USS Henry W. Tucker (DD-875) was launched on May 29, 1944 by the Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Texas; sponsored by Mrs. Henry Walton Tucker, mother of Pharmacist's Mate Third Class Henry W. Tucker; and commissioned on March 12, 1945. The Gearing class destroyer was named for Pharmacist's Mate Third Class Henry W. Tucker who was killed in action during the Battle of the Coral Sea and posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.

The ship was converted to a radar picket destroyer after shakedown. Her first tour of duty in the Far East ended on March 25, 1946 and in the next three years she made two more such cruises, alternating them with tactical exercises and operations along the east coast. In March and April 1948 she patrolled off Eniwetok in connection with United States atomic tests in the Pacific islands. She was reclassified DDR-875 on March 18, 1949. She joined the fleet operating off Korea in November and spent five months in hunter-killer and patrol operations.

Henry W. Tucker entered the Mare Island Naval Shipyard for installation of the newest radar equipment in September 1952, emerging April 14, 1953. Her new duties centered primarily on the detection of enemy attack through extensive radar coverage were to take her on eight more WestPac cruises in the next ten years. In addition she also patrolled the important Formosa Straits and the Korean coast. In April 1965 she joined Operation Market Time, and on May 16 she pounded Viet Cong coastal concentrations southeast of Saigon, becoming the first US ship to provide naval gunfire support against enemy targets in South Vietnam.

Aside from Market Time patrols, Henry W. Tucker screened hard hitting attack carriers in the South China Sea and the Gulf of Tonkin and served as a search and rescue control ship to recover downed pilots at sea. Following the disastrous fire on board Forrestal on July 29, 1967 she took part in survivor rescue and escort operations. As the conflict in South Vietnam continued in 1967, she remained “on the line” ready to meet the challenge of new assignments efficiently, effectively, and with dispatch. She was decommissioned on December 3, 1973 and served with Brazil as Marcilio Dias before being sunk as a target ship on September 19, 1994. Henry W. Tucker was awarded seven battle stars for her participation in the Korean conflict.

With the USS Henry W. Tucker wooden ship model, one can almost hear the roar of the ocean waves. It is an exact replica of the original, handmade with vigilance, from the very first to the last step. Master craftsmen diligently carve high quality mahogany to create the ship's form. After it is sanded and puttied, skilled artists paint on the intricate details. Hand-casted resin and handmade metal parts also constitute the model. Clear lacquer provides the finishing touch and long-lasting protection. Each ship comes on a a display base with brass pedestals and a brass name plate. All items then undergo quality control and are delivered to eagerly waiting customers in professionally-packaged wood crates via FedEx Next Day Air. More than just a display piece, the Henry W. Tucker ship model is a work of art.