Figure 1: USS Marshall (DD-676) photographed circa late 1943, at about the time of her delivery to the Navy. This image has been retouched by wartime censors to remove the radar antenna atop the ship's Mark 37 gun director. However, the radar antennas on her foremast remain visible. Official US Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 2: USS Marshall (DD-676) underway at sea, circa 1951-1953, while she was still fitted with a pole foremast and World War II-era search radars. Note the escort aircraft carrier (CVE) in the center distance. Official US Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 3: USS Marshall (DD-676) photographed circa the mid-1950s, after installation of her new tripod foremast and SPS-6 air search radar. Note that the ship still retains her World War II-era fire control radars, mounted atop her Mark 37 gun director. Official US Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 4: USS Marshall (DD-676) at sea, 21 October 1962. Photographed by PH3 W.C. Maxwell from USS Ranger (CVA-61). Official US Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 5: USS Marshall (DD-676) pulling alongside USS Coral Sea (CVA-43), during refueling exercises off the California coast, 7 March 1963. Photographed by AN D. Peters. Official US Navy Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.
Figure 6: USS Marshall (DD-676) underway on 19 February 1964. Official US Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.
Named after Lieutenant Commander Thomas W. Marshall Jr. (1906-1942),
who was killed in action during the sinking of USS Jacob Jones (DD-130)
in February 1942, the 2,050-ton USS Marshall (DD-676) was a Fletcher
class destroyer that was built by the Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock
Company at Kearney, NJ, and was commissioned on 16 October 1943. The ship was
approximately 375 feet long and 39 feet wide, had a top speed of 37 knots, and
had a crew of 319 officers and men. Marshall was armed with five 5-inch
guns, ten 40-mm guns, seven 20-mm guns, ten 21-inch torpedo tubes, and depth
charges.
After being commissioned, Marshall completed her shakedown
cruise in the Atlantic and then assisted in escorting President Franklin D.
Roosevelt on the last part of his trip home from the Tehran Conference in
Tehran, Iran. In January 1944, Marshall steamed through the Panama Canal and joined
the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet. The ship was assigned to Task Force 58, the Navy’s
main striking force, and participated in attacks throughout the central Pacific
from March to May 1944. Marshall participated in the Marianas Campaign
and the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June and July. During September and
October, while still serving as an escort to aircraft carriers, Marshall
took part in the amphibious assault on the Palau Islands and in raids on
Japanese bases in the western Pacific and the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
Marshall's task force
continued its operations in the Philippines area for the rest of 1944 and the
first weeks of the New Year. In February 1945, the destroyer hit targets in the
Japanese home islands and supported the struggle to seize Iwo Jima. More
strikes on Japan came in March, followed by the hard battle for Okinawa. Marshall
left combat area in May and steamed back to the United States for an overhaul.
The war was over before this work was finished, and she was decommissioned in
December 1945.
Re-commissioned in April 1951, Marshall
made two Korean War tours from 1951 to 1952 and from 1952 to 1953, and was
assigned to carrier escort, shore bombardment and blockade duties, as well as
patrolling off the island of Formosa. During the post-Korean War decade, Marshall
frequently operated with the Seventh Fleet in the Far East. She became a Naval
Reserve training ship in September 1964, based at Tacoma, Washington. USS Marshall
was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in July 1969 and sold for scrapping
in 1970.
