USS Edson (DD-946)

Moored along the Saginaw River in Bay City, USS Edson (DD-946) presents one of the few remaining opportunities to examine a Forrest Sherman–class destroyer in three dimensions rather than on the page. Built at Bath Iron Works and commissioned in 1958, Edson represents the first generation of post–World War II American destroyer design, bridging wartime experience with Cold War requirements. Her steel, compartmentalization, and weapons foundations speak to an era of blue-water operations in the Western Pacific, from Taiwan Strait patrols to intensive Vietnam War duty. The ship’s record includes multiple deployments to the Gulf of Tonkin, Navy Unit Commendations for meritorious service there, and later roles in the evacuations of Phnom Penh and Saigon, giving the hull a direct link to pivotal late–20th century conflicts. Now a National Historic Landmark and one of only two surviving Forrest Sherman destroyers, Edson also anchors the Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum, turning a riverside industrial setting into a reference point for Cold War naval engineering, crew life, and the preservation challenges of maintaining a large steel combatant outside salt water.