USS John Rodgers ( DD - 574 ) USS " John Rodgers " ( DD - 574 ) was a of the United States Navy commissioned during World War II . She was the second Navy ship of that name , in honor of three members of the Rodgers family who served in the Navy from the War of 1812 through World War I . " John Rodgers " served in several wartime actions in the Pacific , receiving 12 battle stars . She was laid up shortly after the end of the war , but sold to the Mexican Navy in 1970 , where she served until 2001 as BAM " Cuitlahuac " , becoming the last of the " Fletcher " - class in active service . She was scrapped in Mexico in 2010 - 2011 , after efforts failed to return her to the U . S . for use as a museum ship . Construction and commissioning . " John Rodgers " was laid down by Consolidated Steel Corporation , Orange , Texas , 25 July 1941 ; launched 7 May 1942 , sponsored by Miss Helen Perry Rodgers , daughter , great grandniece , and great granddaughter of the ship ' s namesakes ; and commissioned 9 February 1943 , Commander H . O . Parish in command . Service history . United States Navy . 1943 . After shakedown in the Caribbean , " John Rodgers " departed Norfolk , Virginia on 13 May escorting a convoy through the Panama Canal to Pearl Harbor . Following a short training period there , the destroyer joined the screen of a fast carrier task force in August during damaging raids on Marcus Island , Tarawa , and Wake Island which also gathered invaluable information for future landings . Then , in a joint cruiser - destroyer force , she sailed for Empress Augusta Bay to support landings on Bougainville on 1 November . While screening the transports there a week later , she assisted in splashing a Japanese torpedo plane . From this action she joined the destroyer screen of the Southern Attack Force for the invasion of the Gilbert Islands . She protected the transports during the landings on Betio Island on 20 November and remained in the area supporting the brave marines ashore until Tarawa Atoll was secure . 1944 . Late in December the destroyers sailed to Pearl Harbor to prepare for the next major offensive . " John Rodgers " departed Pearl Harbor on 22 January 1944 , headed for the Marshall Islands . Profiting from experience gained in previous engagements , the Navy launched a well - coordinated attack on Kwajalein Atoll on 31 January . In addition to providing antiaircraft and antisubmarine protection , " John Rodgers " supported the landing forces with gunfire which knocked out enemy troop concentrations and pill boxes . After the last resistance disappeared on 7 February , the destroyer patrolled the Marshall Island area until late March . During April , she acted as escort for ships bringing men and weapons as American forces surprised the enemy at Hollandia . Naval fire support helped ground troops to secure airfields giving the United States a closer base for future attacks on the remaining Japanese - held islands . In May , " John Rodgers " operated out of Guadalcanal screening convoys and bombarding enemy positions . Early in June she sailed to the Marshall Islands to prepare for the Marianas Campaign and departed Eniwetok on 17 July with the Guam invasion force . Beginning on 21 July , " John Rodgers " fired more than 3 , 600 rounds at targets on Guam helping to knock out enemy troop concentrations and defensive works . The destroyer remained in the Mariana Islands until 4 August and provided antisubmarine screen for transports bringing reinforcements . In August , " John Rodgers " began preparations for the Morotai Invasion and departed Humboldt Bay on 14 September to support and screen the landings there . After this operation , which provided the only Allied base from which to stage short - range fighters and bombers to Leyte , she remained on patrol duty in the area . " John Rodgers " returned to Hollandia on 2 October to prepare for the long - awaited invasion of the Philippines . She got under way for Leyte on 13 October and arrived to support landings 7 days later . Now commanded by Commander J . G . Franklin , she screened the ships carrying General Douglas MacArthur and his troops back to the Philippines . As American fighting men moved inland and took two important airfields , the destroyer provided fire support and patrolled the area . Meanwhile , risking all to save the Philippines , Japan committed her entire remaining naval force to battle . The U . S . Navy met this challenge by routing the Japanese in the decisive Battle for Leyte Gulf , and reducing their once powerful navy to a mere shadow of its former strength . 1945 . Following this historic action , " John Rodgers " departed the Philippines 30 October for Mare Island Naval Shipyard , California , and a badly needed overhaul . Rejuvenated by early January 1945 , the destroyer sailed west to join Admiral Raymond Spruance ' s Task Force 58 ( TF 58 ) on 7 February for final offensive operations against the enemy . Carrier strikes on the Japanese homeland began 16 February and , in 2 days of relentless air attacks , destroyed nearly 800 enemy planes . " John Rodgers " turned toward the Bonin Islands to screen a fast carrier task force covering the invasion of Iwo Jima on 19 February . Although air raids and heavy guns knocked out many enemy defensive works , the island was well enough fortified to make the Navy pay a high price in lives and weapons for this vital stopover for B - 29 Superfortress es raiding Tokyo . Following Iwo Jima , " John Rodgers " resumed duty with the fast carrier task force raiding Japan while awaiting the invasion of Okinawa , last and greatest amphibious operation of the Pacific war . " John Rodgers " operated with the carriers as they continued to bomb both Japan and Okinawa . She began screening operations as the first assault wave hit the beach on 1 April . She stood by protecting the carriers and splashed two " kamikaze s " as they dived toward the flattops . She remained in the area supporting operations until Okinawa was finally secure on 21 June . As the war closed , " John Rodgers " screened the 3rd Fleet during almost continuous raids on Japan . As the Flagship of Destroyer Squadron 25 ( DesRon 25 ) since September 1943 , the USS John Rodgers lead DesRon 25 in late July on the Suruga Wan antishipping sweep and penetrated to within 1½ miles of the Japanese shoreline , probably the closest approach made by any Allied surface ships during the entire war . Admiral William Halsey congratulated the division commander who had led the sweep on board " John Rodgers " : " Loud applause to you and your boys for a well planned sweep conducted in the best destroyer tradition . You have been enrolled on the emperor ' s blacklist . " Following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the subsequent collapse of Japan , the indefatigable destroyer screened transports carrying occupation troops into Tokyo Bay on 6 September . The triumphant entry into Tokyo was a fitting and well - deserved climax for " John Rodgers " who had fought in almost every major offensive campaign of the Pacific war without losing a single man . Her stay was brief , however , as she sailed for home and arrived Boston , Massachusetts on 17 October . She moved to Charleston , South Carolina on 3 November , decommissioned there on 25 May 1946 , and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet . She was moved to Philadelphia in 1954 , and Orange , TX , in 1968 . Mexican Navy . The ship was sold as - is to Mexico 19 Aug 1970 . She served in the Mexican Navy as ARM " Cuitlahuac " , named after Cuitláhuac ( ? - 1520 ) , the second - to - last Aztec emperor of Mexico . " Cuitlahuac " was retired by the Mexican Navy 16 July 2001 , bringing to an end the 60 - year service history of the " Fletcher " - class ships . Post Deactivation . After deactivation , " John Rodgers " was acquired by Beauchamp Tower Corp . , a small non - profit foundation based in Florida , in late 2006 with the stated purpose of returning her to the states as a museum in Mobile , Alabama . But these plans fell through , and " John Rodgers " was moored unattended at a granary pier in Lázaro Cárdenas , Mexico , accumulating more than $ 2 million in liens and penalties for unpaid towing and wharfage . The Mexican Government in 2008 announced plans to seize and dispose of her as a derelict , and on 2 August 2010 , declared that the ship was abandoned property , ordering her to be scrapped . The ship was dismantled in the port of Lázaro Cárdenas beginning in September 2010 , and work was completed in April 2011 . Awards . " John Rodgers " received 12 battle star s for her World War II service .