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| 52k | William Henry Purnell Blandy was born on 28 June 1890 in New York City. He was appointed a Midshipman to the US Naval Academy in the entering class of 1909. He subsequently, graduated number 1 in his Class of 1913 and was appointed an Ensign in the United States Navy. Blandy's initial assigned was to the battleship USS Florida BB-30, where he served from 1913 to 1918. This included the landing at Vera Cruz, Mexico in 1914 and service with the British Grand Fleet during the First World War. He left the Florida as a temporary lieutenant commander in November of 1918. He served short tours at the US Naval Headquarters in London, England and with the Bureau of Ordnance, until 1919. He received advanced training in ordnance at the Naval Academy and the Naval Gun Factory, where he made many significant contributions.
He returned to sea duty in several assignments: as the assistant fire control officer in the battleship USS New Mexico BB-40, during 1921-22; executive officer of USS Vega AK-17; in communications aboard USS Pruitt DD-347 at Cavite and as gunnery officer of USS Stewart DD-224. With his genius for gunnery, in which he excelled during his Academy days, Blandy had a quick rise in choice assignments within the ordnance sector of the Navy. He served as the Head of the Bureau of Ordnance's Gun Section; gunnery officer aboard New Mexico during 1927-29; and as gunnery officer on Admiral Bostwick's staff, aboard the flagship West Virginia BB-48 through 1930. He served as naval attache in Brazil, for four years, until 1934. Commander Blandy was then the commanding officer of USS Simpson DD-221, followed by command of Destroyer Division Ten in flagship Pruitt DD-347, until 1936. He later became the CO of the target ship Utah AG-16. He was promoted to captain in September 1939, assuming the lead role in developing anti-aircraft defenses for the fleet at BuOrd. In February 1941 he was promoted to the rank of rear admiral to become the Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance. During the Second World War, he became Commander, Amphibious Group One in December of 1943. And participated in the Kwajalein offensive in 1944. In November he became Commander, Amphibious Support Force, in his flagship Estes AGC-12. He led pre-landing forces for the Battle of Iwo Jima and later Okinawa, during 1945. In July, he became Commander, Cruiser-Destroyer Force, Pacific Fleet. After the war, Blandy became best known for his oversight of the Atomic Testing at Bikini atoll in the Marshall Island group in July 1946. As a vice admiral he commanded Joint Task Force One aboard the Mt. McKinley AGC-7. He was promoted to the rank of admiral in February 1947 and became Commander-in-Chief, US Atlantic Fleet, serving for three years. Admiral Blandy retired from the US Navy in February 1950. He died at the US Naval Hospital at St. Albans, NY on 12 January 1954. Official US Navy Photographic Portrait of RADM William H. P. "Spike" Blandy, USN, taken in February of 1941, when he was serving as the Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance. File number USN OOR-2044. | Robert M. Cieri |
| 15k | Undated, location unknown. | William Bowlin (Crewmember 69-71) |
| 73k | Undated, location unknown. | Lee Atkins BT3, 1982 |
| 66k | Undated postcard Copyright © Atlantic Fleet Sales, Norfolk, VA. | Mike Smolinski |
| 118k | Valeta, Malta January 29 1966. | Marc Piché |
| 96k | Taken in Barcelona, Spain, on March 6, 1978. This view shows the ship after her ASW modernization, with 3"/50 guns removed; an ASROC "pepperbox" substituted for No. 2 5"/54 mount; triple Mk.32 torpedo tubes on the 01 level, just forward of the bridge; SQS-35 VDS on the fantail (along with a keel-mounted SQS-23, obviously invisible here). She was also fitted with an SPS-40 air search radar and two gun directors: a Mk.68 forward and a Mk.56 aft. | Fabio Peña |
| 27k | Under tow at Fore River to be broken up on January 31, 1993. | Marc Piché |
| 77k | View of the Blandy during her scrapping. | Gregory Wells |
| 75k | August 25, 1994, Baltimore, Maryland, an aerial sided view of two Forest Sherman class destroyers tied up at the Baltimore Fairfield Terminal awaiting scrapping. On the inboard side is the destroyer Forrest Sherman (DD-931) and outboard is the Blandy (DD-943). On the north side of the pier is the former U.S. Army N-3 type port repair ship Madison Jordan Manchester which is also to be scrapped. | Fred Weiss |
| 75k | Forrest Sherman inboard of Blandy viewed from the Patapsco River in early 1995. | Larry Backus |
| 84k | Blandy viewed from the Patapsco River in early 1995. | Larry Backus |
| 57k | Ship's patch | Mike Smolinski |
| 100k | Ship's plaque | N. Kriesel |
