Kearny, N.J.
Kearny ( ) is a town in the western part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States and a suburb of Newark. As of the 2010 United States Census, the town's population was 40,684,commissioned 10 September 1943.
Namesake
Ralph Hickox was born in Washington, D.C. on 29 August 1903. Enlisting in the United States Marine Corps on 23 September 1921, he was appointed to the United States Naval Academy on 18 July 1923 and commissioned Ensign on 2 June 1927. Hickox served in a variety of ships and stations and was finally appointed commanding officer of the destroyer on 3 October 1941. He had been commissioned Lieutenant Commander on 1 July, of that year.
''Truxtun'' went aground in heavy seas off
St. Lawrence, Newfoundland
St. Lawrence is a town located on the Burin Peninsula of Newfoundland and Labrador. As of the 2021 Canadian Census, the population of St. Lawrence was 1,115, down from the 2011 Canadian Census of 1,244. Popular family names in the town include Tur ...
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
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
, ''Hickox'' departed
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...
21 November and reported to Pearl Harbor 12 December. Joining Admiral
Marc Mitscher
Marc Andrew "Pete" Mitscher (January 26, 1887 – February 3, 1947) was a pioneer in naval aviation who became an admiral in the United States Navy, and served as commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force in the Pacific during the latter half of ...
U.S. Fifth Fleet
The Fifth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It has been responsible for naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean since 1995 after a 48-year hiatus. It shares a commander and headq ...
's TF 58, later
U.S. Third Fleet
The United States Third Fleet is one of the numbered fleets in the United States Navy. Third Fleet's area of responsibility includes approximately fifty million square miles of the eastern and northern Pacific Ocean areas including the Bering ...
's TF 38) as part of the destroyer screen, ''Hickox'' sailed 16 January 1944 to participate in the first "neutralization" raids against Marshall Islands airfields. In the next few months she helped shepherd the powerful
aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
s through raids on Truk, the Marshalls, and New Guinea. On 1 April ''Hickox'' teamed up with the destroyer to destroy two small Japanese cargo vessels off
Woleai
Woleai, also known as Oleai, is a coral atoll of twenty-two islands in the western Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district in the Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia and is located approximately west-n ...
Island. She chalked up another enemy ship, a small picket boat, 13 June in the
Marianas
The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...
. After guarding the carriers as their planes launched initial strikes on both Wake Island and
Saipan
Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...
in early June, ''Hickox'' accompanied other units of the task force in patrolling western Marianas waters in anticipation of engagement with a large enemy surface force. These anticipations were met 19 June as the Battle of the Philippine Sea was joined. In this 2-day air struggle, the
Japanese fleet
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved following ...
lost 395 (92%) of its carrier planes, 31 (72%) of its 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
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high.
...
and Guam. On 11 September ''Hickox'' joined Admiral
William F. Halsey
William Frederick "Bull" Halsey Jr. (October 30, 1882 – August 16, 1959) was an American Navy admiral during World War II. He is one of four officers to have attained the rank of five-star fleet admiral of the United States Navy, the others ...
's Third Fleet in Philippine waters to protect carriers whose planes two days later launched initial strikes against the former American islands. After raids on Okinawa and
Formosa
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...
12–13 October, ''Hickox'' turned back to Philippine waters to participate in the 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
battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...
s, 10
cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles.
The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...
s, 4 carriers, 9 destroyers, and a
submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
. 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 Mindanao landings. In the savage typhoon which struck the Philippines 17 December, ''Hickox'' lost steering control in howling winds estimated at , but regained power and control in time to shepherd a group of
tanker
Tanker may refer to:
Transportation
* Tanker, a tank crewman (US)
* Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids
** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk
** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum ta ...
s 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 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
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Pen ...
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.
1951–1957
''Hickox'' recommissioned 19 May 1951, following the outbreak of the
Korea War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Korean War
, partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict
, image = Korean War Montage 2.png
, image_size = 300px
, caption = Clockwise from top:{{ ...
that accelerated the need for seapower. She arrived Newport, Rhode Island, her new home port, 13 October to join the Atlantic Fleet. After tactical exercises along the coast and in the Caribbean, she and the other destroyers of
Destroyer Squadron 20
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed i ...
(DesRon 20) sailed 6 September on what was to become an around-the-world cruise. ''Hickox'' spent two winter months on duty off Korea screening the fast carriers of Task Force 77, furnishing gunfire support, and patrolling along the peninsula. She and her sister ships returned to Newport in April 1953 via Singapore, Calcutta,
Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
to terminate their 7½-month cruise. Further exercises occupied her until 8 September 1954, when ''Hickox'' sailed for a 5-month cruise to Northern and Mediterranean Europe. NATO and fleet maneuvers as well as good-will visits consumed most of ''Hickox''s tour, see inset pics. Returning to the States 7 February 1955, ''Hickox'' made one more Mediterranean cruise in the summer of 1957 during which she stood by in the eastern Mediterranean to prevent further unrest and bloodshed in the wake of an attempted coup against King Hussein of Jordan. Returning to the States 30 August, ''Hickox'' sailed to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania two weeks later and decommissioned there to join the Atlantic Reserve Fleet 20 December 1957.
ROKS ''Pusan''
''Hickox'' was transferred to South Korea 15 November 1968, where she served in the Republic of Korea Navy as ROKS ''Pusan'', named after the city of Pusan.
''Pusan'' was stricken and broken up for scrap in 1989.