World War II After shakedown in the
Caribbean,
Murray served on escort duty in the
Atlantic Ocean, then sailed to join
Destroyer Squadron 25 at
Pearl Harbor in September 1943. Sailing with a carrier task force,
Murray took part in strikes on
Wake Island 5–6 October, then voyaged to the
South Pacific to support the landings on
Bougainville 8–9 November, splashing three enemy aircraft. Two days later, while covering
US 3rd Fleet aircraft carriers in a strike against
Rabaul,
Murray shot down two of a force of about 150 enemy aircraft attacking her formation. Hewing to a demanding pace of operations,
Murray was on
antisubmarine patrol in the
Gilbert Islands from 20 November to 8 December during the occupation of
Tarawa and
Abemama, then for the next month guarded shipping into the newly acquired islands. In January 1944
Murray performed outstandingly in fire support missions for the capture of
Kwajalein, then screened transports carrying invasion forces to
Eniwetok. Two months of escort duty in the western ocean routes followed, until she joined in the bombardment of
Kavieng,
New Ireland, 20 March. Joining the
7th Fleet Murray took part in the assault on
Aitape,
New Guinea, 23 to 28 April, downing another enemy aircraft during an
aerial torpedo attack. Rejoining the
6th Fleet in June, she screened amphibious craft during the assault on
Saipan, then sailed to
Guam for close-in fire support and transport screening duty 20 July to 26th. After patrol and escort duties for the consolidation of the
Mariana Islands until late in August,
Murray returned to the continuing operations around
New Guinea. She bombarded
Wewak 30 August to cover
British minelaying operations, and in September covered the landings on
Morotai. Returning to
Hollandia, she prepared for the
invasion of the Philippines, sortieing in escort of the transports for
Leyte. 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 the
Philippines immediately after the landings
Murray overhauled at
San Francisco, California, then in January 1945 escorted a
battleship division to Pearl Harbor while en route to join
Task Force 58. She screened the aircraft carriers and acted as picket during the first carrier raid on
Tokyo 16 February and attacks on
Iwo Jima and the
Ryukyu 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 the
Okinawa 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 Japanese
hospital ship Takasago 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. Rejoining her force, now
Task Force 38,
Murray guarded the fast carriers in the raids against
Honshū,
Hokkaidō, and
Kyūshū through the last 2 months of the war. In one of the most daring raids of the war,
Murray and others of her squadron penetrated
Suruga Bay, Honshū, 30 July to bombard the city of
Shimizu, perhaps the deepest penetration of Japanese waters by any surface craft during the war.
After World War II 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, and
Murray was ordered to intercept and take the craft into
Tokyo Bay for internment. Her boarding party received the swords of s officers that same day, and the submarine was escorted to the mouth of
Sagami Bay.
Murray was present in Tokyo Bay for the formal
Japanese surrender 2 September, then 3 days later sailed for the United States. Inactivated at
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard,
Murray decommissioned 27 March 1946, and went into reserve at
Charleston, South Carolina.
Korean War years 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. 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 aviation
cadets off
Pensacola, Florida. In June 1953, she sailed for her first deployment to the
Mediterranean, serving in the hunter killer force of the
6th Fleet. Her 1954 tour was marked by an extension to northern
European ports. In 1956,
Murray operated with and participated in a
NATO convoy escort exercise in European waters. During much of 1956 she underwent yard overhaul, then in 1957 sailed round
Cape of Good Hope for patrol duty in the
Persian Gulf, the usual access to which was blocked by the closing of the
Suez 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 1961
Murray formed part of
Task Group Alfa, an experimental development group working in antisubmarine warfare. The group usually operated off the
Virginia Capes, but in the summers of 1959 and 1960 participated in the annual summer
NROTC midshipmen training cruises, voyaging to
Canadian ports and
Bermuda.
1960s In late May 1961,
Murray was one of the rescue ships stationed along the route of
President John F. Kennedy's flight to
Paris, 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 the
Cuban Quarantine in October and November 1962 that forced Soviet missiles out of Cuba and averted grave international complications. At 1633 on 27 October 1962, the
Murray Deck Log contains the following entry: "Sonar contact bearing 212 2,000 yards." The
Murray sonar gang classified the contact as a possible submarine After several hours of "ping time" at 2050 hours the same date the
Murray 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." Thus
Murray was the first U.S. Navy destroyer to gain and hold contact with the first of three Soviet submarines forced to surface during the
Cuban Missile Crisis. After training off
New 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, visiting
French,
Spanish, and
Italian ports before returning to Norfolk 23 May 1964. She cleared Norfolk again 8 September for NATO
Arctic operations, crossing the
Arctic Circle 21 September, and visiting
Amsterdam 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 to
Boston Metals Co.,
Baltimore, Maryland, in 1966.
Murray received 11
battle stars for
World War II service. ==References==