USS McClelland (DE-750)

USS McClelland (DE-750) was a Cannon-class destroyer escort built for the United States Navy during World War II. She served in the Pacific Ocean and provided escort service against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys. Post-war she was reassigned as a training vessel.

She was named in honor of Ensign Thomas Alfred McClelland, who was reported dead after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, on 7 December 1941. The ship was laid down on 21 July 1943 by the Western Pipe and Steel Company, San Pedro, California, launched on 28 November 1943; sponsored by Mrs. T. A. McClelland, widow of Ensign McClelland; and commissioned on 19 September 1944, Lt. Comdr. Glendon D. Williams, in command.

World War II Pacific Theatre operations

McClelland departed the west coast for Pearl Harbor on 11 December 1944. There, until 24 January 1945, she received further training in anti-submarine and anti-aircraft warfare in preparation for the assault on the Volcano Islands. By the end of January she was in the screen for task group TG 51.5 bound for Iwo Jima. She arrived off that island on 20 February, the day after the initial landings.