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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Murray |
| Namesake | Capt.Alexander Murray and his grandson Rear Adm.Alexander Murray |
| Builder | Consolidated Steel Corporation,Orange, Texas |
| Laid down | 16 March 1942 |
| Launched | 16 August 1942 |
| Commissioned |
|
| Fate | Sold for scrapping toBoston Metals Company,Baltimore, Maryland, in 1966 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Fletcher-classdestroyer |
| Displacement | 2,050 tons |
| Length | 376 ft 6 in (114.76 m) |
| Beam | 39 ft 8 in (12.09 m) |
| Draft | 17 ft 9 in (5.41 m) |
| Propulsion | 60,000 shp (45,000 kW); 2 propellers |
| Speed | 35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph) |
| Range | 6,500 nmi (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement | 336 |
| Armament |
|
The thirdUSSMurray (DD/DDE-576) was aFletcher-classdestroyer in theUnited States Navy duringWorld War II.Murray was named for Capt.Alexander Murray and his grandson Rear Adm.Alexander Murray
Murray (DD-576) waslaid down on 16 March 1942 byConsolidated Steel Corporation,Orange, Texas andlaunched on 16 August 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Frank T. Leighton. The ship wascommissioned on 20 April 1943.
After shakedown in theCaribbean,Murray served on escort duty in theAtlantic Ocean, then sailed to joinDestroyer Squadron 25 atPearl Harbor in September 1943. Sailing with a carrier task force,Murray took part in strikes onWake Island 5–6 October, then voyaged to theSouth Pacific to support the landings onBougainville 8–9 November, splashing three enemy aircraft. Two days later, while coveringUS 3rd Fleet aircraft carriers in a strike againstRabaul,Murray shot down two of a force of about 150 enemy aircraft attacking her formation.
Hewing to a demanding pace of operations,Murray was onantisubmarine patrol in theGilbert Islands from 20 November to 8 December during the occupation ofTarawa andAbemama, then for the next month guarded shipping into the newly acquired islands. In January 1944Murray performed outstandingly in fire support missions for the capture ofKwajalein, then screened transports carrying invasion forces toEniwetok. Two months of escort duty in the western ocean routes followed, until she joined in the bombardment ofKavieng,New Ireland, 20 March.
Joining the7th FleetMurray took part in the assault onAitape,New Guinea, 23 to 28 April, downing another enemy aircraft during anaerial torpedo attack. Rejoining the6th Fleet in June, she screened amphibious craft during the assault onSaipan, then sailed toGuam for close-in fire support and transport screening duty 20 July to 26th. After patrol and escort duties for the consolidation of theMariana Islands until late in August,Murray returned to the continuing operations aroundNew Guinea. She bombardedWewak 30 August to coverBritishminelaying operations, and in September covered the landings onMorotai. Returning toHollandia, she prepared for theinvasion of the Philippines, sortieing in escort of the transports forLeyte. On 20–21 October, she conducted shore bombardment, moving in as close as reefs would allow to fire over the landing force into enemy installations and at the same time aiding in repelling enemy air attacks.
Departing thePhilippines immediately after the landingsMurray overhauled atSan Francisco, California, then in January 1945 escorted abattleship division to Pearl Harbor while en route to joinTask Force 58. She screened the aircraft carriers and acted as picket during the first carrier raid onTokyo 16 February and attacks onIwo Jima and theRyukyu Islands 26 February to 1 March, sinking a Japanese picket ship about 200 miles off the coast of Japan on 26 February.Murray next prepared for theOkinawa operation, during which she screened battleships from submarine attack during the initial preinvasion bombardment. Hit by a Japanese bomb 27 March, she retired to Pearl Harbor for repairs.
