USS Harlan R . Dickson ( DD - 708 ) USS " Harlan R . Dickson " ( DD - 708 ) , an " Allen M . Sumner " - class destroyer , was named for Lieutenant Commander Harlan Rockey Dickson . The " Harlan R . Dickson " was launched 17 December 1944 by the Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co . , Kearny , N . J . ; sponsored by Mrs . Mildred Mae Studler , mother ; and commissioned at New York 17 February 1945 , Comdr . Paul G . Osier in command . History . After shakedown in the Caribbean , " Harlan R . Dickson " departed New York for the Pacific 5 August 1945 , but with the Japanese capitulation was ordered back to Solomons , Md . , for experimental mine work . She finally joined her squadron at Pearl Harbor 12 December and remained in the Pacific for tactical training until March 1946 . Returning to the east coast , " Harlan R . Dickson " engaged in further training until sailing 2 February 1947 for the first of what were to become regular cruises in the Mediterranean with the 6th Fleet in its tremendous mission of keeping the peace against Soviet intrigue . In addition to visiting many Mediterranean ports , the destroyer sailed into the Red Sea before returning to the States 14 August . This year established a pattern which " Harlan R . Dickson " was seldom to break : six months of duty in the Mediterranean alternating with training and fleet maneuvers along the East Coast and in the Caribbean . During her second tour with the 6th Fleet , " Harlan R . Dickson " served under the United Nations blue - and - white flag December 1948 - January 1949 as the world peace organization strove to mediate the Palestine crisis — only one in many that developed in the Mediterranean " Sea of History " from 1945 on . In 1953 she participated in at sea training . On her sixth Mediterranean cruise , 2 July to 4 December 1956 , " Harlan R . Dickson " played a key role in another crisis situation , this time evacuating American citizens from Haifa , Israel , as war threatened between Israel and Egypt . Her career entered still another phase September 1959 when she began service as a recovery ship on the Atlantic coast missile range to retrieve test capsules fired from Cape Canaveral , now Cape Kennedy . " Harlan R . Dickson " ' s constant participation in both fleet and NATO exercises to keep her fighting ability and readiness at a peak paid rich dividends in November 1962 as she joined a hunter - killer antisubmarine unit in the quarantine of Cuba during the Cuban missile crisis . " Harlan R . Dickson " joined Operation " Springboard " in the Caribbean , visiting San Juan and Santo Domingo before returning to Newport 4 February 1963 . On 7 March she commenced her 10th Mediterranean deployment with the 6th Fleet . While in the Persian Gulf , " Harlan R . Dickson " represented the United States in Khargex VI , an exercise designed for the perfection of working relationships with the Iranian and British Navies . After a brief stop in the Mediterranean she returned to Newport in September . On 2 January 1964 " Harlan R . Dickson " entered the Boston Naval Shipyard for overhaul . " Harlan R . Dickson " served in the 1st Naval District ( headquartered at Boston , Massachusetts ) as a United States Naval Reserve Training Ship . She provided Naval Reserve enlistees in their first year of service at the ranks of seaman , seaman apprentice , and seaman recruit with a two - week training cruise . The reserve cruises supplemented the " boot camp " training which was conducted at Great Lakes , Great Lakes , Illinois . The ship ' s routine for the cruises was to leave Boston , with USS Compton and rendezvous with a submarine off the New England coast , perform anti - submarine warfare exercises , and proceed to Halifax , Nova Scotia , Canada , for a brief " liberty " , where the Canadian Navy would host sailors in its enlisted club . During these cruises , enlistees were given the opportunity to experience shipboard life , including firing the weapon systems such as Hedgehog , depth charges , and 5 - inch ( 127 - millimeter ) 38 - caliber guns . In March 1964 , Harlan R . Dickson received her last active duty assignment , as one of two destroyers assigned to the Naval Destroyer School ( now Surface Warfare Officers School Command ) located at the U . S Naval Base , Newport , Rhode Island . The other ship was USS Gainard ( DD706 ) . The two ships provided opportunities for students at the school to put into practice knowledge gained in the classroom during training exercises in Narragansett Bay and deployments to the Caribbean . Decommissioning and disposal . " Harlan R . Dickson " was stricken from the Navy List on 1 July 1972 . She was sold for scrapping on 18 May 1973 .