USS Ericsson (DD-440), a Gleaves-class destroyer, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named after John Ericsson, who is best known for devising and building the Civil War ironclad USS Monitor. Ericsson was launched on 23 November 1940 by Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Kearny, New Jersey; sponsored by Mrs. Ruth E. Wallgren, great-great-grandniece of John Ericsson. The ship was commissioned on 13 March 1941.