USS Ross (DD-563) was a Fletcher-class destroyer of the United States Navy. The name honored David Ross, a Continental Navy lieutenant who, near the close of the eighteenth century, commanded Belvedere, a privately armed American ship carrying fourteen guns.
Belvedere was bound for London when a hurricane caught her on 23 December 1799. To make the ship lighter, her crew put provisions, seven cannon, and shot into the sea. Nineteen days afterward, on 12 January 1800, a French brig overhauled her and its commander ordered the American colors struck. Ross answered with a broadside. The ships traded fire for two hours at a range where pistols could reach. After the brig turned away, Belvedere went on, her spars, canvas, and hull all damaged.
Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp., in Seattle, Washington, began the destroyer on 7 September 1942. Mrs. William J. Malone sponsored her as she entered the water on 10 September 1943. Commissioning came on 21 February 1944, with Commander Benjamin Coe in command.
Shakedown off California was complete early in May 1944, and on 5 May Ross departed for Pearl Harbor. In United States naval history she stands alone as a ship that lived through two underwater mine explosions. She lasted through the war. On 26 January 1978 the hull was sunk as a target.