USS Hickox

	USS Hickox underway on 23 September 1951
History
United States
Name	Hickox
Namesake	Ralph Hickox
Builder	Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Laid down	12 March 1943
Launched	4 July 1943
Sponsored by	Mrs. Ralph Hickox
Commissioned	10 September 1943
Decommissioned	10 December 1946
Recommissioned	19 May 1951
Decommissioned	20 December 1957
Stricken	2 June 1975
Identification	Callsign: NKIJ; ; Hull number: DD-673;
Motto	Inveniemus Viam Aut Faciemus; (I Shall Either Find a Way or Make One);
Honours and; awards	See Awards
Fate	Transferred to South Korea, 15 November 1968
Badge
South Korea
Name	Busan
Namesake	Busan
Acquired	15 November 1968
Commissioned	15 November 1968
Decommissioned	1989
Stricken	1989
Fate	Scrapped, 1989
General characteristics
Class and type	Fletcher-class destroyer; Chungmu-class destroyer;
Displacement	2,050 tons
Length	376 ft 6 in (114.76 m)
Beam	39 ft 8 in (12.09 m)
Draft	17 ft 9 in (5.41 m)
Propulsion	60,000 shp (45 MW);; geared turbines;; 2 propellers;
Speed	38 knots (70 km/h; 44 mph)
Range	6,500 nautical miles (12,000 km; 7,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	329 officers and enlisted
Armament	5 × DP guns,; 10 × AA guns,; 7 × 20 mm AA guns,; 10 × 21 in (53 cm) torpedo tubes,; 6 × depth charge projectors,; 2 × depth charge tracks;

USS Hickox (DD-673) was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy, named for Lieutenant Commander Ralph Hickox (1903–1942).

Hickox was

launched 4 July 1943 by Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Kearny, N.J.; sponsored by Mrs. Ralph Hickox, wife of the late Commander Hickox; and commissioned

10 September 1943.

Namesake

Ralph Hickox was born in

Lieutenant Commander

on 1 July, of that year.

Truxtun went aground in heavy seas off

St. Lawrence, Newfoundland in Placentia Bay

on 18 February 1942, Hickox remained on the bridge directing rescue operations and was instrumental in effecting the rescue of many of the members of his crew. However, Hickox was swept from the bridge by the pounding seas and lost.

World War II

After shakedown in the

float planes

, and an estimated 50 land-based planes. During the famed "Marianas Turkey Shoot", as the Navy fondly termed it, Hickox was in on the kill of at least five aircraft and also rescued three splashed fliers. Japanese naval air never recovered from this defeat.

For the rest of the summer she remained with TF 58 as the carriers launched preliminary air strikes against enemy positions on

Battle for Leyte Gulf, Japan's last desperate effort to resist the overwhelming American advance across the Pacific. In four separate battles 24–26 October the once-proud Japanese fleet was devastated by the loss of three battleships, 10 cruisers, 4 carriers, 9 destroyers, and a submarine. Through 7 November Hickox remained with the Third Fleet, under almost constant Japanese air attack, to screen air strikes against Manila before retiring to Ulithi

.

Rejoining the carriers 14 November, Hickox escorted them to further strikes in the Philippines and 11 December support of the

savage typhoon which struck the Philippines 17 December, Hickox lost steering control in howling winds estimated at 115 knots (213 km/h; 132 mph), but regained power and control in time to shepherd a group of tankers to safety at Ulithi 23 December. Rejoining Task Force 58 1 February 1945, Hickox screened the carriers 16 February as they launched the first raids against Tokyo since the famed Halsey-Doolittle raid of April 1942. Further strikes against the Japanese home islands and in support of the already-launched Iwo Jima invasion kept Hickox at sea well into the spring. On 19 March the carrier Franklin was severely damaged by a a dive bomber and Hickox lowered her whaleboat and steamed in the listing ship's wake to rescue her crew. After rescuing some 70 men from the water, the daring destroyer sailed directly under the flaming carrier's fantail to rescue 18 men from the ship and 3 more from the water. In addition, Hickox's effective antiaircraft fire drove off two more kamikaze attacks on the damaged Franklin. After escorting the carrier to Ulithi 24 March, Hickox sailed 5 April to join support forces off Okinawa, where battle had been raging four days as American forces sought to take the Japanese bastion, last obstacle before invasion of the home islands

.

Off Okinawa Hickox engaged in screening and radar picket duties. While coming under fierce air attack, the battle-hardened DD gave as good as she received, downing and assisting in the kill of several Japanese planes. Detached from duty there 29 May, Hickox proceeded to Guam and from there sailed for home via San Pedro and Pearl Harbor. Steaming under the Golden Gate Bridge 6 July, the veteran warrior underwent repairs, her first since departing the States 18 months earlier, and was still there when the long Pacific war ended 2 September with the signing of the armistice in Tokyo Bay. Hickox decommissioned and went into reserve at San Diego 10 December 1946.