USS J. Richard Ward

History
United States
Namesake	James Richard Ward
Builder	Brown Shipbuilding Houston, Texas
Laid down	30 September 1942
Launched	6 January 1943
Commissioned	5 July 1943
Decommissioned	13 June 1946
Stricken	2 January 1971
Fate	Sold for scrapping 10 April 1972
General characteristics
Class and type	Edsall-class destroyer escort
Displacement	1,253 tons standard; 1,590 tons full load;
Length	306 feet (93.27 m)
Beam	36.58 feet (11.15 m)
Draft	10.42 full load feet (3.18 m)
Propulsion	4 FM diesel engines,; 4 diesel-generators,; 6,000 shp (4.5 MW),; 2 screws;
Speed	21 knots (39 km/h)
Range	9,100 nmi. at 12 knots; (17,000 km at 22 km/h);
Complement	8 officers, 201 enlisted
Armament	3 × single 3 in (76 mm)/50 guns; 1 × twin 40 mm AA guns; 8 × single 20 mm AA guns; 1 × triple 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes; 8 × depth charge projectors; 1 × depth charge projector (hedgehog); 2 × depth charge tracks;

USS J. Richard Ward (DE-243) was an

James Richard Ward who was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his heroic efforts under fire on the USS Oklahoma (BB-37). She was launched by Brown Shipbuilding Co., Houston

World War II North Atlantic operations

Following shakedown training in waters off

J. Richard Ward underwent modernization at Boston Navy Yard preparatory to transfer to the Pacific Fleet. She sailed 28 June 1945, for refresher training in the Caribbean, then sailed via the Panama Canal for Hawaii. En route, she received word of the Japanese surrender. After her arrival Pearl Harbor 1 September, the ship screened flight operations with Tripoli.

The veteran destroyer escort returned to San Diego 17 October 1945. After transiting the Canal and stopping at Norfolk, she arrived

Navy list

2 January 1971, and she was sold for scrapping on 10 April 1972.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.