USS Amick ( DE - 168 ) USS " Amick " ( DE - 168 ) was a built for the United States Navy during World War II . She served in the Atlantic Ocean and then the Pacific Ocean and provided escort service against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys . She was laid down on 30 November 1942 by the Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co . , Newark , New Jersey ; launched on 27 May 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . Mary R . Amick , widow of Ens . Amick , who died at Guadalcanal and for whom the ship was named ; and commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 26 July 1943 , Lt . Comdr . Francis C . B . McCune in command . World War II North Atlantic Ocean operations . " Amick " left the east coast early in September for shakedown training out of Bermuda . During this cruise , the ship was also engaged in operations testing experimental defensive devices intended to protect American ships against acoustic torpedoes . In early November , " Amick " became a member of Task Force 62 and began duty as an escort for transatlantic convoys . The ship also acted as flagship for Escort Division ( CortDiv ) 15 . From November 1943 through May 1945 , she completed nine round - trip voyages across the Atlantic . These terminated in several different ports : Casablanca , Morocco ; Gibraltar ; Bizerte , Tunisia ; Palermo , Sicily ; and Oran , Algeria . Only one of her convoys was ever harassed by enemy forces . On 1 August 1944 , German aircraft attacked the convoy while it was sailing in the Mediterranean off Cape Bengut , Algeria , but failed to damage any ships . During her 18 months of wartime operations in the Atlantic , " Amick " entered either the New York Navy Yard or the Boston Navy Yard for short availabilities at the completion of each westward crossing . As a rule , she then proceeded to Casco Bay , Maine , or Montauk Point , New York , for training exercises before joining another convoy . " Amick " participated in a small engagement known as the Battle of Point Judith on 5 and 6 May 1945 , during which she helped sink the German U - boat " U - 853 " off Rhode Island . World War II Pacific Theatre operations . On 28 May 1945 , " Amick " sailed from Boston , Massachusetts , with CortDiv 15 , bound for the Pacific . They paused at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , for one week of training and then proceeded to the Panama Canal Zone . The destroyer escorts transited the Panama Canal on 10 June and sailed on to San Diego , California . From that port , " Amick " and her sister ships headed for the Hawaiian Islands and moored at Pearl Harbor on the 29th . After a fortnight of exercises out of Pearl Harbor , CortDiv 15 got underway for Eniwetok . " Amick " sailed for the Mariana Islands and , at Saipan , reported to Task Unit ( TU ) 94 . 7 . 2 for duty . The destroyer escort completed one voyage to Okinawa and back before sailing for the Western Caroline Islands . On 15 August , while en route to Ulithi , she received word of Japan ' s capitulation . End - of - War activity . " Amick " touched at Ulithi on the 16th ; and , three days later , she reached Peleliu in the Palau Islands and joined Task Unit 94 . 6 . 1 . On 23 August , several Navy and Marine Corps officials embarked in " Amick " for passage to the northern Palau Islands . There , they held a series of conferences with Japanese officers which culminated on 1 September in the unconditional surrender of all Japanese forces in the northern Palaus , which was received by the Americans in the wardroom on board " Amick " . On 3 November , " Amick " departed Peleliu , bound for the United States . She made brief stops at Saipan and Pearl Harbor before arriving back at San Diego , California , on 22 November . Post - War inactivation . The destroyer escort was reassigned to the Atlantic Fleet on 1 December and , shortly thereafter , got underway for the east coast . She reached Jacksonville , Florida , on 3 January 1946 , and entered a shipyard there for repairs . After this work was completed , she was assigned to CortDiv 12 and berthed at Green Cove Springs , Florida , to undergo preservation work prior to deactivation . The warship remained semi - active at Green Cove Springs , serving as a receiving ship for sailors from other ships completing the inactivation process , until herself decommissioned on 16 May 1947 . After eight years in reserve , " Amick " was loaned to Japan on 14 June 1955 under the terms of the Mutual Defense Assistance Program . She served in the Japanese Maritime Self - Defense Force as " Asahi " ( DE - 262 ) until returned to the US Navy early in 1975 . On 6 January 1975 , she was reclassified a frigate and redesignated FF - 168 . Not long thereafter , she was determined to be unfit for further service , and her name was struck from the Navy List on 15 June 1975 . She was sold to the Republic of the Philippines in September 1976 and was renamed RPS " Datu Sikatuna " ( PS - 77 ) . On July 1980 she was renamed BRP " Datu Sikatuna " ( PF - 5 ) as changes in naming and numbering of ships in the Philippine Navy was made . She served with the Philippine Navy until she was decommissioned and scrapped in 1989 .