Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War

United States Navy — Destroyer

USS Turner (DD-834) — service history

This is the full service history. For the vessel's particulars, photograph and specifications, see the entry.

In the words of the US Navy. The account below is reproduced verbatim from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command — a work of the United States Government, in the public domain, and the only text on this site not written here.

Second World War 1939–1945

1944

The third Turner (DD-834) was laid down on 13 November 1944 at Bath, Maine, by the Bath Iron Works Corp.; launched on 8 April 1945; sponsored by Miss Louise Leahy, granddaughter of Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy; and commissioned on 12 June 1945 at the Boston Navy Yard, Cmdr. Ellis B. Rittenhouse in command.

Immediately following her commissioning, Turner began undergoing conversion to destroyer picket ship at Boston while her crew attended intensive specialized schools in preparation for picket duty. In mid-July, she arrived at Guantanamo Bay and, while she was undergoing shakedown in Cuban waters, Japan capitulated, ending World War II.

Late in August, the ship returned to Boston for post-shakedown availability. In the second week of September, she resumed training exercises in the Caribbean and in Atlantic coastal waters. On 8 October, she departed Norfolk and steamed, via Pensacola, the Panama Canal, and San Diego, to Hawaii, arriving at Pearl Harbor on 28 November. There, she prepared for duty in the Tokyo area and, on 10 December, departed the Hawaiian Islands and proceeded to Japan.

Post-war 1946–1949

1946

USS Turner (DD-834)
The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Turner (DD-834) in the 1940s. The description states that this photo was taken in 1948. However, it was probably taken earlier, as she is still painted in wartome Camouflage Measure 22. U.S. Navy — Official U.S. Navy photo NH 67815 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons

She operated out of Japanese ports with Task Group 55.4, Task Force 54, and other elements of the 5th Fleet until 24 March 1946 when she departed Yokosuka and proceeded via Midway to Pearl Harbor. She remained at Oahu until 29 May when she got underway and proceeded to Roi Island. In June and July, she participated in Operation "Crossroads," the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll, during which she was flagship of Destroyer Squadron 5 and supported airoperations for Section Baker of the tests. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 30 July, got underway again on 7 August, and steamed into San Diego harbor on the 13th. The ship operated along the west coast until August 1947, mainly participating in hunter-killer and fleet exercises.

1947

After loading ammunition at San Pedro, the destroyer, in company with Destroyer Division 132, departed that port on 26 August 1947; steamed via the Hawaiian Islands and Japan; and arrived at Tsingtao on 20 September. She visited various China coast ports before her return to San Diego on 5 May 1948. For nearly a year, she operated out of California ports, conducting reserve training cruises and inter-type exercises.

1949

Turner was reclassifted a radar picket destroyer on 18 March 1949. She departed San Diego on 4 April, steamed via the Panama Canal, and arrived at Newport, R.I., on 21 April 1949. There, she received additional electronic equipment enabling her to carry out her new duties. Throughout the 1950's, she conducted reserve training cruises, participated in fleet exercises, and frequently made 6th Fleet deployments. On her eighth Mediterranean cruise in 1958, she acted as a picket ship for Task Force 61 during the Lebanon crisis.

In 1959, she shifted homeport to Mayport, Fla., and continued to pursue the same duties. At the New York Naval Shipyard in 1960, she underwent a Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) overhaul which improved her radar and sonar capabilities in antiaircraft and antisubmarine warfare. In 1961, the Charleston Naval Shipyard installed a new variable depth sonar, adding to Turner's submarine detection equipment. Into the 1960's, she alternated frequent Mediterranean cruises with routine Atlantic training exercises, Atlantic picket duty, and special assignments. In 1962, she joined Task Force 140, the Project Mercury Recovery Force; and, in 1964, she added a Red Sea and Persian Gulf deployment to a Mediterranean voyage. In November and December of that year, she remained on station in the Caribbean in support of the Gemini II space shot.

