USS Ludlow (DD-438), a Gleaves-class destroyer, was the third ship of the United States Navy to bear the name. The second and third Ludlow ships were named for Lieutenant Augustus C. Ludlow, second in command of USS Chesapeake. He was, like his captain, mortally wounded in their ship's engagement with HMS Shannon on 1 June 1813, and died at Halifax, Nova Scotia on 13 June.

The Gleaves-class destroyers were a class of 66 destroyers of the United States Navy built 1938–42, designed by Gibbs & Cox. The first ship of the class was USS Gleaves. They were the destroyer type that was in production for the US Navy when the United States entered World War II.