USS Nelson ( DD - 623 ) USS " Nelson " ( DD - 623 ) , a " Gleaves " - class destroyer , was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Rear Admiral Charles P . Nelson , who served during the Spanish - American War and World War I . " Nelson " was laid down 7 May 1942 at the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Kearny , New Jersey , launched 15 September 1942 sponsored by Mrs . Nelson Stewart , daughter of R . Adm . Nelson , and commissioned 26 November 1942 , Lieutenant Commander M . M . Riker in command . After shakedown along the Atlantic coast , " Nelson " reported to the U . S . Atlantic Fleet 21 January 1943 . Through 29 May , she operated on convoy duty as flagship of Destroyer Squadron 17 , making runs to Bermuda , Port of Spain , Trinidad , Dakar , French West Africa ; Aruba , Netherlands West Indies ; Casablanca ; and Gibraltar . Invasion of Sicily , 1943 . Upon completion of a short training period at Norfolk , Virginia , " Nelson " got underway 7 June to take part in the invasion of Sicily . During the crossing she screened the cruiser " Boise " ( CL - 47 ) , arriving at Algiers on 20 June . Serving as flagship for Commander Task Force 81 ( TF 81 ) during the Sicily operation , " Nelson " was assigned duty with the central part of the Western Task Force . This group was to land assault troops on beachhead s near Gela , Sicily , to expand the captured area , and to seize the nearby airfield at Ponte Olivo . At 02 : 46 on D - Day , 10 July , the first assault waves hit the Gela beaches . Plunging in through the breakers , the shock troops encountered light opposition . But furious gunfire raked the follow - up waves . Caught in the blue - white glare of searchlights , landing craft were subjected to intense fire , and LCI s took direct hits . At 03 : 00 " Nelson " commenced figure eight patrols to the east of the transports . Shortly after dawn Axis aircraft joined the fight , flying out of the Acate River valley on the eastern coast and attempting to bomb and strafe Allied ships , landing craft , and beaches . " Nelson " fired sporadically at the planes throughout the day . At 12 : 30 she received word that " Maddox " ( DD - 622 ) had been sunk . Enemy aircraft continued the attack the next day , delivering a high level bombing attack on the " Nelson " ' s area and obtaining a direct hit on the Liberty ship " Robert Rowan " . By 23 : 02 the ships commenced laying a heavy smoke screen , and the Axis attacks were beaten off . German dive bomber s buzzed in on a surprise attack from the northeast at 17 : 33 on the 12th , dropping bombs and making strafing runs . " Nelson " splashed one plane at 17 : 42 and an hour later departed in convoy for Algiers , North Africa . Returning to the battle area the 17th , she took up antisubmarine patrol station around Gela and Scoglitti until the 23rd , when she returned to Algiers . Later , on the 30th , she escorted troop ships into Palermo Harbor on the north coast of Sicily . During this operation she was harassed by constant German air attacks . At 05 : 48 on 1 August she opened fire on a single plane , splashing it with the third salvo . " Nelson " returned to New York 22 August , where Lt . Comdr . Thomas D . McGrath relieved Lt . Comdr . Riker of command 3 September . The ship was assigned to North Atlantic convoy runs for the winter . This duty took the destroyer to Belfast , Northern Ireland three times and to Greenock Bay , Scotland , and Gibraltar once each . Invasion of Normandy , 1944 . In May 1944 " Nelson " steamed to England to stage for the coming Normandy invasion . While moored alongside a tanker at Plymouth , England on 24 May , her port screw fouled a mooring buoy , causing extensive damage to the screw and shaft . " Nelson " was placed in drydock where the screw and shaft , deemed beyond repair , were removed . But the need for fighting ships was so great that " Nelson " got underway 2 June with only a starboard screw . At Milford Haven she rendezvoused with a convoy , and by 8 June was in the Normandy assault area . The next day she steamed into position No . 13 on the " Dixie Line " as part of the anti - submarine and E - boat screen around the Omaha beach head . E - boat s were the German version of PT boat s – speedy , agile , hard - hitting , and hard to hit . Armed with 40 mm guns and torpedo es , they specialized in night attacks . On the night of 8 / 9 June several destroyers on the " Dixie Line " had taken under fire and chased several of these E - boats , sinking two . " Nelson " was anchored in position 13 the night of 12 June . Thus far her only contact with the enemy had been in the form of a glide bomb which had exploded harmlessly off the starboard quarter during her first night in the area . At 01 : 05 on the 13th she made a radar contact , challenged the contact by flashing light , and opened fire . The target slowed , turned away , and split into three distinct blips . The destroyer had loosed ten salvos when a torpedo struck her just aft the No . 4 gun mount blowing off the stern and No . 4 mount . " Maloy " ( DE - 791 ) stood by to transfer personnel , and " Nelson " was taken in tow . Twenty - four of her crew were killed or missing and nine wounded . After emergency repairs at Derry , Northern Ireland , where her # 2 turret and torpedo tubes were removed as a weight saving / stability measure , the destroyer was towed to Boston where she received a new stern . Extensive repairs completed 23 November 1944 , " Nelson " returned to Atlantic patrol duty . During December she steamed to Plymouth , England , conducting anti - submarine patrol en route . She departed New York late in February 1945 on a convoy run to Oran , Algeria , returning 31 March . Throughout April and May " Nelson " served as plane guard and screen for " Card " ( CVE - 11 ) , and 16 May Lt . Comdr . Clark W . Freeman , USNR , relieved Comdr . McGrath as skipper . The destroyer transited the Panama Canal 1 August en route Pearl Harbor , and then to Tokyo Bay 3 – 14 September , following Japan ' s surrender . The last part of September she steamed to Okinawa , Korea , and Singapore , which she reached the 24th . En route home , she arrived Colombo , Ceylon the 30th . There , two days later , Lt . Comdr . Scott Lothrop relieved Lt . Comdr . Freeman as commanding officer ; and on 3 November , " Nelson " sailed for New York , via Cape Town , South Africa , arriving 6 December . She got underway again 29 January 1946 for Charleston , South Carolina . By directive dated January 1947 , " Nelson " was placed out of commission , in reserve , U . S . Atlantic Reserve Fleet , and berthed at Charleston . She was struck from the Naval Register on 1 March 1968 and sold in July 1969 . " Nelson " earned two battle star s for World War II service .