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USS WILLIAM M. WOOD (DD-715 / DDR-715)


Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign - NKLF

Tactical Voice Radio Call Sign (circa 1968) - GRAB BAG

CLASS - GEARING As Built.
Displacement 3460 Tons (Full), Dimensions, 390' 6"(oa) x 40' 10" x 14' 4" (Max)
Armament 6 x 5"/38AA (3x2), 12 x 40mm AA, 11 x 20mm AA, 10 x 21" tt.(2x5).
Machinery, 60,000 SHP; General Electric Geared Turbines, 2 screws
Speed, 36.8 Knots, Range 4500 NM@ 20 Knots, Crew 336.
Operational and Building Data
Laid down by Federal Shipbuilding, Newark NJ. November 2 1944.
Launched July 29 1945 and commissioned November 24 1945.
Decommissioned October 2 1952.
Reclassified DDR-715 April 9 1953.
Recommissioned June 6 1953.
Reclassified DD-715 July 1 1964.
Completed FRAM upgrade March 1965.
Decommissioned and Stricken December 1 1976.
Fate Sunk as target in SINKEX, May 15 1983 in Readiex 1-83 off Vieques, Puerto Rico.

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Namesake
Wood 28kWilliam Maxwell Wood (May 27, 1819 - March 1, 1880) was an officer and surgeon in the United States Navy in the middle 1800s. He became the first Surgeon-General of the U.S. Navy in 1871, with the equivalent rank of Commodore after rising to Chief of the U.S. Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in the years following the American Civil War. In that role, Wood was instrumental in increasing the stature of the Naval Surgeon, by championing a bill eventually passed by Congress that increased the rank and compensation of physicians in the Navy, enabling the Navy to attract and recruit more qualified physicians.Wood is most remembered in U.S. Naval history for his daring journey through Mexico in 1846 at the onset of the Mexican-American War, where he eluded detection and capture as a U.S. spy in enemy territory and successfully provided vital intelligence leading to the possession of California by the Pacific Squadron, as well as providing intelligence information to the Secretary of the Navy in Washington regarding Mexican fortifications and military operations. Wood was also an accomplished writer, and authored three books chronicling his voyages with the Pacific and East India Squadrons, and his ideas on improving the U.S. Navy, as well as many literary articles for notable publications of his day.Bill Gonyo
USS William M. Wood (DD-715)
Wood 95kUndated, alongside the USS Arcadia (AD-23).Tommy Trampp
Wood 116kUndated image from the NAVSEA Journal.Bob Bush
Wood 57kUndated, location unknown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Wood 101kUndated, location unknown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Wood 103kUndated, location unknown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Wood 108kUndated, location unknown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Wood 150kUndated, location unknown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Wood 71kUndated, location unknown.Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET.
Wood 63kUSS William M. Wood (DD-715) steams around the end of Manhattan Island, enroute from her builder to New York Navy Yard for commissioning.
Wide World photo A-59828, bylined 20 January 1946.
Dave Wright
Wood 62kCirca 1945-1946Ronaurd G. Golby, Mailman 3rd class
Lawe 101kAt Guantanamo Bay during 1946, as seen from the USS Kearsarge (CV-33). From the collection of John R. Leone.Dave Leone
Wood
0571553
425kWilliam M. Wood (DD-715) entering San Francisco Bay, circa 1946-1949.Darryl Baker
Lawe 215kThe USS Valley Forge (CV-45) along with the USS William C. Lawe (DD-763), USS William M. Wood (DD-715), USS Lloyd Thomas (DD-764) and the USS Keppler (DD-765) during their 1948 World Cruise at Pearl Harbor.Bob Bush
Wood 84kUSS Yellowstone (AD-27) with destroyers and submarines alongside circa 1950. The destroyers are USS Rich (DD-820), Damato (DD-871), and William M. Wood (DD-715). One of the early Guppy conversion submarines is alongside to starboard.
Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 99871
Tony Cowart
Wood 86kUSS Yellowstone (AD-27) with destroyers and submarines alongside circa 1950. The destroyers are USS Rich (DD-820), Damato (DD-871), and William M. Wood (DD-715).
Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 99872
Tony Cowart
Wood 53kWestern Mediteranean October 1950.Marc Pich�
Wood 164kUSS William M Wood (DD-715) during Gunnery Shoot in Atlantic, June 1961 picture taken from USS Boston (CAG-1).Roy Williams
Wood 256kView from 1962 Welcome Aboard pamphlet.Ron Reeves
Wood 152kAt Genoa May 24 1962.Carlo Martinelli
Wood 248kAt Genoa May 27 1962.Carlo Martinelli
Wood 76kValletta, Malta June 20 1964.Irwin Albrecht, LT (SC), USN (Ret.)
Wood 185kWilliam M. Wood in drydock at Philadelphia NSY during her FRAM refit. Picture taken from front over of Philadelphia Inquirer Magazine, 29 November 1964. Officer on high reach is Captain Joseph J. Stillwell, Captain of the Yard.Ron Reeves
Wood   Wood
Change of Command pamphlet - January 20 1965
Ron Reeves
Wood 294kPost FRAM update image possibly in the Mediterranean.Michael Goughan
Wood 92kUSS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. (DD 850), USS William M. Wood (DD 715), and USS Charles F. Adams (DDG 2) at Barcelona, Spain, in late January 1970. If you look closely, you will notice that Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. was fitted with ULQ-6, while William M. Wood lacked this active countermeasures system.Fabio Pe�a
Wood 260kView from the mid 1970's, location unknown.Ron Reeves
Wood 85kThree views of the Wood from Spring 1973 Eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea as she passes by the Soviet Kashin class DDG Krasny Krim.Eugene Ivkin
Wood 159kAs above.Eugene Ivkin
Wood 120kAs above.Eugene Ivkin
Wood 98kWilliam M. Wood (DD-715) at Kiel, Germany in June, 1975.Gerhard Muller-Debus
Wood 49kPortsmouth, England July 7 1975.Marc Pich�
Wood 92kNorfolk, Virginia, August 1975.� Richard Leonhardt
Wood 146kWood passing under the Yorktown River Bridge in October of 1975 heading for the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station to off-load ammo prior to be being decommissioned.Dave Miller
Wood 198kCirca 1976 in the Eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. Wood passes by the Soviet Kashin class DDG Krasny Krim.Eugene Ivkin
Wood 81kMediterranean Sea, May 1976� Richard Leonhardt
Wood 120kMediterranean Sea, May 1976� Richard Leonhardt
Wood 85kMediterranean Sea, May 1976� Richard Leonhardt
Wood   Wood   Wood   Wood
Decommissioning pamphlet - December 1 1976
Ron Reeves
Wood 158kUSS Hawkins (DD-873) and USS William M. Wood (DD-715) at Philadelphia Navy Yard in May 1980.Ed Zajkowski
Wood 159kUSS Hawkins (DD-873) and USS William M. Wood (DD-715) at Philadelphia Navy Yard in May 1980.Ed Zajkowski
Wood 84kShip's patch.Mike Smolinski
Wood 65kShip's patch.Mike Smolinski
Wood 110kShip's patch.Mike Smolinski
Click here to see additional images of this ship on our FRAM Special Feature page

