USS Marsh (DE-699) was a of the United States Navy.
Namesake
Benjamin Raymond Marsh Jr. was born on 11 October 1916 in Lansing, Michigan. He enlisted in the Naval Reserve on 17 August 1940 at Detroit, Michigan. His enlistment terminated 13 February 1941, and he was appointed midshipman in the Reserve the following day, receiving his commission as ensign on 15 May 1941. Initially assigned to the seaplane tender , he was transferred on 4 November 1941 to . Ensign Marsh was declared dead following the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.
Construction and commissioning
Marsh was laid down on 23 June 1943 at the Defoe Shipbuilding Company in Bay City, Michigan. She was launched on 25 September 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Ben R. Marsh, mother of Ensign Marsh; and commissioned on 12 January 1944.
World War II
Following a Bermuda shakedown cruise, Marsh conducted training exercises and escorted convoys along the northeast coast. On 25 March, she steamed from New York, heading for Plymouth, England, on her first trans-Atlantic convoy. She returned to the East Coast on 1 May, and on 23 May, sailed for the coast of North Africa. The destroyer escort accompanied two more convoys between those coasts before being assigned to the Mediterranean Theater. Entering the Mediterranean through the Strait of Gibraltar on 9 July, Marsh escorted convoys between North Africa, Malta, and southern Italy until mid-August. On 14 August, she sailed from Naples with the assault forces for "Operation Dragoon", the invasion of Southern France. She remained in the Mediterranean for the next month providing gunfire support and convoying supplies in the area.
With the successful establishment of another major crack in the crumbling front of the Third Reich, Marsh was reassigned to the Pacific. She departed Mers El Kébir, Algeria, on 28 September, transited the Panama Canal in mid-October, and arrived at Eniwetok on 20 December. For the next five months, she escorted convoys to Guam, Saipan, Ulithi, and Iwo Jima.
In May 1945, Marsh joined in the active pacification of bypassed islands in the Marianas. Broadcasting propaganda messages in Japanese and Okinawan, she sailed among the various islands of that group, including Asuncion, Anatahan, Alamagan, Sarigan, Maug, and Agrihan, taking on prisoners as they surrendered. Where the broadcasts were not successful, she escorted landing parties and provided gunfire support for the completion of their missions. By mid-July, resistance on some islands remained stiff. Marsh, flagship of the Northern Marianas Expeditionary Force, continued to lead her small force against the holdouts in order to provide safe-ditch areas for pilots returning to Allied bases from raids on the enemy's home islands. With the securing of the islands, weather stations and aircraft beacons were set up to further aid the pilots.
On 11 August, Marsh detached from the Expeditionary Force, and sailed for Okinawa. Resuming escort duties, she steamed back to the Marianas and then on to Tokyo. Departing Tokyo on 31 August, she sailed for Pearl Harbor, arriving there on 24 September. Then she took on equipment which transformed her into a mobile power unit. In this conversion, an electric generator and power cables replaced her torpedo tubes. With this new asset, she returned to Guam on 26 October to provide ship-to-shore power services until the end of the year.
1946–1952
The destroyer-escort returned to the United States in early 1946 for shipyard overhaul at San Pedro, Los Angeles. On 16 May, she once again departed for the South Pacific. Arriving at Kwajalein on 31 May, she provided power to that island until September. During her tenure there, a slight mishap occurred. A group of sailors while on leave left the ship and proceeded to burglarize a large liquor storehouse that was on the island. They were discovered by Marine MP's that were stationed on the island. None of them were apprehended, but it is known that those who committed the robbery were from the Marsh because a small dinghy belonging to the Marine Detachment was stolen that night as well, and tied up alongside the destroyer. The officer in charge of the division claimed that it was theirs and that the liquor had been stolen by sailors on board the Marsh. The captain of the vessel staunchly denied the claims. No arrests were made and the small dinghy remained with the Marsh at least until 1947. She then sailed for Guam where she received orders for Tsingtao and Fusan, Korea where the 7th Fleet lent support to the aims of American policy in China and in the United States occupation zone of Korea.