She was named for Commander Bruce L. Harwood USN (1910–1944) who was twice awarded the Navy Cross, and killed in action during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

Harwood was laid down by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation at San Pedro in California on 29 October 1944, launched on 22 May 1945, by Mrs. Bruce Lawrence Harwood, widow of Commander Harwood and commissioned on 28 September 1945, Comdr. Reid P. Fiala in command.

Operational history

1945–1973[edit]

After shakedown along the California coast, Harwood joined the United States Seventh Fleet in Chinese waters. In addition to aiding in the occupation of Japan, the destroyer also participated in fleet and anti-submarine (ASW) exercises before returning to San Diego 21 February 1947. Harwood entered the Mare Island Naval Shipyard after a second Western Pacific cruise in January 1949 to be equipped with the latest antisubmarine equipment. Redesignated DDE-861 on 4 March 1950, the escort destroyer reported to her new home port, Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island, on 11 September 1949 to participate in research on cold weather ASW operations as well as fleet and training exercises. Departing Norfolk in late August, Harwood made her first Mediterranean cruise with the United States Sixth Fleet and returned to the United States 10 November 1950. 

Subsequent years fell into a pattern for Harwood as she engaged in varied training maneuvers and made yearly cruises to the Mediterranean. Harwood sailed 4 January 1957 for a 3-month ASW demonstration which took her along the South American coast to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Panama and Cuba. Entering the New York Naval Shipyard on 2 May 1961, Harwood underwent a Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM II) overhaul. Her bridge was totally reconstructed, new types of torpedo tubes were installed, and the 76 mm antiaircraft guns were removed to accommodate a hangar and launching deck forGyrodyne QH-50 DASH anti-submarine drones. Departing the yard 2 February 1962, Harwood sailed to her home port, Naval Station Mayport, Florida, and from there to the Caribbean Sea. When the Cuban Missile Crisis erupted in October 1962, Harwood and sailed with 4 hours' notice to join the blockading fleet "quarantining" Cuba. She returned to Mayport on 2 November 1962 and was redesignated DD-861 on 1 July 1963.

Harwood sailed for the Mediterranean on 6 August 1963 and provided ASW service during exercise "Riptide IV" en route. She transited the Straits of Gibraltar on the 22d for intense periods of anti-aircraft, anti-submarine, and binary chemical weapon exercises in the Mediterranean Sea. Returning home 23 December, the destroyer operated along the East Coast of the United States until getting under way 31 March 1964 for a brief visit to Brazil. She arrived at Annapolis, Maryland on 1 June, embarked midshipmen, and sailed for Europe. She visited Norway, Belgium, France, and the United Kingdom before debarking the "Middies" at Naval Station Norfolk.

In April 1965, she began overhaul and alterations at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. On 22 August she returned to Mayport en route to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, for refresher training. She operated along the coast of the United States' southern states until departing Mayport on 22 July 1966 for the Mediterranean deployment. On this tour she transited theSuez Canal and visited Aden and Kenya before rejoining the 6th Fleet in the Medediterranean Sea on 2 November 1965.

Harwood returned home 17 December. She operated out of Newport, off the New England coast until sailing for her 10th Mediterranean deployment 29 June 1967. Reaching Naval Station Rota, Spain on 10 July, Harwood soon joined the 6th Fleet, an element of stability in the ancient and volatile sea which had so recently been churned by the Six-Day War.

Harwood continued alternated operations along the East Coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea with the 2nd Fleet with deployments to the Mediterranean Sea until being decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 February 1973.