USS WILLIAM M. WOOD DD-715 / DDR-715 History
View This Vessels DANFS History entry at the Naval History & Heritage Command website

Commanding Officers
Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves


CDR George Rees Wilson    Nov 24 1945 - 1946

CDR Farris Thomas Farwell    1946 - 1947

CDR Thomas Richard Fonick    1947 - 1949

CDR Desmond Kiernan O'Conner    1949 - 1951

CDR Roger Farrington Miller    1951 - 1952

LCDR John McLaughlin    1952 - Sep 30 1952

(Decommissioned Sep 30 1952 - Jun 6 1953)

CDR John Sim Slaughter    Jun 6 1953 - Dec 8 1954

CDR Philip Stanley McManus    Dec 8 1954 - Oct 1957

CDR George Lawrence Block    Oct 1957 - Jan 31 1959

CDR James William Perkins Sr.    Jan 31 1959 - ? 1960

CDR Douglas Yates Munnikhuysen    ? 1960 - May 1961

CDR Harrison Grover Dudley Sr.    May 1961 - 1962

CDR Emory Parker Smith    1962 - May 20 1964

CDR Robert Arthur Baldwin    May 20 1964 - Jan 20 1965

CDR Robert Davison McCrary    Jan 20 1965 - 1966

CDR Royal Robert Ross    1966 - Aug 5 1968

CDR Charles Lee Royal Anderson    Aug 5 1968 - Feb 1970

CDR Charles (Chuck) Traub III    Feb 1970 - Apr 26 1971

CDR Charles Wilfred O'Reilly    Apr 26 1971 - Jul 7 1972

CDR George Tsantes Jr.    Jul 7 1972 - 1974

CDR John Baptist Castano    1974 - Mar 31 1976

CDR Warren Everett McLaine Jr.    Mar 31 1976 - Oct 1976


Crew Contact And Reunion Information

Contact Name: John (Dizzy) Dzubak
Address: 79108 Vermont Way, Greensburg, PA 15601
Phone: (724)837-2643
E-mail: [email protected]
Next Reunion: San Antonio, Texas, October 17-21, 2018

Note About Contacts.

The contact listed, Was the contact at the time for this ship when located. If another person now is the contact, E-mail me and I will update this entry. These contacts are compiled from various sources over a long period of time and may or may not be correct. Every effort has been made to list the newest contact if more than one contact was found.


Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
USS William M. Wood Web Site
Tin Can Sailors Website
Destroyer History Foundation
Official U.S.Navy Destroyer Website

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This page was created by Fred Willishaw (ex ARG-4, AS-11 & DD-692) and is maintained by David L. Wright
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Last Updated 25 March 2022