McKean (DD 784) - Naval Cruise Book

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COMMODORE WILLIAM WISTER MC KEAN 1800-1965 USS MC KEAN DD 784 was christened in honor of Commodore William Wister Mc Kean, and is the second ship ot the fleet to bear this name. Commodore Mc Kean was born in Huntington County, Pennsylvania, in l800. He is the grandson of Thomas Mc Kean, who as one of three delegates from the colony of Dela- ware, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Mc Kean was also a Governor of Delaware and a Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, and is believed to be the namesake of Mc Kean County in Western Pennsylvania. ln l8l4 young William Mc Kean was ap- pointed midshipmen. During his naval ca- reer he rendered valuable service suppres- sing piracy with Commodore David Porter's Squadron in the West Indies, and was a lieutenant on the DALE during the Mexican War. Commodore Mc Kean was once the head ot the Navy's training school, then called Naval Asylum, and subsequently was a member of the board of three per- sons who selected the site ofthe Naval Academy at Annapolis. In i859 Commodore Mc Kean was in com- mand ot the expedition which returned to .Japan the First Japanese Embassy to this country, aboard the Flagship NIAGRA. On the return from Japan he learned from a passing vessel of the outbreak of the Civil War and, gathering his crew, pledged them all to allegiance to the Union. During the Civil War he was in charge of what devel- oped to be the Ginlf Campaign, which was ultimately executed by,-.his successor Ad- miral Farragut. Commodore Mc Kean died in 1865, three years after his appointment to Commodore At the time of his death he was a member of the Naval Board.