USS Hopewell, DD 681, was built at Bethlehem Steel, San Pedro, California. Named for midshipman Pollard Hopewell of the ill-fated frigate Chesapeake, she was sponsored at her launch by Mrs. Raymond A. Spruance, wife of Admiral Spruance, and first commissioned at Terminal Island 30 September 1943, the 110th ship of the Fletcher class.
Assigned to Destroyer Squadron 21 as a replacement ship in  Click on any image to view it in more detail.
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October 1943, Hopewell participated in the invasion of the Marshall Islands in early 1944 before continuing on to the Solomon Islands in March. From then until October, she supported landings in New Guinea and then served in the Philippines campaign, fighting fought off kamikaze attacks en route to the Lingayen Gulf landings.
Operating with her squadon on 14 February 1945 off Corregidor Island at the mouth of Manila Bay, Hopewell was hit by four 6-inch rounds from shore batteries, losing 17 crewmembers. After a delayed return to Mare Island Navy Yard for repairs, she completed training in Hawaii and was at Guam when the war ended. She earned nine battle stars in World War II.
Decommissioned in 1947, Hopewell was placed in reserve but was recommissioned in 1951  at San Diego. During the Korean War, she screened carriers of Task Force 77 as their planes attacked communist positions. She also bombarded Wonsan and served on the critical Formosa Patrol. Through a second tour off Korea, she trained Nationalist Chinese sailors and repeated her bombardment of Wonsan, earning four more stars.
In the fifties and sixties, Hopewell continued deployments to the far east and eventually operated off Vietnam before she was stricken 2 January 1970. She was sunk as a target 11 February 1972. | 
