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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Murray (DM 2)
ex-DD-97



Call sign:
George - Sail - Dog - Tare

Call sign (1919):
Nan - Able - Xray - King
Wickes Class Destroyer/Stribling Class Light Minelayer:

  • Laid down 22 December 1917 at Fore River Shipbuilding, Quincy, Massachusetts
  • Launched 8 June 1918
  • Commissioned USS Murray, Destroyer No. 97, 21 August 1918 at Boston Navy Yard
  • Reclassified as a Light Minelayer, DM-2, 17 July 1920
  • Decommissioned 1 July 1922 at Philadelphia, PA and laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Philadelphia
  • Struck from the Naval Register 7 January 1936
  • Sold for scrap 29 September 1936 to the Schievone-Bonomo Corp. of New York, NY.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 1,191 t.
    1921 - 1188 t.
  • Length 314' 4½"
  • Beam 30' 11¼"
  • Draft 9' 2"
  • Speed 34 kts.
    1921 - 34.84 kts.
  • Complement 103
    1921 - 122
  • Armament: Four 4"/50 mounts, two 1-pounders, one depth charge projector and two depth charge tracks
    1921 - Two 1-pounders replaced by one 3"/23 mount
  • Propulsion: Four White-Foster boilers, two 12,100shp Parsons turbines, two shafts
    1921 - Four Yarrow boilers and two 27,430shp Curtis geared turbines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Murray 84k
    Namesakes:

    Commodore Alexander Murray and his grandson Rear Adm. Alexander Murray

    Commodore Alexander Murray - The elder Alexander Murray was born 12 July 1755 in Chestertown, Md. During the Revolution, he served as captain in the 1st Maryland Regiment, commanded several privateers, and was commissioned lieutenant in the Continental Navy 20 July 1781, returning to private life in 1785. Upon the organization of the U.S. Navy, Murray was commissioned captain 1 July 1798, and commanded Montezuma, Insurgente, and Constellation during the quasi-war with France; Constellation against the Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean 1801-1803; and Adams in home waters in 1805. From 1808 until his death 6 October 1821, Murray was superintendent of gunboats at Philadelphia, and from 8 July 1813 also was first commandant of the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

    Rear Admiral Alexander Murray - His grandson was born 2 January 1816 in Pittsburgh, Pa. He was appointed midshipman 22 August 1835 and participated in the capture of Alvarado, Tobasco, Tuxpan, Vera Cruz, and Tampico during the Mexican War. In the Civil War he commanded a combined Army-Navy operation up the York and Pamunky Rivers in February 1862, destroying 27 Confederate vessels while cruising within 11 miles of Richmond. He served in the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron during the rest of the war. In 1866-67 he commanded a special squadron cruising to Russia, then served as commandant of the Philadelphia Navy Yard, on the Lighthouse Board, and in command of the Pacific Station. He died 10 November 1884 in Washington, D.C.

    		 Tommy Trampp
    Photos added 4 March 2022
    Murray 17k
    Murray 178k Four Wickes class destroyer destroyers fitting out at Fore River on 20 June 1918, with USS Murray (DD-97, hull number 303) nearest to the camera and USS Stribling (DD-96, hull number 302) next in line. In the background is USS Bell (DD-95, hull number 301) and behind that USS Dyer (DD-84, hull number 279) History of War
    View the Murray (DM-2)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray and Underway Website
    Additional Resources and Websites of Interest
    NavSource Destroyer Pages, USS Murray (DD-97)
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