The Story of the USS Murphy's Long Service in Wartime The destroyer USS Murphy survived a collision on the open sea and served during four amphibious operations in the European Theater. Eighty miles off the coast of New Jersey and 280 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean lies the forward section of a World War II destroyer, where it came to rest more than 60 years ago. According to the USS Murphy History Project, the warship’s tragic and triumphant story reads “like a chronicle of the Second World War.” On the eve of World War II, with its emphasis on antisubmarine operations against German U-boats in the North Atlantic, the U.S. Navy’s destroyer force consisted mainly of