USS ''Morrison'' (DD-560), a , was a ship of the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
, named for Coxswain
John G. Morrison (1838–1897), who received the
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...
for exceptional bravery during the
Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
.
Construction and Commissioning
''Morrison'' was laid down by the
Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp. of
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
,
Washington on 30 June 1942 and was
launched on the
4th of July
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'', a 1972 Soviet drama
...
, 1943, sponsored by Miss Margaret M. Morrison, daughter of Coxswain Morrison. ''Morrison'' was
commissioned into the U.S. Navy on 18 December 1943.
After shakedown off
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
, ''Morrison'' departed Seattle 25 February 1944 for the
South Pacific, via
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...
and the
Marshalls
Marshalls, Inc. is an American chain of discount store, off-price department stores owned by TJX Companies. Marshalls has over 1,000 American stores, including larger stores named Marshalls Mega Store (stores operating with HomeGoods combined), ...
. In mid-April the destroyer joined TG 50.17 for screening operations off
Seeadler Harbor,
Manus,
Admiralties, during the fueling of carriers then striking Japanese installations in the
Carolines.
Central Pacific campaigns
''Morrison'' returned to Pearl Harbor 9 May to train for the giant amphibious leap into the
Marianas
The Mariana Islands ( ; ), also simply the Marianas, are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly Volcano#Dormant and reactivated, dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean ...
. Departing Pearl 31 May via
Roi, Marshalls, she arrived east of
Saipan
Saipan () is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated Territories of the United States, territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Cens ...
13 June for a busy month. Her accurate gunfire supported the initial
landings on Saipan the 15th and provided close fire support thereafter. With little aid the crew fought off night air attacks 17 through 19 June. Of 40 enemy planes that approached at dusk the 17th, only 15 got by the attacks of the Navy's carrier interceptor planes; and ''Morrison'' shot down three of those.
On 2 August the destroyer rendezvoused off
Guam
Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...
with
Task Group 58.4 (TG 58.4) for flight operations following the
landings on Guam 21 July. Eight days later ''Morrison'' departed Guam for
Eniwetok
Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; , , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with its 296 people (as of 2021) forms a legi ...
, Marshalls, where she remained from the 13th until she got underway 29 August for the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, arriving off
Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...
the morning of 9 September. That same day, the beginning of a 2-day strike on Mindanao, a Japanese
convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...
of 50
sampans and freighters was sighted heading north. ''Morrison'' led the intercepting force which destroyed the 10 to 15 sampans that survived the strafing by planes. She pushed on for airstrike operations on
Peleliu
Peleliu (or Beliliou) is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu, along with two small islands to its northeast, forms one of the sixteen states of Palau. The island is notable as the location of the Battle of Peleliu in World War II.
...
,
Palau
Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands ...
; the Carolines; and
Luzon
Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...
,
Manila
Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
, and
Samar
Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...
Island, Philippines, through September.
On 2 October ''Morrison'' sailed with TG 38.3 for picket duty off
Okinawa
most commonly refers to:
* Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture
* Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture
* Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself
* Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...
, during the airstrikes there and on other Islands in the
Ryukyus 10 October. She continued on screen and plane guard operations off Formosa and northern Luzon during a 5-day attack beginning the 12th. On 16 October she screened
''Houston'' (CL-81) and
''Canberra'' (CA-70) as they retired to
Ulithi
Ulithi (, , or ; pronounced roughly as YOU-li-thee) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap, within Yap State.
Name
The name of the island goes back to Chuukic languages, Proto-Chuukic ''*úlú-diw ...
.
Philippines campaign
During the
Battle for Leyte Gulf, 23 to 26 October, ''Morrison'' operated off Luzon. On the 24th, she came to the aid of
''Princeton'' (CVL-23), badly damaged by a Japanese bomb, and picked up approximately 400 survivors in an hour and a half. The destroyer then pulled alongside ''Princeton'' to assist in fighting fire; she had just reached her position when the small
aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...
, drifting and rolling, wedged ''Morrisons mast and forward stack between her uptakes. ''Morrison'' managed to get clear and
''Birmingham'' (CL-62) took her place. Ten minutes later the after third of ''Princeton'' blew off. Not only did ''Birmingham'' suffer topside damage and heavy casualties, but ''Princeton'' was then so badly damaged she had to be sunk by
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...
es.
