USS Frederick C . Davis ( DE - 136 ) The USS " Frederick C . Davis " ( DE - 136 ) was an " Edsall " - class destroyer escort built for the United States Navy during World War II . Named for Ensign Frederick Curtice Davis ( a naval aviator who was killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor ) , she was the first U . S . Naval vessel to bear the name . " Frederick C . Davis " was laid down 9 November 1942 by the Consolidated Steel Company of Orange , Texas ; launched 24 January 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . Dorothy H . Robins ; and commissioned 14 July 1943 with Lieutenant Commander O . W . Goepner , USNR , in command . " Frederick C . Davis " sailed from Norfolk 7 October 1943 to escort a convoy to Algiers . She was assigned to escort duty between north Africa n ports and Naples , and on 6 November first came under enemy air attack . A wave of torpedo and medium bomber s damaged three ships in her convoy but were driven off by the escort ' s antiaircraft fire before further damage could be done . Again under air attack on 26 November , " Frederick C . Davis " splashed at least two of the enemy aircraft . History . Continuing her escort duty in the western Mediterranean , " Frederick C . Davis " took part in an attack on 16 December 1943 which resulted in the sinking of " U - 73 " by two of her group . On 21 January 1944 the escort sortied from Naples for the Anzio landings , during which her superlative and courageous performance was to win her a Navy Unit Commendation . After providing protection from submarine s and aircraft to ships giving fire support to the assault on the 22d , " Frederick C . Davis " maintained a patrol off the besieged beachhead for the next 6 months , leaving only for brief periods of replenishment at Naples . Equipped with special equipment to jam the control frequency of the enemy ' s rocket - propelled , radio - directed glider bombs , " Frederick C . Davis " fought off innumerable enemy air attacks , protecting shipping in the anchorage and the men enduring the drawnout fighting ashore . Particularly during the earlier stages of this bitter operation , " Frederick C . Davis " came under shellfire from shore batteries . Shrapnel caused slight damage to the ship , but only one man was wounded during this lengthy service . After a return to escort duty in the Mediterranean in June and July 1944 , " Frederick C . Davis " cleared Naples 9 August for Corsica , her staging point for the assault on southern France . Here again she provided her special jamming services to protect the headquarters ship for the operation , the USS " Catoctin " ( AGC - 5 ) . She remained off the assault area on antisubmarine patrol and controlling shipping until 19 September , then returned to New York Navy Yard for overhaul . Returning to duty in the western Atlantic early in 1945 , " Frederick C . Davis " served on coastal convoy escort and antisubmarine patrol service and in mid - April joined a special surface barrier force , formed to protect the Atlantic coast from the threat of close penetration by snorkel - equipped German submarines during Operation Teardrop . It was one of these , " U - 546 " , which was contacted 24 April by " Frederick C . Davis " . Within minutes , as the destroyer escort prepared to attack , the submarine torpedoed her , hitting on the port side , forward . Five minutes later , she broke in two , and efforts to preserve the buoyancy of the stern , where the damage was less and the majority of survivors were located , failed . Her survivors abandoned the ship , with a loss of 115 men . They were taken from the water within 3 hours , and other escorts sank her attacker the same day .