USS Thorn ( DD - 647 ) USS " Thorn " ( DD - 647 ) , a " Gleaves " - class destroyer , was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for Jonathan Thorn . " Thorn " was laid down on 15 November 1942 at Kearny , New Jersey , by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co . ; sponsored by Mrs . Beatrice Fox Palmer ; launched on 28 February 1943 ; and commissioned on 1 April 1943 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard , Lieutenant Commander Edward Brumby in command . Atlantic service , May 1943 – January 1944 . Following shakedown and trials out of Casco Bay , Maine , " Thorn " joined Destroyer Squadron 19 ( DesRon 19 ) . Between 28 May 1943 and 2 January 1944 , the destroyer conducted four round - trip convoy escort mission signs on the New York – Norfolk – Casablanca route — the first trip as part of Task Force 69 ( TF69 ) and the other three as part of TF64 . On her last convoy run , she escorted two oiler s to Ponta Delgada , in the Azores , in company with " Stockton " ( DD - 646 ) — the first ships to enter the port under the terms of the new agreement between the Allies and the government of Portugal . On 3 January 1944 , the day after " Thorn " arrived back in New York harbor , " Turner " ( DD - 648 ) blew up and sank in Ambrose Channel , 5 , 000 yards astern of " Thorn " . Calling away the ship ' s motor whaleboat , " Thorn " sent : a rescue party to try to recover survivors . Lt . James P . Drake , USNR , and Boatswain ' s Mate , First Class , E . Wells were awarded Navy and Marine Corps Medal s for their bravery in the rescue of three " Turner " survivors , and three other men received commendation bars for their part in the operation . Southwest Pacific service , February – September 1944 . Late in January , " Thorn " sailed for the Pacific and transited the Panama Canal on the 29th . Ordered to report to relieve DesRon 1 in New Guinea waters , the destroyer and her sisters of Destroyer Division 37 ( DesDiv 37 ) headed for the southwest Pacific . " Thorn " was detoured to Guadalcanal and Rendova Islands to escort a detached oiler group . She finally arrived at Milne Bay , New Guinea , on 29 February . " Thorn " moved directly from there to Cape Sudest where , on 4 March , the destroyer embarked troops and supplies of the Army ' s 7th Cavalry and immediately proceeded to Los Negros Island for the invasion of the Admiralties . In addition to making three additional escort trips between Cape Sudest and Seeadler Harbor , " Thorn " participated in two shore bombardments of Pityilu Island , conducted antisubmarine patrols north of the Admiralties , and acted as a fighter director vessel . On 10 April — while making a practice torpedo run during preparations for forthcoming Allied landings at Hollandia — " Thorn " struck an uncharted reef . Damage to her screws and shafts forced the ship back to the West Coast for an overhaul . En route home , she escorted " Massachusetts " ( BB - 59 ) to Bremerton , Washington . She subsequently escorted " Thetis Bay " ( CVE - 90 ) from the Puget Sound Navy Yard to San Francisco , California , where she eventually arrived on 22 May . After completing her overhaul at the Hunter ' s Point Navy Yard , " Thorn " conducted refresher training and then escorted " Mississippi " ( BB - 41 ) to Hawaii . She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 11 August . She then escorted " Maryland " ( BB - 46 ) to Purvis Bay , Solomon Islands , where she joined escort carrier Task Unit 32 . 7 . 1 ( TU32 . 7 . 1 ) and proceeded to the Palaus for the landings on 15 September . During this deployment as screen and plane guard , " Thorn " rescued the crews of three Grumman TBM " Avenger " torpedo plane s which had " ditched . " Philippines service , October – December 1944 . Detached from escort duty at the end of September , " Thorn " joined the U . S . Seventh Fleet at Manus Island , in the Admiralties , on 3 October . As American forces massed for the initial assaults on the Japanese - occupied Philippine Islands , " Thorn " joined the fire support screen for TF 77 . She entered Leyte Gulf on the night of the 18th and screened battleship s and cruiser s during their early shore bombardments . As Allied troops swarmed ashore two days later , the destroyer provided interdiction fire at Abuyog , south of the Leyte beaches , and patrolled the southern end of Leyte Gulf for the following week . At dawn on the 21st , " Thorn " ' s gunners opened fire on a Japanese Aichi D3A and sent the enemy dive bomber splashing into the sea near the transport area . On the 22nd , the destroyer and " Portland " ( CA - 33 ) splashed another enemy aircraft . During the fierce night action at Surigao Strait , " Thorn " screened the American battleships as they mauled the Japanese force coming through the strait . Originally ordered to conduct a torpedo attack on the Japanese battle line , " Thorn " and her mates were recalled as the Japanese retreated back south through Surigao Strait . She then formed up with the lefthand flank of cruisers and destroyers and headed south to polish off the cripples from the Japanese force . The American ships came across one Japanese destroyer and smothered it with fire which summarily dispatched it to the depths . During her 17 salvoes , " Thorn " observed 12 hits . On the evening of 25 October , " Thorn " ' s division received orders to lie - to off Homonhon Island , on the east side of Leyte Gulf , to conduct a torpedo attack on a Japanese force expected from the eastward . The enemy , however , had already retired into the San Bernardino Strait that afternoon , and the American destroyer unit was recalled on the 26th . Ordered to Ulithi , " Thorn " departed Philippine waters to rejoin the U . S . Third Fleet in the Carolines , for duty with the Fast Carrier Task Force ( then designated TF38 ) . From 6 to 24 November " Thorn " participated in TF38 ' s strikes against Japanese targets in the Philippines , screening and planeguarding for the fast carriers . She returned to Ulithi with TG 30 . 8 for duty with a logistics support group . She subsequently resumed planeguarding , this time standing by escort carrier s . She assisted " Cape Esperance " ( CVE - 88 ) during Typhoon Cobra on 18 December . Following this heavy storm — which sank three destroyers — " Thorn " searched for survivors in the storm area . Off Japan , January – October 1945 . During the carrier strikes on Lingayen in early January 1945 and the subsequent carrier raids on Japanese shipping in the South China Sea , " Thorn " escorted a fast oiler group for replenishment evolutions with the aircraft carriers . While returning to the Carolines , via Leyte Gulf and the Mindoro Strait , " Thorn " rescued the crew of a downed TBM and the pilot of a crashed fighter before arriving at Ulithi on the 27th . The destroyer again screened oilers during the operations against Iwo Jima and also entered waters near the strategic island to screen heavy fire support units . On 21 February , " Thorn " and " Ute " ( ATF - 76 ) learned that " Bismarck Sea " ( CVE - 95 ) had been struck by two Japanese suicide plane s , and they rushed to aid the stricken ship . However , when they searched the scene the escort carrier had already gone to the bottom , the victim of Japanese kamikaze s . Two days in Ulithi followed the ship ' s return , and , on 13 March , Thorn reformed with the U . S . 5th Fleet support group built around " Detroit " ( CL - 8 ) for the Ryūkyū operations . On 25 March , " Thorn " and " Aylwin " ( DD - 355 ) made depth charge attacks on a sonar contact and observed an oil slick after the last drop . They conducted a retirement search before rejoining the formation on the 26th , but could not verify that the contact had actually been a submarine . Thorn subsequently conducted four escort missions with the replenishment group , escorting oilers into Kerama Retto to fuel the fire support ships off Okinawa and making her first run on 1 April . On the second run , " Thorn " observed two enemy planes splashing into the sea , victims of combat air patrol ( CAP ) fighters and ship gunfire . On the third , a " kamikaze " hit " Taluga " ( AO - 62 ) , two miles ( 3 . 7 km ) astern , while another enemy suicide plane splashed alongside a nearby small patrol craft . The destroyer then spent two weeks at Ulithi , replenishing for further operations with the logistics support group . She rejoined the oilers and supply ships at sea on 28 May . On 5 June , " Thorn " rode out her second major typhoon , steaming through the eye of the storm at 05 : 30 . Two days later , she joined a group of four damaged escort aircraft carriers which were retiring to Guam . On 4 July , soon after screening the CVEs out of the " front lines " for repairs , " Thorn " resumed work with the replenishment and support group and continued screening and supporting it through the surrender of Japan . During this period , she sank seven drifting mines . Following Japan ' s surrender , " Thorn " steamed off Tokyo Bay until 9 September , when the entire group entered Sagami Wan . The next day , the support group ' s base was established at the Yokosuka Naval Base , where " Thorn " remained through the end of September . Streaming her homeward - bound pennant , " Thorn " , in company with DesRon 19 , steamed out of Tokyo Bay on 8 October and joined " Tennessee " ( BB - 43 ) and " California " ( BB - 44 ) off Wakayama the following day . On 15 October , the group sailed on the first leg of their homeward bound voyage , subsequently stopping at Singapore , Colombo , and Cape Town . The destroyer eventually arrived in New York on 7 December 1945 , " via " St . Helena and Ascension Islands in the Atlantic . After a month ' s overhaul , she proceeded to Charleston , South Carolina , where she was decommissioned and placed in reserve on 6 May 1946 . Reserve and disposal . " Thorn " lay in reserve through the late 1940s , 1950s , and 1960s . Struck from the Navy list on 1 July 1971 , the ship ' s hulk was authorized for use as a target and was sunk by aircraft from " Saratoga " ( CV - 60 ) on 22 August 1974 , approximately 75 miles ( 140 km ) east of Jacksonville , Florida . " Thorn " received seven battle star s for her World War II service .