USS Radford

USS Radford' may refer to:

USS Radford (DD-446)

USS Radford (DD-446), named for Rear Admiral William Radford, was a Fletcher-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

Radford was laid down by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company at Kearny, New Jersey on 2 October 1941, launched on 3 May 1942 by Radford's granddaughter Edith (Mrs. François E. Matthes) and commissioned on 22 July 1942.

History

Radford participated in the Battle of Kolombangara and the Battle of Kula Gulf. She engaged in an offensive sweep against the Tokyo Express, and received Presidential Unit Citation for the rescue of 468 survivors from USS Helena (CL-50). She attacked and sank the Japanese submarine I-19 on 25 November 1943, Received damage from a Japanese mine supporting the liberation of Luzon in December, 1944 and received a Presidential Unit Citation from Philippines Government, was decommissioned on 17 January 1946 and placed in reserve at San Francisco.

Radford was recommissioned on 17 October 1949, and operated with the United States Seventh Fleet in support of United Nations Forces during the Korean War. Following the armistice in 1953, she alternated operations along the west coast and in Hawaiian waters with annual deployments to the western Pacific with the Seventh Fleet. In 1960, Radford underwent an extensive Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM II) overhaul at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard.

USS Radford (DD-120)

The first USS Radford (DD–120) was a Wickes class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War I, later reclassified AG-22. She was named for William Radford.

History

Radford was launched on 5 April 1918 by Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company, Newport News, Virginia; sponsored by Ms. Mary Lovell Radford; and commissioned on 30 September 1918 at Norfolk Navy Yard, Lieutenant Commander Arthur S. Carpender in command.

Assigned to the Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet, Radford departed Norfolk on 12 October on a shakedown cruise to Melville, Rhode Island. She returned to Hampton Roads on 21 October to join the escort force for the Newport News section of Troop Convoy 76 bound for New York City and European waters.

Radford subsequently operated on the U.S. east coast into 1919, sailing southward to Cuba on 14 January 1919. While based at Guantanamo Bay, she also cruised to Guacanayabo Bay and Santiago, Cuba, before returning north on 13 March. Radford operated from Hampton Roads with the Atlantic Fleet from March until July 1919.