USS Edson (DD-946) - Commissioning and Initial Service

Commissioning and Initial Service

USS Edson was named for Major General Merritt “Red Mike” Edson USMC (1897–1955), who was awarded the Medal of Honor while serving as Commanding Officer of the First Marine Raider Battalion on Guadalcanal, and the Navy Cross and Silver Star for other actions in world War II.

Edson was laid down on 3 December 1956 by Bath Iron Works Corporation, Bath, Maine; launched on 4 January 1958, sponsored by Mrs. M. A. Edson, widow of General Edson; and commissioned on 7 November 1958, with Commander Thomas J. Moriarty in command.

Edson called at Ciudad Trujillo and Caribbean ports while conducting shakedown training en route to Callao, Peru, where she lay from 18 to 21 February 1959 delivering supplies for the U.S. Embassy in Lima, Peru. She reached Naval Station Long Beach, California, her home port, on 2 March and through the remainder of the year perfected her readiness with exercises along the west coast. On 5 January 1960, she sailed from Long Beach for her first deployment in the Far East, during which she patrolled in the Taiwan Straits and took part in amphibious operations off Okinawa, and exercises of various types off Japan. On 29 April, she rescued three aviators from USS Ranger, whose A-3D aircraft had crash landed in the ocean. Edson returned to Long Beach on 31 May for an overhaul which continued through October. Edson spent the remainder of 1960 conducting training off San Diego.