After upgrading, the Irwin sailed to
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for a shakedown cruise and later for coastline operations out of
Newport in the spring of 1954. During a nighttime plane guard assignment, the Irwin's
boat crew rescued a downed pilot. The following day the pilot was high-lined back to his
carrier and the traditional ice cream treat was delivered to ship's company.
On January 5, 1955, the destroyer rejoined the Sixth Fleet for NATO maneuvers in the
North Atlantic and later to the Mediterranean Sea under the Command of Lt. Commander
Richard Billings.
The Irwin returned to Newport on May 26, 1955. The destroyer again engaged in Atlantic
seaboard operations, until her departure on March 29, 1956 to return to Long Beach,
California where she had been recommissioned in 1951.
The ship arrived at Long Beach on April 15 and deployed to spend the summer with the
Seventh Fleet in waters from Japan to Okinawa, the Philippines and Taiwan. She returned to
Long Beach on August 11 for tactics ranging as far west as Hawaii. On March 12, 1957, the
Irwin rejoined the Seventh Fleet in the Far East.
Following patrol of the Taiwan Straits, combined fleet maneuvers with SEATO nations,
and goodwill visits to ports in the Philippines and Japan, she returned to Long Beach on
August 24, 1957 for inactivation. The Irwin was decommissioned on January 10, 1958, and
placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, berthed at Mare Island, California.
