USS Nicholson ( DD - 442 ) USS " Nicholson " ( DD - 442 ) , a , was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the Nicholson family , which was prominent in the early history of the Navy . " Nicholson " was laid down 1 November 1939 by Boston Naval Shipyard ; launched 31 May 1940 ; sponsored by Mrs . S . A . Bathriek , a great - granddaughter of Samuel Nicholson ( 1743 – 1811 ) ; and commissioned 3 June 1941 , Commander J . S . Keating in command . Atlantic service . After a shakedown cruise in the eastern Atlantic , " Nicholson " escorted convoys through the U - boat - infested , storm - tossed North Atlantic first from Boston to Newfoundland and then to Scotland and England until fall 1942 . In a brief training period off the Virginia coast , she prepared for the Casablanca invasion , but a turbine casualty prevented her participation in the initial landings . She arrived four days later , 12 November , to assist in the consolidation of the beachhead and to patrol . She took part in the Bizerte campaign and the initial assaults on Salerno , coming under heavy air attack from the Luftwaffe at both Bizerte and Salerno . Pacific service . After five months in the Mediterranean , " Nicholson " returned to the United States for overhaul in preparation for Pacific deployment , for which she sailed from Boston early in January 1944 . When she reached New Guinea in February , she was assigned to escort LST s in the Cape Gloucester campaign , already under way . Throughout the long New Guinea campaign , a matter of successive assaults on coastal points and nearby islands , " Nicholson " gave gunfire support to troops ashore . She had similar duty in the Admiralties ; when , during the conquest of Seeadler Harbor , she was assigned to draw fire from an enemy battery on Hauwei Island . Here she was hit by a 4 " shell which struck in No . 2 ammunition handling room , killing three and wounding four . She wiped out the enemy position . In August 1944 " Nicholson " joined the 3rd Fleet in the Marshalls . She screened fast carriers in raids on the Bonins , Formosa , and the Philippines , supporting the invasion of the Palaus and the neutralization of Yap . Returning to the Philippines , her group assisted the 7th Fleet during the invasion of Leyte and the decisive Battle for Leyte Gulf , from which " Nicholson " sailed for a Seattle overhaul . Returning to the western Pacific in February 1945 , " Nicholson " escorted ships passing between Guam and Ulithi , and arrived off Okinawa for its invasion late in March . Serving in the exposed radar picket line , " Nicholson " came through untouched by kamikaze s , but rescued survivors from stricken destroyers " Little " ( DD - 803 ) and " Morrison " ( DD - 560 ) . Rejoining the 3d Fleet for the final air operations against the Japanese home islands , " Nicholson " was off Honshū at the war ' s end . She entered Sagami Wan 29 August and Tokyo Bay 15 September . Returning to San Diego 6 November , she sailed for Panama and Charleston , S . C . , arriving 23 November to join the Atlantic Reserve Fleet . She decommissioned 26 February 1946 , was assigned as a Naval Reserve Training ship in the 3d Naval District 30 November 1948 . " Nicholson " received 10 battle star s for World War II service . Post - war service . While serving as reserve training ship at Brooklyn Navy Yard , Nicholson served as the backdrop for the big - screen musical On the Town starring Frank Sinatra , Gene Kelly , Vera Ellen , Ann Miller and Betty Garret . The ship was shown in the beginning of the movie and also in the last scene . Nicholson was recommissioned 17 July 1950 , then decommissioned once more and transferred to the Italian Navy 15 January 1951 . " Aviere " . The " Nicholson " was sold to the Italian Navy 15 January 1951 and renamed Aviere . She was converted to an experimental gun ship in 1970 . She was stricken and sunk as a target in 1975 .