USS Willard Keith ( DD - 775 ) USS " Willard Keith " ( DD - 775 ) , an " Allen M . Sumner " - class destroyer , is currently the only completed ship of the United States Navy ever named for Willard Keith , a United States Marine Corps captain who died in combat during the campaign for Guadalcanal . He was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions . " Willard Keith " ( DD - 775 ) was laid down on 5 March 1944 at San Pedro , California , by the Bethlehem Steel Co . ; launched on 29 August 1944 ; sponsored by Mrs . Willard W . Keith , the mother of Capt . Keith ; and commissioned two days after Christmas of 1944 , Comdr . Lewis L . Snyder in command . Cancelled ships . It is notable that the Navy had two contracts for destroyer escort s that were to be named USS " Willard Keith " ; however , they both were cancelled before they were completed . The contract for the construction of USS " Willard Keith " ( DE - 754 ) — a " Cannon " - class destroyer escort whose keel had been laid down on 14 September 1943 at San Pedro , California , by the Western Pipe and Steel Company — was cancelled on 2 October 1943 . The contract for the construction of USS " Willard Keith " ( DE - 314 ) — an " Evarts " - class destroyer escort laid down on 22 January 1944 at Vallejo , California , by the Mare Island Navy Yard — was cancelled on 13 March 1944 . World War II . After shakedown training out of San Diego , California , " Willard Keith " operated temporarily out of the Pre - commissioning Training Center at San Francisco , California , as training ship for engineering personnel . During that time , she made weekly trips from San Francisco to San Clemente Island and back . It is rumored that , during one of these runs from San Clemente to San Francisco , the " Willard Kieth " encountered , depth - charged , and supposedly destroyed a sonar contact of unknown origin or nationality . The matter was allegedly suppressed by the ship ' s officers , save the eyewitness accounts of some crew members . However , no documentation or physical proof of this alleged encounter has been discovered . A few remaining crew of the " Willard Keith " have formed a non - profit organization ( The Marine War Memorial Association of Half Moon Bay , CA ) with the mission of finding and memorializing this alleged sunken wreck . Completing that tour of training duty in mid - April 1945 , " Willard Keith " sailed for the Western Pacific ( WestPac ) on 16 April , heading for Pearl Harbor in company with " Atlanta " ( CL - 104 ) and " Tillman " ( DD - 641 ) . After onward routing to the forward area , " Willard Keith " arrived at Okinawa on 29 May . Assigned screening and radar picket duties for the remainder of the Okinawan campaign , " Willard Keith " destroyed two Japanese planes during her tour . Her closest brush with the enemy came on the final day of the campaign when a Japanese torpedo plane winged in low and unobserved and launched her " fish . " Fortunately , the warhead proved a dud and only left a dent in " Willard Keith ' s " hull . After her baptism of fire , " Willard Keith " then joined a cruiser - destroyer task force on 24 June for anti - shipping sweeps into the East China Sea . Due to the losses inflicted upon the once - large Japanese merchant marine , however , the pickings were slim . " Willard Keith " spent the remainder of the war engaged in such largely fruitless operations and , with the coming of the Japanese surrender , drew screening duties with the initial occupying forces in the erstwhile enemy ' s home waters . That autumn , the destroyer visited the Japanese ports of Wakayama , Yokosuka , Nagoya , and Tokyo , on occasion performing courier service between ports , carrying men and mail . Chosen as the flagship for Commodore John T . Bottom , Jr . , Commander , Task Flotilla 1 and area commander , " Willard Keith " wore the commodore ' s burgee pennant while remaining at Nagoya from the last part of October until early December . On 5 December , Commodore Bottom ' s burgee came down , and " Willard Keith " put to sea to rendezvous with her sisterships in Destroyer Squadron ( DesRon ) 66 . She then sailed east , reaching the west coast in time to spend Christmas at San Diego , California 1946 . Subsequently , " Willard Keith " proceeded down the west coast ; transited the Panama Canal ; crossed the Gulf of Mexico and then proceeded around the tip of Florida , bound for New York City . After voyage repairs at the New York Navy Yard , Brooklyn , N . Y . , the destroyer stood out of the yard on the last day of January and proceeded up the eastern seaboard to Newport , Rhode Island . She engaged in gunnery exercises out of that port and , upon conclusion of that first phase of her peacetime training program , returned to New York . She made five more short round trips between New York and Newport until 12 July , when she set out for Guantanamo Bay , Cuba . After operations in the British West Indies area , " Willard Keith " returned to Norfolk , Virginia , from whence she escorted the veteran battleships " Washington " ( BB - 56 ) and " North Carolina " ( BB - 55 ) to Culebra , Puerto Rico , for shore bombardment exercises . The destroyer then returned to Norfolk as part of the screen for the battlewagons , before she drew another escort assignment , this time with the aircraft carrier " Philippine Sea " ( CV - 47 ) . Conducting exercises and maneuvers en route , the carrier and her consorts reached Guantanamo Bay for training before returning northward and putting into Newport . 