View source for USS McCord

{{Short description|Fletcher-class destroyer}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS DD534 McCord.JPG
|Ship caption=''McCord'' in August 1943
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1954}}
|Ship name=''McCord''
|Ship namesake=Frank C. McCord
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation]], San&nbsp;Francisco, California
|Ship laid down=17 March 1942
|Ship launched=10 January 1943
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=19 August 1943
|Ship decommissioned=9 June 1954
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=16 December 1971
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate=Sold for scrap, 2 January 1974
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Fletcher|destroyer}}
|Ship displacement=2,050 tons
|Ship length={{convert|376|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|39|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|17|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=2 propellers
|Ship speed={{convert|35|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range={{cvt|6500|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|15|kn}}
|Ship complement=336
|Ship sensors=
|Ship power={{cvt|60,000|shp|lk=on}}
|Ship armament={{Fletcher class destroyer armament}}
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''USS ''McCord'' (DD-534)''' was a [[World War II]]-era {{sclass|Fletcher|destroyer}} built for the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]].

==Namesake==
Frank C. McCord was born on 2 August 1890 in [[Vincennes, Indiana]]. He was appointed [[Midshipman#United States Naval and Merchant Marine Academies|Midshipman]] on 5 July 1907. From 1925 on, his career focused on [[naval aviation]]. On 30 June 1932, he was appointed as commanding officer of the [[rigid airship]] {{USS|Akron||6}}. [[Commander (United States)|Commander]] McCord was on board when ''Akron'' encountered severe weather and crashed near [[Barnegat Light, New Jersey]] on 4 April 1933. McCord, and 71 others, including [[Rear admiral (United States)|Rear Admiral]] [[William A. Moffett]], were killed.

==Construction and commissioning==
''McCord'' was [[Keel laying|laid down]] on 17 March 1942 by the [[Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation]], [[San Francisco, California]] and [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 10 January 1943. The ship was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 19 August 1943.<ref>Silverstone, p. 74</ref>

==Service history==
===World War II===
''McCord'', departing [[San Diego, California|San Diego]] on 27 November 1943, joined the Pacific Fleet in time for operations in the [[Marshall Islands]] and [[Marianas]], and remained in continuous action through the [[Palau]], [[Philippines]], [[Iwo Jima]], and [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]] campaigns.

She arrived off [[Kwajalein]] as a unit of Task Force 51 (TF 51), 30 January 1944. During Operation "Flintlock", she screened transports and provided rapid close support fire. On 15 February the task force sortied from Kwajalein to [[Eniwetok Atoll]] for operation "Catchpole". ''McCord'' at first screened the [[minesweeper]]s as they cleared the passages into the {{convert|388|sqmi|km2|adj=on}} lagoon and then screened the bombardment group as [[Engebi Island]], containing the atoll's only airfield, was secured, 17&ndash;18 February. On 21 February, she steamed back to the southern end of the lagoon for the bombardment of Eniwetok and [[Parry Island (Pacific)|Parry Island]].

By mid-March ''McCord'' had rendezvoused with TF 39 in the [[Bismarck Archipelago]] and for two weeks she cruised in the [[Ysabel Channel]] in support of landings at [[Emirau Island]], 21 March. She next escorted replacement troops from [[Purvis Bay]], [[Florida Island]], to Emirau. Returning to Purvis Bay at the end of April, she departed 1 May to escort tankers to refueling positions in the [[Solomon Islands|Solomons]] area. On 11 June, after 2 weeks of antisubmarine patrols in the area around [[Bougainville Island|Bougainville]] and [[New Georgia]], she arrived off [[New Ireland (island)|New Ireland]] to bombard an enemy tank repair installation, resuming escort duties upon its destruction. Interrupting her escort service between the [[Admiralty Islands|Admiralties]] and the Solomons on 23 July, she joined TF 52 at [[Saipan]] and took part in the shelling of [[Tinian]].

The Palau Islands offensive was next. She arrived off [[Peleliu]] on 11 September and remained through 30 September to support the forces landed on the 15th. On her arrival at Manus 4 October, ''McCord'' joined CarDiv 22, [[United States Seventh Fleet|7th Fleet]], as it prepared for operations in the central Philippines. She arrived at her assigned operating area east of the Philippines as landings were made at [[Suluan]] and [[Dinagat Island|Dinagat]], 17 October. On the 25th her task unit, 77.4.1, came under constant air attack as the [[Battle of Leyte Gulf#Battle off Samar|Battle off Samar]] raged {{convert|100|mi|km}} to the north. Escaping damage, ''McCord'' protected her unit's carriers and rescued their pilots. She returned to Manus 3 November, but was back off Leyte by the 16th to prevent enemy surface forces from attacking Allied forces, installations, and shipping in the central Philippines.

