USS Marshall (DD-676) was a of the United States Navy.
Namesake
Thomas Worth Marshall Jr. was born on 22 December 1906 in Washington, D.C. He attended the United States Naval Academy beginning in 1926. Following graduation in 1930, Ensign Marshall served on the battleship and received flight training at Hampton Roads, Virginia and Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. He subsequently was an officer on board the cruisers and and the destroyer . Lieutenant (junior grade) Marshall was a member of the staff of Commander in Chief, Asiatic Fleet in 1934–1935.
Following instruction at the Submarine Base, New London, Connecticut, Marshall served on the submarine until 1937, when he began duty with the Office of Naval Communications, in Washington, D.C. Lieutenant Marshall became Executive Officer of the destroyer in 1939 and served on it for the rest of his life. Promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander, effective at the beginning of 1942, he was killed in action when Jacob Jones was torpedoed by U-578 and sunk off Cape May, New Jersey on 28 February 1942.
Construction and commissioning
Marshall was laid down by the Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Kearny, N.J., 29 April 1943; launched 29 August 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Thomas W. Marshall, mother of Lt. Comdr. Marshall; and commissioned 16 October 1943.
World War II
Marshall'''s first big assignment came while she was still on her shakedown cruise off Bermuda. Speeding from that area, she rendezvoused in mid-Atlantic with , 13 December 1943, to escort President Franklin D. Roosevelt back from the Big Three Conference at Tehran (28 November to 1 December).
On 6 January 1944, Marshall departed New York for Pearl Harbor, arriving on the 28th. She remained at Pearl Harbor, undergoing further training and providing escort services to battle-damaged ships returning for repairs, until mid-March. Then, with Task Group 58.2 (TG 58.2), she sailed for Majuro, arriving on the 20th.
The Fast Carrier Task Force (then 5th Fleet's TF 58, later 3rd Fleet's TF 38), with Marshall taking station in the antisubmarine screen, departed Majuro 22 March to conduct aerial sorties against Palau, 30th, and Woleai, 1 April. Marshall next participated in TF 58's strikes against Japanese installations at Wakde and Hollandia in New Guinea, 21 to 27 April. On the 29th, Truk was the recipient of the forces' aerial message, while on the 30th her battleships commenced the bombardment of Ponape and her cruisers shelled Satawan. In May, the force moved against Wake and Marcus Islands, with Marshall assigned to join in an antishipping sweep north of the latter.
The next month, the task force was called on to support amphibious operations in the Marianas. On the 17th, the force headed west to intercept a Japanese force reported en route to the Marianas to support enemy troops fighting on Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Rota, and Pagan Islands. On the 19th, the Battle of the Philippine Sea commenced. In the course of the 2-day battle, the Japanese Fleet lost three aircraft carriers and 395 carrier planes (92 percent of her carrier plane strength). Marshall was credited with an assist in splashing two of those planes. For the next month and a half, Marshall continued to support operations in the southern Marianas, interrupted only by participation in the strikes against Chichi Jima and Iwo Jima, 4 July, and against Palau, Ulithi, and Yap, 23 to 27 July.Marshall returned to Eniwetok in mid-August for voyage repairs and upkeep, departing again on the 23rd for operations in the Palau Islands. As a unit of TF 38 (formerly 58), she took part in the Palau and Philippine operations 6 to 24 September. On 12 September, she picked up 44 Japanese survivors from , sunk 18 August by .
After repair and replenishment at newly won Ulithi, Marshall's task group got underway 6 October for strikes against Okinawa, 10th, and Formosa, 12th to 14th. Marshall was then ordered to provide antiaircraft cover for during airstrikes against enemy strongholds throughout the Philippines. On the 22d, she rejoined her task group in a search for the enemy in the Sibuyan Sea and the Mindoro Strait. On the 25th, the Task Force moved north towards Cape Engaño, while Marshall joined TG 34.5 proceeding to San Bernardino Strait to intercept units of the Japanese Fleet withdrawing from Leyte Gulf. In the first hours of the 26th, was sighted and sunk by the group. Returning to the fast carrier force on the 31st, Marshall continued to operate in the Philippines until the end of the year.