USS Gwin ( DD - 433 ) USS " Gwin " ( DD - 433 ) , a " Gleaves " - class destroyer , was the 3rd ship of the United States Navy to be named for Lieutenant Commander William Gwin , an American Civil War officer who commanded river boats against Confederate forces in Alabama . " Gwin " was launched 25 May 1940 by the Boston Navy Yard ; sponsored by Mrs . Jesse T . Lippincott , second cousin of Lt . Comdr . Gwin ; and commissioned at Boston 15 January 1941 , Lt . Comdr . J . M . Higgins in command . " Gwin " completed shakedown training 20 April 1941 and underwent final alterations in the Boston Navy Yard before conducting neutrality patrol throughout the Caribbean Sea . On 28 September 1941 she assumed identical service in the North Atlantic from her base at Hvalfjörður , Iceland . After the attack on Pearl Harbor , she hurried back to the Eastern Seaboard , then through the Panama Canal to San Francisco , California . " Gwin " was sunk by a torpedo launched by a Japanese destroyer during the Battle of Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands Campaign in July 1943 . Service in the Pacific Theatre . On 3 April 1942 " Gwin " stood out of San Francisco Bay as a unit of the escort for the aircraft carrier " Hornet " ( CV - 8 ) , which carried 16 Army B - 25 bomber s to be launched in a bombing raid on Tokyo . Admiral William F . Halsey in carrier " Enterprise " ( CV - 6 ) rendezvoused with the task force off Midway , and General Jimmy Doolittle ' s famed raiders launched the morning of 18 April when some 600 miles east of Tokyo . The task force made a rapid retirement to Pearl Harbor , then sped south 30 April 1942 , hoping to assist carriers " Yorktown " ( CV - 5 ) and " Lexington " ( CV - 2 ) in the Battle of the Coral Sea . That battle concluded before the task force arrived , and " Gwin " returned to Pearl Harbor on 21 May for day and night preparations to meet the Japanese in the crucial battle for Midway Atoll . Battle of Midway . " Gwin " departed Pearl Harbor 23 May 1942 with Marine reinforcements for Midway and returned to port 1 June . Two days later she raced to join the Fast Carrier Task Force searching for the approaching Japanese Fleet off Midway . But the crucial battle was all but concluded by the time she arrived on the scene on 5 June 1942 . Four large Japanese aircraft carriers and a cruiser rested on the bottom of the sea along with some 250 enemy planes and a high percentage of Japan ' s most highly trained and experienced carrier pilots . The Island of Midway was saved to become an important base for operations in the western Pacific . Likewise saved was Hawaii , the great bastion from which attacks were carried into the South Pacific and Japan itself . But there were American losses too . " Gwin " sent a salvage party to assist in attempts to save carrier " Yorktown " ( CV - 5 ) , heavily damaged by two bomb and two torpedo hits in the Battle of Midway . As attempts continued 6 June 1942 , a Japanese submarine rocked " Yorktown " with torpedo hits and sank destroyer " Hammann " ( DD - 412 ) which was secured alongside the carrier . The salvage party had to abandon " Yorktown " and surviving men were rescued from the sea , The carrier capsized and sank the morning of 7 June 1942 . " Gwin " carried 102 survivors of the two ships to Pearl Harbor , arriving 10 June 1942 . Guadalcanal . " Gwin " departed Pearl Harbor 15 July 1942 to operate in the screen of fast carriers who pounded Japanese installations , troop concentrations and supply dumps as Marines invaded Guadalcanal in the Solomons on 7 August 1942 . In the following months " Gwin " convoyed supply and troop reinforcements to Guadalcanal . Joining a cruiser – destroyer task force , she patrolled " the Slot " of water between the chain of Solomon Islands to intercept the " Tokyo Express " runs of enemy supply , troop and warships supporting Japanese bases in the Solomons . On 13 November 1942 , " Gwin " and three other destroyers formed with battleship s " South Dakota " ( BB - 57 ) and " Washington " ( BB - 56 ) to intercept an enemy bombardment – transport force approaching the Solomons . The following night the task group found the enemy off Savo Island : the battleship " Kirishima " , four cruisers , 11 destroyers , and four transports , The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal was hot and furious . " Gwin " found herself in a gun duel between the light cruiser " Nagara " and two Japanese destroyers ( the " Ayanami " and the " Uranami " ) , versus the four American destroyers . She took a shell hit in her engine room . Another shell struck her fantail and enemy torpedoes began to boil around the destroyers . Though shaken by exploding depth charge s , " Gwin " continued to fire at the enemy as long as any remained within range . In a short time the other three American destroyers were out of action ; two sinking and the " Benham " ( DD - 397 ) surviving with her bow partially destroyed . But a masterful battleship duel fought by the " Washington " wrecked Japanese battleship " Kirishima " . She had to be abandoned and scuttled as was Japanese destroyer " Ayanami " . The battle was over and these ships had saved Guadalcanal from a bombardment in a naval action that marked the turning point toward victory by U . S . forces in the Solomons . " Gwin " attempted to escort the nose - less " Benham " to Espiritu Santo , New Hebrides Islands . But when all hope was lost , survivors transferred to " Gwin " who hurried " Benham " ' s abandoned hulk to the bottom with gunfire . The survivors were landed 20 November at Nouméa , New Caledonia , and " Gwin " was routed onward to Hawaii , thence to the Mare Island Navy Yard , arriving 19 December 1942 . Later action in the Solomons . Having been overhauled , " Gwin " returned to the Southwest Pacific 7 April 1943 to escort troop reinforcements and supplies throughout the Solomons . On 30 June she served with the massive amphibious assault force converging on New Georgia under the leadership of Rear Admiral Richmond K . Turner . She supported the most important landings 30 June on the north coast of Rendova Island , 5 miles across Blanche Channel from Munda . Immediately after the first wave of troops hit Rendova Beach , Munda Island shore batteries opened fire on the four destroyers patrolling Blanche Channel . " Gwin " was straddled by the first salvo . A moment later a shell exploded on her main deck aft , killing three men , wounding seven and stopping her after engine . The half - dozen enemy shore batteries were soon silenced as " Gwin " laid down an effective heavy smoke screen to protect the unloading transports . When aerial raiders appeared , her gunners shot down three . Rendova Island was soon in American possession . It served as an important motor torpedo boat base to harass Japanese barge lines and a base for air support in the Solomons . Sinking . " Gwin " escorted a reinforcement echelon from Guadalcanal to Rendova , then raced to the " Slot " 7 July to rescue 87 survivors of cruiser " Helena " ( CL - 50 ) , lost in the Battle of Kula Gulf . She then joined a cruiser – destroyer task force under Rear Admiral Walden L . Ainsworth to head off a formidable " Tokyo Express " force headed through the Solomon Islands to land troops at Vila . The Battle of Kolombangara was joined in the early hours of 13 July and Japanese light cruiser " Jintsu " quickly slid to the bottom , the victim of smothering gunfire and torpedo hits . But four Japanese destroyers , waiting for a calculated moment when Ainsworth ' s formation would turn , launched 31 torpedoes at the American formation . His flagship " Honolulu " ( CL - 48 ) , cruiser " St . Louis " ( CL - 49 ) and " Gwin " , maneuvering to bring their main batteries to bear on the enemy , turned right into the path of the deadly " long lance " torpedoes . Both cruisers received damaging hits but survived . " Gwin " received a torpedo hit amidships in her engine room and exploded . The destroyer " Ralph Talbot " ( DD - 390 ) took off " Gwin " ' s crew after their damage control efforts failed and she had to be scuttled . Two officers and 59 men perished with the destroyer . " Gwin " received five battle star s for service in World War II