USS Sicard ( DD - 346 ) USS " Sicard " ( DD - 346 / DM - 21 / AG - 100 ) was a " Clemson " - class destroyer in the United States Navy following World War I . She was named for Montgomery Sicard . History . " Sicard " was laid down on 18 June 1919 by the Bath Iron Works ; launched on 20 April 1920 ; sponsored by Mrs . M . H . Sicard , daughter - in - law of Rear Admiral Sicard ; and commissioned on 9 June 1920 , Lt . J . K . Davis in temporary command . On 18 June 1920 , her regularly appointed commanding officer , Lt . Cmdr . G . C . Dichman , took command ; and , on 26 June , the ship joined Destroyer Squadrons , Atlantic Fleet at Newport , Rhode Island . She operated on the east coast and in the Caribbean and Panama Canal Zone areas until 1922 , engaging in battle and torpedo practice and fleet maneuvers and receiving necessary repairs at the New York Navy Yard . On 20 January 1921 , she transited the Panama Canal and participated in combined Atlantic and Pacific Fleet war games and maneuvers in the Pacific , cruising to Callao , Peru , and returning to the Atlantic on 24 February . Arriving at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on 27 April 1922 from spring maneuvers in the West Indies , " Sicard " was repaired and fitted out for duty on the Asiatic Station . On 15 June , she proceeded to Newport , received torpedo equipment ; and , on the 20th , got underway with her squadron for her new station , sailing via the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean . The squadron arrived at Chefoo , China , on 26 August , and joined the Asiatic Fleet , with which she operated for seven years , based at Chefoo and Tsingtao in the summer and Manila in the winter . She received periodic overhauls at the Cavite Navy Yard . She participated in fleet exercises and maneuvers , protected American interests in China , Japan , and the Philippines , and engaged in escort and patrol duty on the China Coast and on the Yangtze River during periods of unrest . On 30 and 31 August 1923 , when violent earthquakes destroyed a large part of the cities of Tokyo and Yokohama , Japan , the Commander in Chief of the Asiatic Fleet , Admiral Edwin Anderson , Jr . , dispatched all available vessels to that area with emergency supplies to render assistance . " Sicard " arrived in Yokohama harbor on 11 September and acted as dispatch boat to Tokyo and transported refugees from the city . From 25 September to 3 October , she was stationed in Nagasaki harbor as relay ship , since all radio communications to Yokohama and Tokyo were out of commission . The prompt action of " Sicard " and other units of the Asiatic Fleet helped save thousands of lives and earned the thanks of the Japanese government . Between 26 April and 30 June 1924 , " Sicard " again saw special duty , in connection with the flight of four United States Army airplanes around the world . The destroyer cruised from Hong Kong to Rangoon , Burma , and Calcutta , India , guarding the flight and maintaining radio communications . During the next few years , " Sicard ' s " patrols in Chinese waters became more frequent due to the fighting which accompanied Chiang Kai - Shek and the Kuomintang prevailing over warlords . On 22 July 1929 , having been relieved by another squadron , " Sicard " and her squadron sailed from Yokohama , Japan , for the United States and arrived at San Diego on 17 August . In October 1929 , " Sicard " joined Destroyer Squadrons , United States Battle Fleet , and for several years operated principally on the west coast of the United States , with periodic overhauls at the Mare Island Navy Yard . She engaged in fleet concentration problems and battle and torpedo practice ; towed targets for submarines and air squadrons ; performed plane guard duty and made Naval Reserve training cruises . During the period 15 February to 21 June 1930 , " Sicard " made a cruise to the Atlantic with the Battle Fleet , participating in the United States Fleet concentration and Fleet Problem X in Caribbean waters and visiting New York and Hampton Roads for the Presidential Review on 20 May . She took part in fleet problems conducted in the Canal Zone and Caribbean area from 4 February to 15 April 1931 and in Hawaiian waters from 1 February to 22 March 1932 . From 24 March to 1 October 1934 , " Sicard " was attached to Rotating Reserve Squadron 20 at San Diego . On 1 October , she joined Destroyer Squadron 4 and continued operations with the Battle Force in the Pacific . On 12 May 1935 , while engaging in Fleet Problem XVI off Diamond Head , Oahu , " Sicard " was rammed by " Lea " ( DD - 118 ) and badly damaged . The ship was towed by " Rail " ( AM - 26 ) to the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard , where she received extensive repairs before resuming operations with her squadron in August . World War II . In May 1937 , " Sicard " entered the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard for conversion to a light minelayer ; and , on 20 June , she was reclassified DM - 21 . Except for a brief trip to the west coast for repairs and training from 20 September to 20 December 1937 , " Sicard " operated in the Hawaiian area through 1941 , engaging in division tactics and training exercises , fleet problems and maneuvers , joint Army and Navy exercises , battle , torpedo and mining practice , and reconnaissance missions around Midway and outlying islands . She entered the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard on 21 November 1941 and was under overhaul there when the Japanese attacked on 7 December . The ship had ammunition only for her . 