Norman Scott (DD-690)
1943-1973
(DD-690: dp. 2,050; l. 376'6"; b. 39'4"; dr. 17'9"; s. 37 k.; cpl. 336; a. 5 5", 5 40mm., 7 20mm., 10 21" tt.; cl. Fletcher)
Norman Scott, born 10 August 1889 in Indianapolis, Ind., was appointed midshipman 17 June 1907, graduated from the Naval Academy in 1911, and received his first command, a group of eagle boats, in 1919. During peacetime, he commanded Paul Jones and Pensacola. Commissioned Rear Admiral 16 June 1942, he commanded a strike force in the Gaudalcanal campaign. On the night of 12/13 November 1942, he led his force against a numerically superior Japanese force in a desperate struggle to prevent the Japanese from turning back our first offensive action in the Pacific. He was killed aboard his flagship San Francisco during the action, and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his intrepid leadership.
Norman Scott (DD-690) was laid down 26 April 1943 by Bath Iron Works, Bath, Me.; launched 28 August 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Norman Scott; and commissioned 5 November 1943, Comdr. Seymour D. Owens in command.
On 14 January 1944, Norman Scott left Boston escorting Canberra (CA-70) to Pearl Harbor, arriving 1 February. Immediately she gave service in the Marshall Islands Campaign, guarding Gambier Bay (CVE-74) to newly-won Majuro. She returned to Pearl Harbor to prepare for the Marianas assault, during which she escorted heavy bombardment ships as well as conducting fire support missions of her own, during the invasion of Saipan, 15 June, and on Tinian. While firing on the latter 24 June, she was hit by counterfire and lost her captain and 21 others killed, and 50 wounded. Temporary repairs were made at Saipan, and on the 28th she sailed for Pearl Harbor and Mare Island, where permanent repairs were completed 21 October. Norman Scott trained her new crew in Hawaiian waters, then sailed for Manus, from which she escorted transports to the Philippines until 9 February 1945. She then joined the fast carrier task forces of the 5th and 3rd Fleets ranging the western Pacific for strikes which supported the assaults on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Later in the war, she closed the Japanese home shores as battleships bombarded them.
After supporting the occupation of the Japanese naval base at Yokosuka, Norman Scott returned briefly to Okinawa, then proceeded to the west coast, arriving for Navy Day (27 October) celebrations at Tacoma, Wash. After operating out of San Francisco, she decommissioned 30 April 1946 and was berthed in reserve at San Diego, moving in 1947 to Mare Island where she remains into 1970.
Norman Scott received 5 battle stars for World War II service.
