USS Gregory ( DD - 802 ) USS " Gregory " ( DD - 802 ) was a " Fletcher " - class destroyer of the United States Navy , the second Navy ship named for Rear Admiral Francis H . Gregory ( 1780 – 1866 ) , who served from the War of 1812 to the Civil War . " Gregory " was launched by the Todd - Pacific Ship Building Co . , Tacoma , Washington , 8 May 1944 ; sponsored by Miss Ann McGuigan , daughter of Captain McGuigan , superintendent of construction at Tacoma ; and commissioned 29 July 1944 , Commander Bruce McCandless commanding . 1944 – 1947 . After shakedown along the West Coast , " Gregory " sailed for the Pacific with Hull ( DD - 350 ) , reaching Pearl Harbor on 23 October 1944 . Two months of local operations terminated in January 1945 as " Gregory " began practice for the impending invasion of Iwo Jima , next - to - last great campaign of the long and bloody Pacific war . " Gregory " sailed for the island 22 January , arriving off Iwo Jima via Saipan and Eniwetok on D - day , 19 February . For the next month she remained off the rocky coast under almost constant fire to screen transports and provide fire support for the invasion forces . Departing Iwo Jima 15 March , " Gregory " reached Saipan 4 days later to prepare for her role in the Okinawa campaign . Okinawa , last step prior to invasion of the Japanese home islands themselves , involved over a thousand ships and half a million men , under Admiral Raymond A . Spruance , in the Pacific ' s war largest amphibious effort . " Gregory " joined this modern armada as it sailed from Saipan 27 March and was off Okinawa 1 April 1945 as the first waves of Marines waded ashore to bloody battle . Her task group , under Admiral Jerauld Wright , conducted a " demonstration landing " on the southeast coast , hoping to distract some Japanese attention from the actual invasion along Okinawa ' s western coast . This diversion complete , " Gregory " remained off Okinawa on patrol and radar picket station . On the afternoon of 8 April , " Gregory " ’ s lookouts spotted three Japanese planes coming in out of the setting sun , a favorite kamikaze device . One of the suicide craft , pieces of fuselage spinning wildly off as " Gregory " ’ s guns registered hit after hit , crashed into the destroyer amidships just above the waterline to port . " Gregory " shuddered under the impact and began to slow in the water as power failed in her forward engine and fire rooms flooded . The two other kamikazes mercilessly pressed on their attack , but the wounded DD downed both of them in blazing gunfire . " Gregory " then steamed to the anchorage at Kerama Retto for temporary repairs , and on 19 April departed Okinawa . After escorting the aircraft carrier " Intrepid " ( CV - 11 ) to Pearl Harbor , she sailed for San Diego , reaching there 18 May for battle repairs . While " Gregory " was still in overhaul , the Japanese surrendered and the destroyer was placed in inactive status , in commission in reserve , at San Diego . She decommissioned 15 January 1947 . 1951 – 1964 . " Gregory " ’ s rest was to be brief , as Communist forces launched their war in Korea 24 June 1950 and the U . S . Navy joined United Nations forces ; she recommissioned 27 April 1951 , Comdr . H . C . Lank in command . Reaching Yokosuka , Japan , via Pearl Harbor and Midway 16 August 1951 , " Gregory " immediately began patrol duty along the Korean coast . Her principal duties were screening American carriers , such as " Essex " ( CV - 9 ) and " Boxer " ( CV - 21 ) , from which air strikes against North Korean positions and supply lines were launched ; blockading the coast , and participating in coastal bombardment as the tide of war ebbed and flowed along the Korean peninsula . In addition , she was frequently assigned to the Formosa patrol , intended to prevent Communist action against the beleaguered republic . Here " Gregory " came under fire from mainland Communist Chinese shore batteries . While on a search - and - rescue ( SAR ) mission for a downed P2V 19 January 1953 , she closed to within 8 , 000 yards of Nan - ao Tao , an island just off the China coast that had fallen to the Communists on 3 March 1950 in the Battle of Nan ' ao Island . Though shore batteries opened fire on her . " Gregory " did not return fire , instead clearing the area immediately to continue her SAR mission . After the ended the shooting war in August 1953 , " Gregory " returned to a peacetime routine of local operations out of San Diego interspersed with yearly deployments , usually 6 months long , to the Far East . These deployments took her to Yokosuka , Sasebo , Hong Kong , Bangkok , Sydney , Okinawa , the Philippines , and Formosa for training maneuvers with American and other warships . In the fall of 1958 " Gregory " spent a tension - filled 2½ months off the China coast during one of the periodic intensification of the Quemoy - Matsu crisis . " Gregory " earned the Battle Efficiency " E " three times during her post - war career — 1955 , 1956 , and 1959 . " Gregory " was decommissioned at San Diego , Calif . on 1 February 1964 and entered the reserve . She was struck from the Navy List 1 May 1966 , renamed " Indoctrinator " , and served as an inoperable trainer at San Diego from 20 May 1966 to 8 January 1971 . The ship was grounded on San Clemente Island , Southern California on 4 March 1971 to serve as a target . Awards . " Gregory " earned two battle star s during World War II and four battle stars during the Korean War .