USS Ross (DD-563)

David Ross. Captain Ross commanded Belvedere , a 14 gun private armed ship sailing out of Philadelphia, Pa., at the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. During the Quasi-War against the French on 12 January 1800, Belvedere sighted a brig and quickly overtook her, Ross beating to quarters and clearing for action. The enemy proved to be a French brig of 18 guns and 150 men. The French demanded that the Americans haul down their colors, but Ross unleashed a broadside that raked the French ship fore and aft. The ships fought for two hours, often within pistol shot, until the French brig sheered off. Belvedere suffered damage to her rigging, sails, and hull, but also survived.

Ross (DD-563) was laid down on 7 September 1942 by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp., Seattle, Wash.; launched on 10 September 1943; sponsored by Mrs. William J. Malone; and commissioned on 21 February 1944, Comdr. Benjamin Coe in command.

Ross completed her shakedown off California in early May 1944, and on 5 May sailed for Pearl Harbor, Hawaiian Islands. On 29 May she sortied with Task Force (TF) 52 for Eniwetok, whence the fleet sailed for Saipan and during Operation Forager : the beginning of the Marianas campaign. Attached to the carrier support group, Ross arrived on station in the operating area to the east of Saipan on 14 June. Through 19 June she remained in that area providing screening and plane guard services for the carriers. The destroyer then came about and headed east with escort aircraft carrier Kalinin Bay (CVE-68) to rendezvous with replacement aircraft from Eniwetok. On 25 June, the two ships rejoined the Saipan support force. Ross remained in the vicinity of Saipan and Tinian well into July, interrupting duty there only at the beginning of the month to escort another replacement aircraft run.

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From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Ross I (DD-563)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.