USS William R. Rush (DD/DDR-714) was a in the United States Navy during the Korean War. She was named for William R. Rush. William R. Rush was laid down on 15 October 1944 at Newark, New Jersey, by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company; launched on 8 July 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Dorothy Flagg Biddle, a cousin of Captain Rush; and commissioned on 21 September 1945. 1946–1949 After fitting out at the New York Navy Yard and shakedown training out of Guantanamo Bay and Casco Bay, Maine, William R. Rush took part in 8th Fleet maneuvers off the eastern seaboard into May 1946. The destroyer then moved southward, to Pensacola, Florida, where she served as a plane guard for the aircraft carrier conducted flight training operations. Arriving back at Newport, Rhode Island, her home port, on 28 July, William R. Rush spent the rest of the year in local operations. The destroyer departed Newport on 9 February 1948, bound for Europe and her first overseas deployment. She touched at ports of call in England, Ireland, Norway, France, Germany, Denmark, French Morocco, and Gibraltar before returning to Newport in June. For the next two years, William R. Rush operated off the eastern seaboard, exercising with submarines and escorting and plane-guarding for carriers. In July 1949, William R. Rush sailed for Europe for an extended European and Mediterranean deployment that lasted into the following year. She touched at ports in France, Greece, Crete, Turkey, Gibraltar, England, Scotland, and Belgium, before she returned to Newport. Subsequently, overhauled for three months at Boston, Massachusetts the destroyer carried out refresher training in Guantanamo Bay from May into July 1950. Commencing in mid-July, William R. Rush conducted a training cruise that took the warship and her embarked midshipmen from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Guantanamo Bay. 1950–1959 Returning to Newport on 1 September 1950, William R. Rush visited NS Argentia and St. John's, Newfoundland, during October; spent much of the following month engaged in Operation "Convex I"—a convoy and striking force exercise; and underwent a period of upkeep back in her homeport, preparing for her next extended deployment. On 3 January 1951, William R. Rush sailed for the Far East. Steaming via the Panama Canal, Pearl Harbor, Midway, and Sasebo, Japan, the destroyer subsequently joined Task Force (TF) 77 in Korean waters and conducted her first shore bombardment mission on 7 February, shelling North Korean rail lines