USS Muir (DE-770) was a built for the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. She served in the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

 and provided escort service against submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

 and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.

She was named in honor of Kenneth Hart Muir

Kenneth Hart Muir

-Navy career:Muir enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve September 23, 1940 to serve as apprentice seaman until he was appointed midshipman February 14, 1941....

 who was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart

Purple Heart

The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...

 and the Navy Cross

Navy Cross

The Navy Cross is the highest decoration that may be bestowed by the Department of the Navy and the second highest decoration given for valor. It is normally only awarded to members of the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps and United States Coast Guard, but can be awarded to all...

 for his "outstanding courage and unselfish devotion to his men" when he went down with his ship after getting his men off before it went down.

Muir was laid down by Tampa Shipbuilding Co., Tampa, Florida

Tampa, Florida

Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....

, on 1 June 1943; launched on 4 June 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Witten H. McConnochie, sister of the late Lieutenant (jg.) Muir; and commissioned on 30 August 1944, Lt. Comdr. Theodore A. O’Gorman, USNR, in command.

World War II North Atlantic operations

Following shakedown

Shakedown (testing)

A shakedown is a period of testing or a trial journey undergone by a ship, aircraft or other craft and its crew before being declared operational. Statistically, a proportion of the components will fail after a relatively short period of use, and those that survive this period can be expected to...

 off Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

, British West Indies

British West Indies

The British West Indies was a term used to describe the islands in and around the Caribbean that were part of the British Empire The term was sometimes used to include British Honduras and British Guiana, even though these territories are not geographically part of the Caribbean...

, Muir operated as school ship

School ship

A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is especially used for ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classrooms....

 in the Chesapeake Bay

Chesapeake Bay

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...

 area from 16 November into December. On 9 December she sailed for Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, arriving off Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

 the 26th to begin a year of convoy

Convoy

A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...

 duty between the east coast and Mediterranean ports. She also served as part of a "Killer Group," Task Group

Task force

A task force is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology...

 22.13, so called because the primary duty was to hunt and destroy enemy submarines. Towards the end of the European war, Muir operated with Task Force

Task force

A task force is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology...

 63 which stymied the German U-boat

U-boat

U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

s' final thrust against Allied shipping in the North Atlantic.

End-of-War activity

When the news of Germany's surrender was received on 8 May 1945, Muir and her group began locating German submarines to accept their surrender. On 10 May she and approached through a dense fog, her black flag of surrender barely visible even at close range. She was turned over to two other escort ships for delivery to a U.S. port.

On 17 May Muir joined in escorting under guard publicized , with high ranking Luftwaffe

Luftwaffe

Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....

 officers and men German civilian technicians on board, to Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...

, arriving two days later. The escort ship continued on to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, mooring the 20th.

Post-War stateside duties

From 14 June Muir operated off Mayport, Florida, with , training carrier pilots for Pacific duty until Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 surrendered in mid-August. On 27 August she departed Mayport for Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

, arriving a day later.

After visiting Houston, Texas

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

, for Navy Day

Navy Day

Several nations observe or have observed a Navy Day to recognize their navy. The term is also used in Britain to mean an open day at a dockyard such as HMNB Portsmouth, when the public can visit military ships and see air displays, roughly along the lines of an American Fleet Week .- Argentina...

 on 27 October, she devoted November and December to a cruise testing "SOFAR

Sofar

Sofar may refer to:* Sofar bomb , a long-range position-fixing system that uses explosive sounds in the deep sound channel of the ocean...

," a new long-range air sea rescue method. She traveled 7,500 miles in the Atlantic dropping bombs for naval ships in the Bahamas to pick up the sound waves and plot the position of the destroyer escort as far away as Dakar

Dakar

Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...

, French West Africa

French West Africa

French West Africa was a federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan , French Guinea , Côte d'Ivoire , Upper Volta , Dahomey and Niger...

 (now Senegal

Senegal

Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...

).

In March 1946 Muir reactivated and was assigned to the Operational Development Force

Operational Test and Evaluation Force

The Operational Test and Evaluation Force serves as independent and objective agency within the United States Navy for the operational testing and evaluation of naval aviation, surface warfare, submarine warfare, C4I, cryptologic, and space systems in support Navy and U.S...

, with Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

, as her homeport, for service into late 1947.

Decommissioning and transfer to South Korea

In September 1947 she decommissioned and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Green Cove Springs, Florida

Green Cove Springs, Florida

Green Cove Springs is a city in Clay County, Florida, United States. The population was 5,378 at the 2000 census. As of 2010, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 6,908. It is the county seat of Clay County....

, until 2 February 1956 when she was delivered on loan under the Military Assistance Program to the Republic of Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

 at Boston Naval Shipyard. Struck from the Navy List

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

 on 1 July 1960, she continued to serve the South Korean Navy on loan as ROKS Kyongki (F-71) until she was stricken on 28 December 1977 and sent to the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

for cannibalization of parts.