While returning to the forward areas by way of Eniwetok,Murray was ordered 2 July to locate, board, and search Japanesehospital shipTakasago Maru, bound for Wake Island and suspected of carrying arms or supplies, contraband for a hospital ship. She located the ship the next day, but search revealed nothing in violation of international law, so the hospital ship was allowed to proceed to Wake to embark sick and wounded Japanese.[1]
Rejoining her force, nowTask Force 38,Murray guarded the fast carriers in the raids againstHonshū,Hokkaidō, andKyūshū through the last 2 months of the war. In one of the most daring raids of the war,Murray and others of her squadron penetratedSuruga Bay, Honshū, 30 July to bombard the city ofShimizu, perhaps the deepest penetration of Japanese waters by any surface craft during the war.
One of the initial occupation force,Murray became the first ship in empire waters to bring in a Japanese submarine when the enemy undersea fleet began to surrender. On 27 August, aircraft of TF 38, patrolling off Honshū, located a submarine flying the black flag designated as the surrender signal, andMurray was ordered to intercept and take the craft intoTokyo Bay for internment. Her boarding party received the swords ofI-14's officers that same day, and the submarine was escorted to the mouth ofSagami Bay.Murray was present in Tokyo Bay for the formalJapanese surrender 2 September, then 3 days later sailed for the United States. Inactivated atPhiladelphia Naval Shipyard,Murray decommissioned 27 March 1946, and went into reserve atCharleston, South Carolina.
In June 1951,Murray began conversion to an escort destroyer, for which she had been designated DDE-576 on 2 January 1951. She recommissioned at Charleston 16 October 1951.
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Early in 1952,Murray began East Coast and Caribbean training operations from her home port,Norfolk. She also served periodically as plane guard during carrier qualification of naval aviationcadets offPensacola, Florida. In June 1953, she sailed for her first deployment to theMediterranean, serving in the hunter killer force of the6th Fleet. Her 1954 tour was marked by an extension to northernEuropean ports. In 1956,Murray operated withNautilus and participated in aNATO convoy escort exercise in European waters. During much of 1956 she underwent yard overhaul, then in 1957 sailed roundCape of Good Hope for patrol duty in thePersian Gulf, the usual access to which was blocked by the closing of theSuez Canal the previous autumn. With the canal free later in the spring, she joined the 6th Fleet in Mediterranean operations through August.
Between March 1958 and May 1961Murray formed part ofTask Group Alfa, an experimental development group working in antisubmarine warfare. The group usually operated off theVirginia Capes, but in the summers of 1959 and 1960 participated in the annual summerNROTC midshipmen training cruises, voyaging toCanadian ports andBermuda.
In late May 1961,Murray was one of the rescue ships stationed along the route ofPresidentJohn F. Kennedy's flight toParis, then participated in that summer's midshipmen cruise. Redesignated DD-576 on 30 June 1962,Murray rejoined TG Alfa for its development operations, which were interrupted for participation in theCuban Quarantine in October and November 1962 that forced Soviet missiles out of Cuba and averted grave international complications. At 1633 on 27 October 1962, theMurray Deck Log contains the following entry: "Sonar contact bearing 212 2,000 yards." TheMurray sonar gang classified the contact as a possible submarine After several hours of "ping time" at 2050 hours the same date theMurray Deck Log contains the following additional entry: "Submarine surfaced bearing 080, 3,900 yards. 4 hours and 17 minutes after initial contact by this ship at LAT 27-36N, LONG 65-56.5W." ThusMurray was the first U.S. Navy destroyer to gain and hold contact with the first of three Soviet submarines forced to surface during theCuban Missile Crisis. After training offNew England early in 1963,Murray returned to Caribbean patrols then came north for the midshipmen cruise.
Murray sailed 29 November 1963 for her first 6th Fleet deployment in six years, visitingFrench,Spanish, andItalian ports before returning to Norfolk 23 May 1964. She cleared Norfolk again 8 September for NATOArctic operations, crossing theArctic Circle 21 September, and visitingAmsterdam before returning to Norfolk 23 October.
Decommissioned in May 1966 at Norfolk,Murray was struck from the Navy list 1 June 1966, and sold for scrapping toBoston Metals Co.,Baltimore, Maryland, in 1966.
Murray received 11battle stars forWorld War II service.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