''Morrison'' debarked the ''Princeton'' survivors at Ulithi 27 October and got underway for the West Coast, via Pearl Harbor, in company with
''Irwin'' (DD-794) and ''Birmingham'', arriving
San Francisco, California
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
, 17 November. On 9 February 1945 the destroyer steamed back to the South Pacific, stopping at Pearl Harbor on the 15th.
Battle of Okinawa
After shore bombardment exercises in the
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii in the south to nort ...
, ''Morrison'' departed for Ulithi 3 March. By 21 March she had joined
Task Force 54 (TF 54) underway to support the
invasion of Okinawa. The destroyer arrived off the southern shores of Okinawa on the 25th, 7 days before the landings 1 April, and joined in the preparations of bombardment.
In the early morning of 31 March she sank
Japanese submarine ''I-8''. After
''Stockton'' (DD-646) made a positive sound contact off Okinawa and expended her
depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine
A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...
s in the attack, ''Morrison'' arrived on the scene to see the
submarine
A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...
surface, then immediately submerge. She dropped a pattern of charges which seconds later forced the sub to the surface, where it was sunk by gunfire. At daylight ''Morrisons small boats rescued the lone survivor.
The ship continued shore bombardment, night illumination, and screen operations off
Ōshima Beach. On the night of 11 April ''Morrison'' assisted
''Anthony'' (DD-515) in illuminating and sinking enemy
landing craft
Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. ...
heading north along the beach.
Three days later ''Morrison'' began
radar picket
A radar picket is a radar-equipped station, ship, submarine, aircraft, or vehicle used to increase the radar detection range around a nation or military (including naval) force to protect it from surprise attack, typically air attack, or from c ...
duty. Her first two stations, southwest of Okinawa, were occasionally raided at night. She replaced
''Daly'' (DD-519) at the third station 28 April after the other destroyer was hit by a
kamikaze
, officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...
.
On 30 April ''Morrison'' was shifted to the most critical station on the picket line. After 3 days of bad weather had prevented air raids, the dawn of 4 May was bright, clear, and ominous. At 07:15 the
combat air patrol
Combat air patrol (CAP) is a type of flying mission for fighter aircraft. A combat air patrol is an aircraft patrol provided over an objective area, over the force protected, over the critical area of a combat zone, or over an air defense area, ...
was called on to stop a force of about 25 planes headed toward ''Morrison'', but some got through.
The first attack on ''Morrison'', a main target as fighter-director ship, was a suicide run by a "
Zeke". The plane broke through heavy
flak
Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-bas ...
to drop a bomb which splashed off the starboard beam and exploded harmlessly. Next a "
Val" and another "Zeke" followed with unsuccessful suicide runs. About 08:25 a "Zeke" approached through intense antiaircraft fire to crash into a stack and the bridge. The blow inflicted heavy casualties and knocked out most of the electrical equipment. The next three planes, all old twin-float
biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...
s, maneuvered, despite heavy attack, to crash into the damaged ship. With the fourth hit, ''Morrison'', heavily damaged, began to list sharply to starboard.
Few communication circuits remained intact enough to transmit the order to abandon ship. Two explosions occurred almost simultaneously, the bow lifted into the air, and by 08:40 ''Morrison'' had plunged beneath the surface. The ship sank so quickly that most men below decks were lost, a total of 152.
In July 1957 the sunken hull of ''Morrison'' was donated, along with those of some 26 other ships sunk in the Ryukyus area to the
Government of the Ryukyu Islands
The was the self-government of native Okinawans during the American occupation of Okinawa Prefecture, Okinawa. It was created by proclamation of the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands (USCAR) on April 1, 1952, and was ab ...
for salvage.
''Morrison'' received eight
battle star
A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or service period. T ...
s for
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
service.
References
*Brown, David. ''Warship Losses of World War Two.'' Arms and Armour, London, Great Britain, 1990. .
*
External links
USS ''Morrison'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison
Morrison (DD-560)
Ships built in Seattle
World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean
1943 ships
Morrison (DD-560)
Ships sunk by kamikaze attack
Maritime incidents in May 1945
Destroyers sunk by aircraft
Naval magazine explosions