distance by forcing the Japanese to maneuver to avoid their salvoes. The enemy destroyers returned the fire and even launched another torpedo attack. The only damage--other than fragments from near misses--sustained by either side in the running duel, however, came at about 0210 on the 9th when Shiratsuyu suffered a direct hit from one of Destroyer Division (DesDiv) 47's salvoes. The enemy destroyer slowed briefly but picked up speed again soon thereafter. About 15 minutes later just before 0230, the Allied force broke off the stern chase in compliance with orders issued to protect its ships from attack by friendly aircraft. Task Force 75 rendezvoused with TF 74 later that morning, and then Beale headed for Manus in the Admiralty Islands, where she spent the period 10 to 28 June carrying out maintenance work and conducting combat training.

The Allied lead destroyers, Beale among them, charged toward the retreating enemy at flank speed and began firing at extreme range in the hope of closing the distance by forcing the Japanese to maneuver to avoid their salvoes. The enemy destroyers returned the fire and even launched another torpedo attack. The only damage—other than fragments from near misses—sustained by either side in the running duel, however, came at about 0210 on the 9th when Shiratsuyu suffered a direct hit from one of Destroyer Division (DesDiv) 47's salvoes. The enemy destroyer slowed briefly but picked up speed again soon thereafter. About 15 minutes later just before 0230, the Allied force broke off the stern chase in compliance with orders issued to protect its ships from attack by friendly aircraft. Task Force 75 rendezvoused with TF 74 later that morning, and then Beale headed for Manus in the Admiralty Islands, where she spent the period 10 to 28 June carrying out maintenance work and conducting combat training.

After 10 days of preparations, she stood out of Leyte Gulf on 27 March in the screen of a fast echelon of TF 55, the Southern Attack Force, and set a course for [[Okinawa]]. Beale and her companions caught up with the slower echelons of the task force along the way, and together they arrived off the objective early in the morning of 1 April--Easter Sunday, April Fool's Day, and L day for Okinawa all rolled into one. Later that morning, 5th Fleet staged its own version of an Easter parade when the vast amphibious force there assembled landed soldiers of the XXIV Army Corps and marines of the III Amphibious Corps on the island's western coast at beaches to either side of the mouth of the Bisha River. At that point, the destroyers in the screen received other assignments, and Beale joined TF 54, the Gunfire and Covering Force, to serve as a seaborne artillery battery for the Army and Marine Corps while they consolidated their beachheads and started their advance inland.

After 10 days of preparations, she stood out of Leyte Gulf on 27 March in the screen of a fast echelon of TF 55, the Southern Attack Force, and set a course for [[Okinawa]]. Beale and her companions caught up with the slower echelons of the task force along the way, and together they arrived off the objective early in the morning of 1 April—Easter Sunday, April Fool's Day, and L day for Okinawa all rolled into one. Later that morning, 5th Fleet staged its own version of an Easter parade when the vast amphibious force there assembled landed soldiers of the XXIV Army Corps and marines of the III Amphibious Corps on the island's western coast at beaches to either side of the mouth of the Bisha River. At that point, the destroyers in the screen received other assignments, and Beale joined TF 54, the Gunfire and Covering Force, to serve as a seaborne artillery battery for the Army and Marine Corps while they consolidated their beachheads and started their advance inland.

The desperate, aerial tactics that the Japanese relied upon as their response to the Okinawa invasion, however, made antiair warfare the predominate form of combat carried out by Navy units in the campaign. Beale, therefore, continued to cross swords with enemy aviators throughout her participation in the island's subjugation. On 16 April, while she screened the fire support ships of TG 51.5 near Ie Shima, three enemy planes attempted attacks on Beale. Her gunfire damaged the first intruder--misidentified as a German Focke Wulf Fw 190--when he tried a suicide dive, and he splashed into the sea well clear of the ship. Almost immediately, though, two "Val" dive bombers pushed over into conventional bombing attacks, coming in on Beale's starboard side abeam. Her guns opened up on them at a distance of about 8,000 yards and continued to fire until a Marine Corps F4U "Corsair" flew into her field of fire in his attempt to intercept the two "Vals." The destroyer ceased fire quickly, but all three planes, the two enemies and one friend, splashed into the ocean at some distance from Beale. Fortunately, the "Corsair" pilot managed to bail out, and a destroyer escort rescued him.

