USS Melvin (DD-680)

	USS Melvin (DD-680) underway, ca. 1943
History
United States
Namesake	John T. Melvin
Builder	Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Kearny, N.J.
Laid down	6 July 1943
Launched	17 October 1943
Commissioned	24 November 1943
Decommissioned	13 January 1954
Stricken	1 December 1974
Nickname(s)	the Blue Devil
Fate	Sold for scrap 14 August 1975
General characteristics
Class & type	Fletcher-class destroyer
Displacement	2,050 tons
Length	376 ft 6 in (114.7 m)
Beam	39 ft 9 in (12.1 m)
Draft	17 ft 9 in (5.4 m)
Propulsion	60,000 shp (45 MW); 2 propellers;
Speed	38 knots (70 km/h; 44 mph)
Range	6,500 nm at 15 kn (12,000 km at 28 km/h)
Complement	273
Armament	5 × 5 in (130 mm)/38 cal (5x1),; 10 × 40 mm guns (5x2),; 7 × 20 mm guns (7x1),; 10 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (2x5),; 6 × depth charge projectors,; 2 × depth charge tracks;

USS Melvin (DD-680) was a Fletcher-class destroyer and the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Lieutenant, junior grade John T. Melvin (1887–1917), who was killed on 5 November 1917 while serving on USS Alcedo in World War I and is recognized as the first American naval officer to die in that war.

Melvin was laid down on 6 July 1943 by Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, in Kearny, N.J., launched on 17 October 1943, sponsored by Miss Gertrude C. Bailey, grandniece of Lieutenant Melvin and commissioned on 24 November 1943.