On 6 December, at [[Ulithi]], ''McCord'' joined the fast carrier force, TF 38. The force sortied from that island on 10 December and steamed to the Philippines to support the [[Mindoro]] landings by launching strikes against enemy airfields and harbors in the northern and central islands. Back at Ulithi by 24 December, they sortied again on 30 December. First they struck at [[Taiwan|Formosa]], 3&ndash;6 January 1945. Then, in quick succession, they raided enemy installations and shipping in [[Indochina]], southern Formosa, the [[China]] coast, the Philippines, eastern Formosa, and Okinawa. Constantly moving and always ready for targets of opportunity, the force's strikes were successful. While in the [[South China Sea]] on 11–12 January they sank or damaged almost 200,000&nbsp;tons of enemy shipping.

The force returned to Ulithi 23 January, remaining until 10 February. On 16 February, strikes were launched against [[Tokyo]] itself; on 18 February against [[Chichi Jima]]; and on 20 February against Iwo Jima in support of the [[United States Marine Corps|Marine]] units landed on 19 February. By 24 February, the planes from TF 58 were back over Tokyo and on 25 February they flew against defense installations in the [[Nagoya]]-[[Kobe]] area.

During March, ''McCord'' continued to operate in the screen of TG 58.4 as it concentrated its efforts against Okinawa and southern [[Kyūshū]] in preparation for the amphibious assault on the former 1 April. She remained in the [[Ryūkyū]] area until 12 May when she escorted the [[battleship]] {{USS|South Dakota|BB-57|2}} to [[Guam]]. She returned to Okinawa on 27 May for a final two weeks of combat. TG 58.4 then retired to Leyte Gulf, arriving 13 June.

''McCord'' departed four days later for the west coast and a navy yard overhaul. On 8 July she arrived at [[Puget Sound]], where she was docked when the Japanese surrender was announced. On 7 September she steamed to San Diego, reporting on 15 September to the Inactive Fleet.

===Postwar===
Decommissioning 15 January 1947, she remained berthed at San Diego until recommissioning 1 August 1951. Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, ''McCord'' departed San Diego 1 November and reported to ComDesRon 28 at Norfolk on 17 November. For the next year she operated along the east coast, cruising as far north as [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]] and as far south as the [[British West Indies]].

On 10 January 1953 the destroyer once again got underway for a western Pacific war zone. By 15 February she was off the west coast of [[Korea]] operating with carriers in TF 95. She remained in the [[Yellow Sea]] combat zone until mid-March when she received a week's availability at [[United States Fleet Activities Sasebo|Sasebo]]. On 26 March she joined TF 77 as it ranged the east coast of Korea providing shore bombardment and fire support services where needed by the U.N. forces. Departing the battleline 17 April, ''McCord'', joined TG&nbsp;96.7in exercises off Okinawa. She rejoined TF 77, 14 May, and remained in the [[Sea of Japan]] operations area until 5 June when her Korean deployment terminated and she got underway for the United States.

Steaming via [[U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay|Subic Bay]], [[Singapore]], [[Aden]], [[Suez]], and [[Gibraltar]], she arrived at [[Norfolk, Virginia]] 6 August. During the next months she operated off the southern east coast and in the [[Caribbean]]. She decommissioned 9 June 1954 and was berthed at Norfolk, where, as a unit of the [[Atlantic Reserve Fleet]], she has remained into 1969.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |last1=Silverstone |first1=Paul H. |title=The Navy of World War II, 1922-1947 |date=2008 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=978-0-415-97898-9|series=The U.S. Navy Warship Series}}
{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/m/mccord.html}}

==External links==
*[http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/534.htm NavSource.org DD-534]

{{Fletcher class destroyer}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCord (DD-534)}}
[[Category:World War II destroyers of the United States]]
[[Category:Cold War destroyers of the United States]]
[[Category:Korean War destroyers of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built in San Francisco]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:Fletcher-class destroyers of the United States Navy]]