The desperate, aerial tactics that the Japanese relied upon as their response to the Okinawa invasion, however, made antiair warfare the predominate form of combat carried out by Navy units in the campaign. Beale, therefore, continued to cross swords with enemy aviators throughout her participation in the island's subjugation. On 16 April, while she screened the fire support ships of TG 51.5 near Ie Shima, three enemy planes attempted attacks on Beale. Her gunfire damaged the first intruder—misidentified as a German Focke Wulf Fw 190—when he tried a suicide dive, and he splashed into the sea well clear of the ship. Almost immediately, though, two "Val" dive bombers pushed over into conventional bombing attacks, coming in on Beale's starboard side abeam. Her guns opened up on them at a distance of about 8,000 yards and continued to fire until a Marine Corps F4U "Corsair" flew into her field of fire in his attempt to intercept the two "Vals." The destroyer ceased fire quickly, but all three planes, the two enemies and one friend, splashed into the ocean at some distance from Beale. Fortunately, the "Corsair" pilot managed to bail out, and a destroyer escort rescued him.

That extended assignment did not prevent her from participating in internationally significant events, however, for, after Fidel Castro's insurgents succeeded in overthrowing the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in Cuba in 1959, ships of the Navy performed almost constant patrols off that troubled island. Beale carried out her first such mission between 13 and 26 April 1961, and her second tour of duty in Cuban waters lasted from the end of June until mid-August of 1962. On 30 June 1962, she resumed her former destroyer classification and the designation, DD-471. Later that year, after reconnaissance flights over the island revealed the presence of offensive nuclear missiles, President John F. Kennedy declared a "quarantine" of Cuba to prevent the importation of additional missiles and to secure the removal of those already in place. Beale served on the Cuban missile crisis "blockade" from 25 October to 5 November 1962.

That extended assignment did not prevent her from participating in internationally significant events, however, for, after Fidel Castro's insurgents succeeded in overthrowing the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in Cuba in 1959, ships of the Navy performed almost constant patrols off that troubled island. Beale carried out her first such mission between 13 and 26 April 1961, and her second tour of duty in Cuban waters lasted from the end of June until mid-August 1962. On 30 June 1962, she resumed her former destroyer classification and the designation, DD-471. Later that year, after reconnaissance flights over the island revealed the presence of offensive nuclear missiles, President John F. Kennedy declared a "quarantine" of Cuba to prevent the importation of additional missiles and to secure the removal of those already in place. Beale served on the Cuban missile crisis "blockade" from 25 October to 5 November 1962.

After an additional year of service along the east coast and in the West Indies, Beale completed preparations in November of 1963 to embark upon her first major overseas deployment in more than half a decade. On the 29th, she stood out of Norfolk on her way across the Atlantic Ocean. The warship arrived in Pollensa Bay, Majorca, on 11 December and relieved McCaffery (DD-860) the following afternoon. During her first eight weeks with the 6th Fleet, normal activities such as exercises and port visits occupied her time. Early in February 1964, however, orders sent her to the eastern Mediterranean where she joined a contingency force brought together in response to trouble on the island of Cyprus. Service with the contingency force received her undivided attention until the first week in March. Afterwards, Beale made a six-day liberty call at Istanbul, Turkey, and then returned to sea for further duty in the eastern Mediterranean, an assignment that included NATO exercises in the Ionian Sea. Late in March, she returned to the western portion of the "middle sea," where she spent the remaining six weeks of her deployment. Completing turnover formalities at Pollensa Bay near the end of the second week in May, Beale transited the Strait of Gibraltar on the 14th and shaped a course for Hampton Roads.