1947 - 1949 . Christmas and New Year ' s holidays came and went before the destroyer operated locally between Pensacola and Key West . During her time in those waters , she deviated from her routine once , when she sailed to Mobile , Alabama , on 13 February 1947 to serve as one of the Navy ' s official representatives to the yearly Mardi Gras festivities . For the remainder of the spring months , " Willard Keith " cruised routinely between Newport and Key West , carrying out training duties off the eastern seaboard . Arriving at Norfolk on 20 June 1947 , " Willard Keith " was assigned to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet a short time later . " Mothballed " at Charleston , South Carolina Naval Shipyard , the destroyer remained inactive until the Fleet buildup brought about by the Korean War in 1950 . 1950 - 1952 . Recommissioned on 23 October 1950 , " Willard Keith " was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet . After her activation was completed on 27 November , the ship departed Charleston , shaping course for Norfolk , Virginia . Subsequently pushing on to Guantanamo Bay , planeguarding for the Fleet carrier " Intrepid " ( CV - 11 ) en route , " Willard Keith " reached her destination on 13 January 1951 to commence her shakedown soon thereafter . Completing that training phase on 22 February 1951 , " Willard Keith " stopped briefly at Culebra for gunnery exercises before proceeding on to Norfolk and upkeep . After a three - month overhaul , the destroyer returned to the Guantanamo region for further refresher training . She then returned to Norfolk for a tender upkeep . On 3 September 1951 , " Willard Keith " departed the east coast , bound for the Mediterranean and duty with the 6th Fleet . Relieving " Dennis J . Buckley " ( DD - 808 ) as a unit of that force on the 22nd of the month , " Willard Keith " spent the next six months in the " Med , " making operational visits to such ports as Gibraltar ; Naples and Trieste , Italy ; Augusta Bay , Sicily ; Istanbul , Turkey ; Leros , Greece ; and Suda Bay , Crete . From November 1951 to February 1952 , " Willard Keith " operated in company with " John W . Weeks " ( DD - 701 ) as a unit of the Northern European Force under the overall command of Rear Admiral W . F . Boone . During that period of time , the destroyer visited Plymouth , England ; Copenhagen and Bornholm , Denmark ; Bremerhaven , Germany ; Bordeaux , France ; and Derry , Northern Ireland . While operating out of the last - named port , she conducted exercises jointly with British destroyers . While in northern European waters , " Willard Keith " performed rescue and escort duties for a week , assisting the crippled before that ship broke apart and sank in heavy seas . That incident gained the United States Navy international attention at the time . The owners of the lost ship , the Isbrandtsen Lines , later presented a plaque to " Willard Keith " in appreciation for her assistance rendered to their vessel . Completing her duty in European waters early in February 1952 , " Willard Keith " shaped course for home , reaching Norfolk on 6 February for leave and upkeep . Once the needed voyage repairs had been accomplished and both officers and men refreshed after their deployment overseas , the destroyer headed north , departing Norfolk on 21 April 1952 . She was bound for Argentia , Newfoundland , with a party of observers from the United States Naval Underwater Sound School embarked on board . From 21 April to 12 May , the destroyer then conducted antisubmarine warfare ( ASW ) drills for the benefit of the observers . Upon the ship ' s return to Norfolk , all hands began to make preparations for a scheduled midshipmen ' s cruise . In early June , the ship sailed to Annapolis , Maryland , and embarked 72 officers - to - be , taking them to Norfolk . Subsequently , " Willard Keith " sailed to European waters and then to Guantanamo Bay . Ports visited during the midshipmen ' s cruise included Torquay , England , and Le Havre , France . Returning to Norfolk via Guantanamo , " Willard Keith " disembarked her passengers and resumed her routine of training . She conducted two weeks of hunter / killer training in company with the escort carrier " Block Island " ( CVE - 106 ) , a task group under the command of Rear Admiral D . V . Gallery . " Willard Keith " put back into Norfolk at the end of November and spent the remainder of the year there . 