30 - caliber machine guns but aided in the defense of the base by sending men to help operate the guns of the cruiser " New Orleans " ( CA - 32 ) and the destroyer " Cummings " ( DD - 365 ) . On completion of overhaul on 28 January 1942 , " Sicard " left Pearl Harbor for an antisubmarine patrol station southwest of Oahu , where she escorted ships within her area and searched for hostile submarines . Between 1 and 9 April , she helped lay a large defensive minefield at the French Frigate Shoals , some 500 miles northwest of Oahu ; and , between 10 and 18 April , she set up a Marine radio and surveillance station at Eastern Island in the Midway group . On 19 June , " Sicard " sailed from Pearl Harbor with other light minelayers , picked up mines at Seattle , Washington ; and , in July , laid a defensive minefield off Kodiak , Alaska . On her return to Hawaii on 27 July , she resumed her local patrol assignment . She sailed on 16 September for the Aleutian Islands to lay another minefield and conduct more patrols and then proceeded on 22 November to San Francisco for overhaul . After completion of repairs on 22 December , " Sicard " participated in amphibious landing exercises off San Diego ; and then sailed on 24 April 1943 from San Francisco with a convoy of troop transports for the assault on Attu in the Aleutians . " Sicard " was to have acted as a landing craft control vessel for the operation ; but , on the night before the landing , she collided with the destroyer , " Macdonough " ( DD - 351 ) , in a dense fog . " Sicard " towed " McDonough " into Adak , and then proceeded to San Francisco for repairs , which lasted to 29 July . She was more fortunate during the Kiska landings and successfully guided the waves of assault boats to the beach there between 15 and 18 August . She performed local patrol and escort duties in the Aleutians , and then escorted a convoy to Pearl Harbor , where she arrived on 15 September . " Sicard " left Pearl Harbor on 24 September for a new area of operations , the Southwest Pacific . She escorted ships to Nouméa and Espiritu Santo , and then continued to Purvis Bay where she and her sisters , " Gamble " ( DM - 15 ) and " Breese " ( DM - 18 ) , formed a fast mine - laying group . The group sortied on 31 October to plant an offensive minefield off Bougainville Island . Just as the group completed its mission and began to retire early in the morning of 2 November , it was illuminated by parachute flares from enemy aircraft . Soon a friendly cruiser force steamed by at high speed in the opposite direction and opened fire on an invisible enemy . " Sicard " ' s group had unknowingly helped bring the opposing forces together for the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay . " Sicard " with four other destroyer - minelayers , laid another minefield off Bougainville on 8 November ; and , after brief convoy duty , the ship laid a third minefield off the Shortland Islands on 24 November . Between December 1943 and April 1944 , she escorted convoys between Espiritu Santo , Guadalcanal , Purvis Bay , Noumea , Fiji , New Zealand , and Kwajalein . On 1 May 1944 , she resumed her minelaying role and laid a field off Buka Island in two trips on 2 and 10 May . After additional convoy duty , the ship returned to Alameda , California , on 11 July 1944 for overhaul . " Sicard " completed repairs on 20 September and , after refresher training , sailed for Pearl Harbor on 4 October . Following another period of upkeep from 10 October to 16 November , she commenced duty training submarines . She conducted daily exercises with submarines off Oahu until 9 January 1945 , and then performed similar duties at Midway until 2 September 1945 . During this period , she was reclassified a miscellaneous auxiliary , AG - 100 , effective 5 June 1945 . On completion of training duty , " Sicard " arrived at the Philadelphia Navy Yard for inactivation on 21 October . Fate . She was decommissioned on 21 November 1945 , struck from the Navy list on 19 December 1945 , and sold on 22 June 1946 to Hugo Neu of New York for scrap . Honors and awards . " Sicard " received two battle star s for her World War II service . Postscript . As of 2009 , no other ship has been named USS " Sicard " .