After an additional year of service along the east coast and in the West Indies, Beale completed preparations in November 1963 to embark upon her first major overseas deployment in more than half a decade. On the 29th, she stood out of Norfolk on her way across the Atlantic Ocean. The warship arrived in Pollensa Bay, Majorca, on 11 December and relieved McCaffery (DD-860) the following afternoon. During her first eight weeks with the 6th Fleet, normal activities such as exercises and port visits occupied her time. Early in February 1964, however, orders sent her to the eastern Mediterranean where she joined a contingency force brought together in response to trouble on the island of Cyprus. Service with the contingency force received her undivided attention until the first week in March. Afterwards, Beale made a six-day liberty call at Istanbul, Turkey, and then returned to sea for further duty in the eastern Mediterranean, an assignment that included NATO exercises in the Ionian Sea. Late in March, she returned to the western portion of the "middle sea," where she spent the remaining six weeks of her deployment. Completing turnover formalities at Pollensa Bay near the end of the second week in May, Beale transited the Strait of Gibraltar on the 14th and shaped a course for Hampton Roads.

On 14 November, the warship passed between Capes Henry and Charles and laid in a course for the Mediterranean Sea. Steaming in company with a quartet of DesRon 32 destroyers that included Beale's sister ship and frequent colleague Bache, she arrived in Pollensa Bay, Majorca, on the 24th. She spent the bulk of her last deployment in the western Mediterranean, sailing east of the Italian "boot" only once when she entered the Adriatc in late January 1968 to call at Split, Yugoslavia. Her activities in the western basin consisted of a mix of exercises--unilateral, bilateral, and multilateral in composition--and visits to a variety of French and Italian ports, as well as one brief call at Malta. After being relieved by Moale (DD-693) at Malaga, Spain, Beale got underway for Norfolk on Easter Sunday 1968. A note of sadness, however, intruded upon the satisfaction usually associated with a homeward bound voyage. Of the four DesRon 32 ships that had accompanied her to the Mediterranean the previous fall, only three joined her in the return trip. A storm at Rhodes early in February had reduced Bache, her frequent comrade over the years, to an unsalvageable wreck. Beale and her depleted complement of traveling companions arrived back in Hampton Roads on 23 April.

On 14 November, the warship passed between Capes Henry and Charles and laid in a course for the Mediterranean Sea. Steaming in company with a quartet of DesRon 32 destroyers that included Beale's sister ship and frequent colleague Bache, she arrived in Pollensa Bay, Majorca, on the 24th. She spent the bulk of her last deployment in the western Mediterranean, sailing east of the Italian "boot" only once when she entered the Adriatc in late January 1968 to call at Split, Yugoslavia. Her activities in the western basin consisted of a mix of exercises—unilateral, bilateral, and multilateral in composition—and visits to a variety of French and Italian ports, as well as one brief call at Malta. After being relieved by Moale (DD-693) at Malaga, Spain, Beale got underway for Norfolk on Easter Sunday 1968. A note of sadness, however, intruded upon the satisfaction usually associated with a homeward bound voyage. Of the four DesRon 32 ships that had accompanied her to the Mediterranean the previous fall, only three joined her in the return trip. A storm at Rhodes early in February had reduced Bache, her frequent comrade over the years, to an unsalvageable wreck. Beale and her depleted complement of traveling companions arrived back in Hampton Roads on 23 April.

Beale (DD-471) earned six battle stars for World War II service and one battle star during the Vietnam conflict.<ref>Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b4-list.htm]</ref>

Beale (DD-471) earned six battle stars for World War II service and one battle star during the Vietnam conflict.<ref>[http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b4-list.htm Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]</ref>

See also [[Beale-I]].

See also [[Beale-I]].