Description
Thomas Worth Marshall Jr. was born on 22 December 1906 in Washington, D.C. He attended the United States Naval Academy beginning in 1926. Following graduation in 1930, Ensign Marshall served on the battleship USS Nevada and received flight training at Hampton Roads, Virginia and Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. Promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander, effective at the beginning of 1942, he was killed in action when Jacob Jones was torpedoed by U-578 and sunk off Cape May, New Jersey on 28 February 1942.
Marshall’s first big assignment came while she was still on her shakedown cruise off Bermuda. Speeding from that area, she rendezvoused in mid-Atlantic with Iowa, 13 December 1943, to escort President Franklin D. Roosevelt back from the Big Three Conference at Tehran.
On 1 September 1964, Marshall changed her home port to Tacoma, Washington There she relieved Watts as the Naval Reserve training ship for the 13th Naval District. On 21 October 1964, a small fire started in the substructure near the outer end of Todd Pacific Shipyards Repair Pier 7. Fueled by creosote and oil-soaked timbers, the fire soon engulfed Repair Pier 7 and quickly spread to the east wing-wall of Drydock No. 2, where Marshall was sitting high and dry, undergoing a $300,000 overhaul. The flames spread so rapidly the destroyer’s captain, Commander J. F. Stanfil Jr., ordered his 108 crewmen off the ship to join the firefighters and shipyard workers battling the fire.
With her active service completed, Marshall was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register 19 July 1969 and sold for scrapping in July 1970 to Zidell Explorations Co., Portland Oregon.
Marshall received eight battle stars for World War II service and four for Korean War service.
Minted in bronze, this challenge coin honors the crew and long history of the USS Marshal DD676. The obverse features the ship slicing through the rolling sea waves. The reverse displays the ship’s brightly enameled insignia featuring an alligator.
Each coin measures 1 3/4 inch (44mm) round in diameter.
This is a surplus NWTMint item, packaging may vary.
