“One year ago today, GRADY was commissioned in the United States Navy. She was spic and span. Her officers and men, dressed in whites, stood stiffly at Quarters as the ensign ran up smartly to the music of a band. However, one year ago today GRADY might well have been a Hollywood creation manned by two hundred actors; for only thirty men had ever been to sea before.
Today, GRADY is a fighting ship, proved under fire. Her two hundred veterans are ready and able to handle any assignment. She has fought the enemy victoriously on the picket line in the longest and toughest campaign the Navy has ever experienced …..Okinawa.
To you officers and men who have accomplished this brilliant transformation, I say to each one of you, “Well Done”.”
- Francis R. King
For the one year anniversary of the USS Grady
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On August 7th 1942, the story of the USS Grady begins with Operation WATCHTOWER, which was the landing against Tulagi and Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Just east of Tulagi were the two small islands of Tanambogo and Gavutu. These two small islands proved to be a problem for the marines who landed there. They were close together and were separated only by a small causeway. Gavutu had a small hill of 148 ft., which the Japanese took advantage of. The USS Enterprise planes made the pre-landing strikes and, with the help of some naval fire power from bombers from the USS Wasp and the anti-aircraft cruiser San Juan, caused heavy damage to the Japanese. The Japanese were well fortified in the caves of these islands, and because the islands were so close together, the men landing on Gavutu were being fired on from Tanambogo also. The first round of troops made it ashore without many problems, but the 2nd and 3rd waves had more problems. 
TANAMBOGO AND GAVUTU ISLANDS photographed immediately after a pre-landing strike by USS Enterprise planes; Gavutu is at the left across the causeway. (USN 11034) Source:http://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/I/USMC-I-VI-3.html
During one of these landings, Private 1st Class George Francis Grady of the 1st Marine Division was killed on Gavutu. With his gun not working and his squad under fire, Private Grady rushed three of the Japanese soldiers in hand-to-hand combat, overpowering two before the third kill Private Grady. For his duty, courage, and sacrifice, the Navy awarded him with the Navy Cross and later named a new destroyer escort after him.
On January 3rd, 1944, destroyer escorts USS Formoe, Grady, Melvin R. Nawman, and Oliver Mitchell were laid down by Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company. On April 2nd, 1944, George Francis Grady’s sister, Miss Margaret Grady, would get the honor of launching the Navy’s newest John G. Butler class destroyer escort – the USS Grady DE-445. Barring any losses or unfinished ships, the Navy’s July 1940 fleet total of 383 would triple in August. On September 11, 1944, the Grady was commissioned and put under the command of Lt. Commander Francis R. King. Lt. Cmdr King took the command at the age of 27, one of the youngest serving destroyer escort commanders at that time. 
LEFT: a button commemorating the launch of the Grady and Formoe on April 2, 1944. 
Battle cruise map of Grady
The Battle cruise map shows the voyage of the Grady during the war. The map notes seven events of interest:
- SARATOGA PAYS A GALLON OF ICE CREAM FOR EACH “AIRDALE”. WE COLLECT SIX
- TF 58 LOOKED GOOD AND BIG – FORMOSA
- POLLYWOGS BECOME SHELLBACKS
- “LUCKY GRADY” – 58 DAYS.
- THREE MORE “AIR DALES” ANZIO PAYS NO ICE CREAM.
- BATAN- GOOD TRADING MANY RIFLES.
- APC 27 RESCUED. NO NAVY DAY IN MANILA
The Grady left Boston on October 2nd, 1944, down to Bermuda for a month’s worth of shakedown training. On November 2nd, she returned to Boston for a short while. November 17th, she started her voyage to the Pacific with her first duty of escorting the transport Chilton to Norfolk, Virginia. From Norfolk she sailed through the Panama Canal and arrived at San Diego, California on December 4th. With a short stop at San Francisco, she headed back out to sea with Pearl Harbor as her destination. She arrived on December 15th.
While at Pearl Harbor, the Grady was assigned to U.S.S. Saratoga CV-3. The Saratoga was training for night flight operations. Most fighters at this time were launched from sunrise to sunset. They tried to be back on deck before nightfall. It was no easy task to land at night, let alone during combat conditions, but times were changing for this to become a must. So the Saratoga, along with U.S.S. Ranger CV-4, had the duty of training pilots for night time operations at Pearl. It was during this time that the Grady add the note on the battle cruise map: “SARATOGA PAYS A GALLON OF ICE CREAM FOR EACH “AIRDALE”. WE COLLECT SIX.” In short, the Grady had the duty of pulling out of the water the pilots that failed to make it back aboard their carrier or anyone who took too many steps on the flight deck. Each time the Grady rescued a man, their reward was a gallon of ice cream. The Grady continue with Saratoga until December 23rd.
The Grady then headed deeper into the Pacific with a stop at Eniwetok (Marshall Islands) on January 4,1945, then onto Ulithi Atoll (Carolina Islands) on January 10th. From that point, the Grady served as a escort for the 3rd Fleet’s refueling tankers along Formosa and the China coast. During this time, it was noted on the battle cruise map about the Navy’s presences – “TF 58 LOOKED GOOD AND BIG – FORMOSA”. TF 58 referring to Task Force 58 of the 3rd Fleet participating in air strikes on Formosa and the China mainland.
On February 10th, the Grady was order to Iwo Jima. From February 16th to March 2nd, the Grady participated in the invasion and capture of Iwo Jima. At first the screening of escort carriers used for the pre-bombing, then on February 19th the start of the invasion, the duty of patrolling for emeny submarines. Departed to Saipan on March 2nd.
March 5th, the Grady arrives in Saipan. The next day departed for Espiritu Santo. On March 14th, the Grady and her crew cross the equator for the first time. For the next two days, the crew was subject to King Neptune and his Royal Court and all that goes with it ( the Navy’s tradition for crossing the equator). This was one event that most sailors remember but few mention. The initiation varied from ship to ship, but all the pollywogs (newcomers) had to endure all manners of hardship from the Royal Court, which is those who have already crossed the equator and gone through the initiation. The Royal Court would dress up as the king, queen, and royal baby, then commanded the pollywogs to do their bidding - like-crawling through trash, eating the worst possible things, kissing the royal baby who was just waiting to surprise you as you got close, and many other embarrassing things. Upon enduring the event, the Royal Court would grant the title of shellbacks to all the sailors. On March 16th, the young crew of the Grady became shellbacks. —POLLYWOGS BECOME SHELLBACKS
