USS McGowan ( DD - 678 ) USS " McGowan " ( DD - 678 ) was a " Fletcher " - class destroyer of the United States Navy , named for Rear Admiral Samuel McGowan ( 1870 – 1934 ) . " McGowan " was laid down 30 June 1943 by the Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co . , Kearny , N . J . launched 14 November 1943 , sponsored by Mrs . Rose McG . Cantey , sister of Rear Admiral McGowan , and commissioned 20 December 1943 , Commander James B . Weller in command . World War II . Post shakedown training completed in time to participate in the Marianas campaign , " McGowan " arrived at Roi , Kwajalein Atoll , 31 May 1944 . Ten days later she sailed with Task Group 52 . 17 ( TG 52 . 17 ) for Saipan . On 14 June she screened the bombardment ships . The next day , during the invasion of Saipan she added fire support to her duties , disposing of a fuel dump and artillery emplacements endangering forces on the beach . As the beachhead expanded , " McGowan " continued to support the assault forces with counter - battery and harassing fire until the 23d , when she retired to Eniwetok . Next assigned to TG 53 . 1 she screened the transports carrying troops to Guam , remained through the initial landing operations , and then set course back to Saipan . There she rejoined TG 52 . 17 for screening and fire support missions during the Tinian phase of the conquest of the Marianas . At the end of July " McGowan " sailed to Guadalcanal to prepare for the amphibious assault on the Palaus . Her TG 32 . 2 , sortied 8 September , arriving in the transport area east of the Palaus on the 15th . " McGowan " remained in that area until the 17th when , with her transport group she moved toward Angaur Island . There she took position in the antisubmarine screen , remaining through the 22d . The destroyer then cruised south to Manus Island , the staging area for the upcoming Leyte operation . On 11 October she got underway , screening LSTs and LCI s of the 7th Fleet to Leyte . During the assault on Dulag , 20 October she served as fighter - director for aircraft covering the landings . In the early hours of the 25th she participated in DesRon 54 ' s torpedo attack on Japanese men - of - war , weakening them as they steamed Up Surigao Strait into defeat at the hands of Rear Admiral Jesse B . Oldendorf and his battleline . Within 48 hours " McGowan " was underway for Hollandia , from where she screened convoys to the Philippines until after the Mindoro landings in December . She sailed into Lingayen Gulf , 11 January 1945 , to take part in the Luzon offensive . As part of the antiaircraft screen off the San Fabian beachhead , she warded off the kamikaze suicide planes of the Japanese Special Attack Corps until the 14th , when she returned to escort work . At the end of the month she joined the fast carriers ( then 5th Fleet ' s Task Force 58 , later 3rd Fleet ' s TF 38 ) , getting underway with them 8 February . Speeding north , they struck at Honshū in mid - February . Next , setting a southerly course , they supported the Iwo Jima campaign and then , in March returned to the Japan ese home islands for further strikes . Throughout April and May they provided support for the troops fighting on Okinawa as they struck at enemy military and industrial targets from Formosa to Kyūshū . Replenishing in the Philippines in early June , they extended their range northward again and by 1 July were headed for objectives on Honshū , Hokkaidō and the Kuriles . Following the strikes on the Kuriles , " McGowan " was detached from TF 38 and ordered back to the west coast for overhaul . While at Adak , Alaska , 14 August , she received word of the Japanese surrender . Assigned to the 9th Fleet she steamed back to Japan for occupation duty in the Ominato Naval Base area . On 12 October she departed Honshū for the United States . Arriving in November she underwent overhaul , and on 30 April 1946 she decommissioned and entered the San Diego Group , Pacific Reserve Fleet . 1951 – 1960 . Less than 6 years later the outbreak of hostilities in Korea required an expansion of the active fleet . " McGowan " recommissioned 6 July 1951 and by 1952 had transited the Panama Canal and reported for duty in the Atlantic Fleet . By May she was involved in training for Far Eastern deployment . She departed Newport , R . I . 6 September and arrived at Yokosuka , Japan 20 October . On 17 November , following operations with TF 96 off Okinawa , " McGowan " rendezvoused with TF 77 in the combat area . As a unit of the U . N . Naval Force she cruised along the Korean east coast providing close fire support for U . N . troops and periodically took station off Wonsan to bombard . Upon leaving the battle area she called at Buckner and Subic Bay s , Singapore , Calcutta , Aden , Suez , and Gibraltar , arriving Newport 11 April 1953 . Home ported there , " McGowan " operated on the eastern seaboard , deploying annually to the Mediterranean , for the next 7 years . During her 1956 – 58 oversee deployments she was involved in peace keeping operations in the volatile eastern Mediterranean . In the spring of 1956 she cruised in the Red Sea area and then the Port Said area as British troops withdrew from the Suez Canal zone , returning to Newport before nationalization of the canal . Subsequent events led , in the fall , to the brief war between British , French , Israeli , and Egypt ian forces . Tension remained high and in May 1957 " McGowan " was back in the Mediterranean . On the 22d , she , with three other ships of Destroyer Division 202 ( DesDiv 202 ) , became the first warships to transit the Suez Canal since its reopening to maximum draft ships ( 9 April 1957 ) . She then cruised in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf to insure safe passage of American merchant shipping to Israel and Jordan . By late spring of 1958 , as " McGowan " again returned to the eastern Mediterranean , Jordan and Lebanon were threatened with coups d ' état in the continued struggle for leadership of the Arab world . In July , President Camille Chamoun of Lebanon requested the aid of the United States in insuring the stability of his government , while Jordan made a similar request to Britain . On the 15th , the 6th Fleet stood off the Lebanese coast while landing the Marines . On the 16th , " McGowan " arrived from another tense area , Cyprus . She remained at Beirut through the 20th , then got underway to take a patrol station off the coast , remaining until 1 August . She resumed operations to the north , and in September departed for Newport . arriving on the 30th . SPS " Jorge Juan " . In October 1960 " McGowan " was designated for transfer to the Government of Spain on a renewable 5 - year loan under the terms of the Military Assistance Program . On 30 November 1960 , at Barcelona , " McGowan " decommissioned and the following day became the Spanish Navy ' s SPS " Jorge Juan " ( originally with hull number 45 , designated D 25 in 1961 ) . " Jorge Juan " was stricken from the Spanish Navy list on 15 November 1988 , then scrapped . Awards . " McGowan " received nine battle star s for World War II service , and two for Korean War service .