High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! USS Merrill (DD-976), named for Rear Admiral Aaron Stanton Merrill USN (1890–1961), was a Spruance-class destroyer laid down 16 June 1975 by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries at Pascagoula, Mississippi.She was launched 1 September 1976 and commissioned 11 March 1978.