1953 - 1954 . She departed her home port nine days into the new year , though , setting sail for Pensacola , Florida , assigned as plane guard for the light carrier " Monterey " ( CVL - 26 ) . En route , however , an urgent message from Commandant , 6th Naval District , directed the ship to proceed to a rendezvous with an LST which had a Marine sergeant on board who was stricken with appendicitis . " Willard Keith " complied and transported the man to Charleston , South Carolina , where he received medical attention . The ship received a special commendation from the Commandant of the 6th Naval District for her fine work in helping to save the man . Ultimately completing her assigned duties in company with Monterey , " Willard Keith " returned to Norfolk to prepare for a scheduled three and one - half month overhaul . After repairs and alterations at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard from 11 February to 27 May , " Willard Keith " conducted refresher training out of Guantanamo Bay after first stopping at Norfolk en route . Returning to her home port on 4 August , the destroyer subsequently sailed for the Far East on 25 September in company with the other ships of Destroyer Division ( DesDiv ) 221 . The division reached Yokosuka , Japan , on 10 November 1953 , via Bermuda , Gibraltar , Naples , Port Said , Aden , Colombo , and Manila . " Willard Keith " and her sisterships operated with Naval Forces , Far East , under the overall command of Rear Admiral Robert P . Briscoe . Operating with the hunter / killer group for the initial part of her time in the Far East , the destroyer served with part of the United Nations Blockading and Escort Group . In company with " James C . Owens " ( DD - 776 ) , " Willard Keith " performed plane guard services for two weeks with the Australian aircraft carrier , HMAS " Sydney " , as that ship conducted flight operations . During the course of the tour , " Willard Keith " visited the ports of Sasebo and Yokosuka , Japan ; Inchon , Korea ; and Buckner Bay , Okinawa . Completing her WestPac tour in March 1954 , " Willard Keith " and her squadron mates returned to the United States via Midway ; Hawaii ; San Francisco ; Long Beach ; the Panama Canal ; Havana , Cuba ; and Key West , Florida , returning to Norfolk on 1 May and thus completing the ship ' s circumnavigation of the globe . For the remainder of the year 1954 , " Willard Keith " operated from Labrador to the Caribbean , taking part in antisubmarine warfare ( ASW ) exercises and amphibious exercises interspersed with routine upkeep periods in port . 1955 - 1977 . After spending Christmas , 1954 , in her home port , " Willard Keith " departed Norfolk five days into the new year , 1955 , bound for the Mediterranean . She paid goodwill calls at the ports of Algiers , Naples , Genoa , and the Azores in the course of her extended deployment , before she returned to Norfolk on 15 March . Then , after a brief upkeep period , " Willard Keith " offloaded stores and ammunition and shifted to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for a four - month overhaul . Emerging from the shipyard on 8 August , the destroyer conducted refresher training out of the familiar waters of Guantanamo Bay before conducting gunfire support exercises with the rest of her division at Culebra . Returning northward that autumn , she conducted amphibious warfare gunfire support exercises as a fire support unit during Marine Corps amphibious landing exercises off the coast of North Carolina . For the next seven years , " Willard Keith " remained with DesRon 22 , operating from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea and Persian Gulf . She participated in a variety of goodwill missions , midshipmen cruises , and the usual training assignments in gunnery , ASW , and the like . She also participated in the " quarantine " operations in the autumn of 1962 during the Cuban missile crisis . One of the more pleasant highlights of that period occurred during the opening of the St . Lawrence Seaway in 1959 — during which time " Willard Keith " escorted the Royal Yacht " Britannia " , the latter having Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on board . On 1 October 1963 , " Willard Keith " began a new phase of her career . Reporting to DesRon 34 for duty , the warship soon commenced operating as a Naval Reserve training ( NRT ) ship . For the next nine years , " Willard Keith " operated in that capacity , accomplishing reserve training with monthly drill weekend cruises for the reservists permanently assigned to the ship ' s reserve crew and undertaking two - week active duty training cruises for reservists getting their annual active sea duty training . She ranged from the eastern seaboard to Guantanamo Bay as an NRT destroyer , providing the platform for training necessary to maintain a skilled pool of reservists ready for any eventuality . Ultimately considered to have capabilities that were not up to modern Fleet standards , " Willard Keith " was chosen for inactivation and transfer . Decommissioned on 1 July 1972 at Norfolk , Virginia , Willard Keith was transferred to the Navy of the Republic of Colombia . Simultaneously stricken from the Navy list , the destroyer was renamed " Caldas " ( DD - 02 ) . She served the Colombian Navy until disposed of in 1977 . " Willard Keith " ( DD - 775 ) earned two battle stars for her World War II service .