The USS Cogswell was a general purpose Destroyer, built by the Bath Iron Works of Bath, Maine. She was commissioned in Boston, Massachusetts on 17 August 1943. The ship was named after Rear Admiral James K. Cogswell, a Spanish-American War hero, and his son Captain Francis Cogswell, who distinguished himself in combat during World War I. It is noteworthy that on the day of commissioning, James Kelsey Cogswell III USNR was a member of ships company "Plank owner" and served aboard throughout the war. He received a citation for his part in the demilitarization of Japan. Also noteworthy is that LTJG Harry Hull III a great grandson of Rear Admiral Cogswell and a nephew of Captain Cogswell was a member of ships company on October 1, 1969 when the Cogswell was decommissioned.

Displacing a full load weight of about 2,900 tons, she was 376 feet long, with a beam of 39 feet. Her 60,000 horsepower propulsion-system was capable of speeds in excess of 35 knots. Her missions included naval gunfire support, anti-submarine warfare, escort, convoy and rescue duties.

After commissioning the Cogswell underwent shake down training off Bermuda and then she steamed through the Panama Canal and joined the Pacific Fleet where she was to participate in many of the major naval campaigns for the remainder of World War II. In December 1943 she joined task force 58 for the assault on the Marshall Islands and was part of the initial assault force on Kwajelein Atoll. Following this, she participated in the strikes against Truk, Palua, Ponape, Yap and New Guinea. In June 1944, she supported the amphibious assaults in the Marianas against Guam, Saipan and Tinian.

From there the Cogswell moved to Iwo Jima, Chi Chi Jima as well as Mindanao and Luzon in the Philippines for air and surface strikes. In October 1944 the Cogswell was assigned to task force 38 providing support for strikes against Okinawa, Formosa, Indo China, Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland. Later she participated in raids against the Japanese home islands She was also involved in sinking several Japanese war ships and she destroyed several key installations on the Japanese homeland. The Cogswell was the first warship into Tokyo Bay and was present at the signing of the Japanese surrender.

She was decommissioned and placed in the fleet reserve in January 1946. She was brought back to active service on June 7, 1951. She made several deployments including a world cruise in 1953-54 participating in the Korean conflict as a part of Task Force 77. Since World War II she has deployed 12 times as a unit of the Pacific Fleet. Four of these deployments were to support our nations efforts in Vietnam. The ship returned from her last operations in December 1968 having provided naval gunfire to our forces in Vietnam as well as rescue Destroyer for carrier USS Constellation CVA 64 in the Gulf of Tonkin. After her return state side she operated out of San Diego fleet training schools and participated in major fleet exercises. In early August while preparing for her 13th deployment the Cogswell was to be decommissioned and turned over to the Turkish Navy.

On October 1, 1969 she was taken out of service and given to the Turks and she continued as the TCG IZMIR D-342. After several years with the Turks she was scraped in 1981.

It should also be noted that the Cogswell never was damaged by the enemy. She served her Country for 23 years. Over this period of time it is believed that the crew members number over 3,500 men.