USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., a destroyer turned museum with a storied past

The USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., a Gearing-class destroyer named for John F. Kennedy's older brother, now serves as a museum and war memorial at Battleship Cove in Fall River, Massachusetts. Commissioned in 1945, the ship saw service in the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War, and it even played itself in the 2000 film Thirteen Days.

During the 1962 naval quarantine of Cuba the destroyer stopped and boarded the freighter Marcula to inspect its cargo. Built in eight months, the ship measured 390 feet, carried 288 men (18 officers and 270 enlisted), and displaced 3,460 tons when fully loaded.

It was named for Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., who died in 1944 during Operation Aphrodite; members of the Kennedy family attended the christening and launch on July 26, 1945. The destroyer also hosted John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy during America's Cup races in 1962 and sailed to Washington for JFK's 1961 inauguration.

United States, Fall River, Massachusetts

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