USS McNair ( DD - 679 ) USS " McNair " ( DD - 679 ) was a " Fletcher " - class destroyer of the United States Navy , named for Rear Admiral Frederick V . McNair , Sr . , ( 1839 – 1900 ) . " McNair " was laid down 30 June 1943 by the Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co . , Kearny , N . J . ; launched 14 November 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . F . V . McNair , Jr . , daughter - in - law of Rear Admiral McNair ; and commissioned on 30 December 1943 , Commander M . L . McCullough , Jr . , in command . Service history . World War II . " McNair " departed New York on 5 March 1944 for the Pacific . By 14 June , as a unit of Destroyer Squadron 54 ( DesRon 54 ) , she was in the screen for the battleship s that opened their guns against Japanese shore installations on Saipan . For the next 19 days , she provided fire support and carried out antisubmarine patrols . On 3 July , she was detached from TF 52 to escort ships between Eniwetok and Saipan . Rejoining that force on the 25th , she provided fire and screening support for the invasion of Tinian . Detached again 2 August , " McNair " steamed to Guadalcanal to prepare for the next offensive operation , the Palaus . From 6 – 21 September , she supported the land forces effecting the capture and occupation of the southern Palaus with counterbattery and harassing fire . After the battle of Angaur , she sailed south to Manus Island , the staging area for the Leyte invasion . Arriving in the Leyte Gulf transport area on 20 October , " McNair " took up antisubmarine patrol duty to protect ships and troops as the latter began to storm the shore at Dulag . In the first hours of the 25th , she remained at her station to cover the entrance to Leyte Gulf as her sister ships of DesRon 54 conducted their much - heralded night torpedo attack on Japanese men - of - war steaming toward the northern end of Surigao Strait and defeat under the guns of Rear Admiral Jesse B . Oldendorf ’ s battleline . The next day , she got underway for Hollandia where she took up escort work , ensuring the safe arrival of reinforcements at Leyte . Then she sailed back to the Solomons for rehearsals for the assault on Luzon . Clearing Guadalcanal on 25 December , she screened transports to Manus , continuing on to Lingayen Gulf with them on 2 January 1945 . She entered the gulf on 11 January . There , until the 14th , she provided close fire support and met the attacks of " kamikaze s " with skill . She then joined the fast carriers for strikes in support of the Iwo Jima offensive . By 16 February , she was 72 miles ( 133 km ) off Honshū , screening the carriers as their planes struck at the Tokyo - Yokohama area , thus keeping Japanese planes at home while landings were made on Iwo . The force next moved south to provide air cover over the embattled island . On the 21st , " McNair " helped fight off " kamikaze " and torpedo planes , splashing two of the latter , and then escorted her to Eniwetok for repairs . On 18 March , the destroyer was back with the carriers for raids on the Nansei Shoto in preparation for the upcoming Okinawa campaign . On 1 April , they provided close support as troops landed on that enemy bastion . " McNair " remained off Okinawa to aid in fighting off the daily air attacks until 27 April , when she returned to Ulithi for repairs . Returning to Okinawa on 25 May , she conducted further shore bombardment and antiaircraft patrol missions before returning on 13 June to Leyte , the staging area of the fast carriers ’ last deployment against Japan . The force steamed north on 1 July , and for the next month and a half ranged the coasts of the enemy ’ s home islands , raining destruction on industrial and military targets on Honshū , Hokkaidō , and the Kuriles . On 12 August , after her guns had pounded Paramushiro in the Kuriles , " McNair " headed for the Aleutians . At Adak , Alaska on the 14th , she received news of the Japanese surrender and with that news , new orders to return to Japan for occupation duty in the Aomori - Ominato area . Two months later , on 12 October , she departed for the United States , arriving at San Francisco , Calif . on 4 November . At San Diego on 28 May 1946 , she decommissioned and joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet . 1951 - 1963 . In 1950 , world tension increased as the divided country of Korea became the site of overt hostilities . " McNair " was soon taken out of mothballs , recommissioning 6 July 1951 . Before the end of the year she had reported for duty in the Atlantic Fleet . On 6 September 1952 , she departed her home port , Newport , R . I . , for a world cruise that took her through the Panama Canal to Korea , where she served as gunfire support ship for United Nations troops and as guardian of carriers of the 7th Fleet . After 3 months in the combat area , she transited the Suez Canal en route home , arriving Newport 11 April 1953 . In July she headed back across the Atlantic for a midshipman training cruise to northern Europe , followed by her first deployment with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean . " McNair " remained on the east coast until 18 April 1956 , when she sailed on 72 hours notice for the Middle East . There , she cruised the Red Sea and along the northern Egypt ian coast until mid - July . On 20 July , she cleared Gibraltar and by the 28th was back at Newport . Tension in the Middle East remained high , and in May 1957 " McNair " was back in the Mediterranean . Transiting the Suez Canal 22 May with her division , DesDiv 202 , she again cruised in the Red Sea area until July . She then returned to the Mediterranean for 6th Fleet operations , departing for Newport 22 August . On June 1958 , " McNair " again sailed eastward to help deal with another explosive situation in the politically unstable eastern Mediterranean area . From 23 July to 20 August she patrolled off Lebanon . In mid - September , tension decreased and the destroyer departed for Newport , arriving on the 30th . " McNair " s 1959 6th Fleet deployment was followed by assignment to the 4th Naval District as a Naval Reserve training ship , based at Philadelphia , Penn . On 13 August 1961 , the Brandenburg Gate between East and West Berlin was closed and construction on the Berlin Wall was begun by East Germany . As tension in the city , and the world , increased , Allied garrisons were reinforced and ships of the Allied navies stood by to await developments . " McNair " s reserve crew was recalled to active duty and the destroyer again joined the active fleet for operations along the east coast and in the Caribbean . In mid - February , she sailed on her last European deployment , a 5 - month cruise to northern European ports . By 7 September , she had resumed her status as a Naval Reserve training ship and had returned her reservist crew to civilian life . In August 1963 , she entered the Philadelphia Navy Yard for preinactivation overhaul . Decommissioning there on 30 December , she joined the Philadelphia Group , Atlantic Reserve Fleet . " McNair " was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 December 1974 . She was sold on 10 June 1976 and broken up for scrap . Awards . " McNair " received eight battle star s for World War II service and two for the Korean War .