Vietnam War period 1964–1975

1965

USS Turner (DD-834)
The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Turner (DDR-834) underway on 8 October 1965. Note the details of this final radar picket destroyer configuration, after FRAM II refit, including: variable depth sonar on stern, enlarged after superstructure, enlarged O1 level by fore stack, and SPS-30 radar aft. U.S. Navy — Official U.S. Navy photo USN 1114373 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons

Armed conflict flared in the Caribbean in April 1965; and, from 8 through 25 May, Turner operated with Task Force 128 in support of the American presence in the Dominican Republic. She again provided assistance to the American space program in February 1966 when she patrolled an alternate recovery station, at a point midway between South America and Africa, not far from the equator, as a backup site for a project Apollo landing.

1967

While in the Caribbean on routine training in August 1967, Turner conducted a search for a disabled motor boat which had been adrift in the Windward Passage with 11 passengers on board. After a four-hour hunt, she located and assisted the boat and its occupants. During her 14th Mediterranean deployment late in January 1968, she directed the fruitless search for the missing Israeli submarine Dakar; and, while operating with Independence (CVA-62) in the Mediterranean in October of that year, Turner rescued two survivors of a downed plane.

1970

Early in 1969, she completed her 15th Mediterranean deployment and returned to the United States. In April, she arrived at Mayport and was decommissioned there on 26 September. Her name was struck from the Navy list that same day, and, on 13 October 1970, she was sold to Southern Scrap Material, Ltd., New Orleans, for scrapping.

Other photographs

Held for this vessel, and not tied to any part of the account above.

USS Turner (DD-834)
The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Turner (DD-834) underway in 1945. Note the white painted SC- and SM-radars. USN — Official U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships photo 19-N-323876 available at Destroyerhistory.org — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons
USS Turner (DD-834)
The U.S. Navy radar-picket destroyer USS Turner (DDR-834) underway circa in 1961. U.S. Navy — U.S. Navy All Hands magazine December 1961 , p. 39 — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons
USS Turner (DD-834)
The Micro Serial Number is listed as 129370. Department of the Navy. Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Intelligence Division. Office of Naval Records and Library. (1922 - 10/10/1945) — This file was contributed to Wikimedia Commons by National Archives and Records Administration as part of a cooperation project. The donation was facilitated by the Digital Public Library of America , via its partner Digital Public Library of America . Record in source catalog DPLA identifier: 8ec144c8199081e6591b5057458683da National Archives Identifier: 101709702 — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons

References

Every work this entry draws on. There are no numbered markers in the text above: what we hold is the provenance of the page — this history, this article, these photographs.

  1. History Turner III (DD-834) Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Naval History and Heritage Command. A work of the United States Government, in the public domain — the only text on this site reproduced verbatim.
  2. Facts USS Turner (DD-834) Structured facts only — dates, dimensions, armament and fate. No wording is taken from it. Harvested 1 August 2026.
  3. Photograph USS Turner (DDR-834) underway in 1952 U.S. Navy — Official U.S. Navy photo NH 106882 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons
  4. Photograph USS Turner (DD-834) underway in 1945 USN — Official U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships photo 19-N-323876 available at Destroyerhistory.org — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons
  5. Photograph USS Turner (DD-834) in the 1940s U.S. Navy — Official U.S. Navy photo NH 67815 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons
  6. Photograph USS Turner (DDR-834) underway c1961 U.S. Navy — U.S. Navy All Hands magazine December 1961 , p. 39 — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons
  7. Photograph USS Turner (DDR-834) underway on 8 October 1965 U.S. Navy — Official U.S. Navy photo USN 1114373 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons
  8. Photograph USS TURNER - War Diary, 6-1-30-45 - DPLA - 8ec144c8199081e6591b5057458683da Department of the Navy. Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Intelligence Division. Office of Naval Records and Library. (1922 - 10/10/1945) — This file was contributed to Wikimedia Commons by National Archives and Records Administration as part of a cooperation project. The donation was facilitated by the Digital Public Library of America , via its partner Digital Public Library of America . Record in source catalog DPLA identifier: 8ec144c8199081e6591b5057458683da National Archives Identifier: 101709702 — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons