USS Nields ( DD - 616 ) USS " Nields " ( DD - 616 ) was a " Benson " - class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II . She was named for Lieutenant Commander Henry C . Nields . " Nields " was laid down on 15 June 1942 by the Bethlehem Steel Company , Fore River , Massachusetts ; launched on 1 October 1942 ; sponsored by Miss Ella S . Nields , daughter of Lieutenant Commander Nields ; and commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard on 15 January 1943 , Lieutenant Commander Albert R . Heckey in command . 1943 . Following shakedown and training off the east coast , " Nields " escorted two tankers to Aruba , Netherlands West Indies , and Cristobal , Panama Canal Zone , returning to Norfolk , Virginia , on 11 April 1943 . Thence she proceeded to Boston , Massachusetts before joining DesRon 16 at New York . Assigned to transatlantic convoy duty , the destroyer departed New York on 28 April on her first North Africa n run , screening convoy USG - 8 . Arriving at Oran , Algeria , on 19 May , " Nields " refueled and commenced patrolling the approaches to that anchorage . On patrol on 21 May , awaiting the departure of the convoy on its return voyage , " Nields " received a submarine contact report from a British observation plane and immediately headed for the area . At 1716 , " Nields " established sound contact . At 1718 she dropped a pattern of 9 depth charges . At 1723 , sound contact was regained and another 9 - charge pattern was fired . At 1731 and at 1741 , further charges were fired from her " K " guns , forward and port . Within seconds of the last attack , oil patches were observed . The Italian submarine was one of two such submarines to be sunk by American forces . The convoy , GUS – 7A , sortied on 22 May , arriving New York on 8 June . By 26 June , " Nields " was back at Oran . Between that date and 5 July she conducted antisubmarine patrols off Algeria . On the 5th , she sortiied with the " Cent " attack force , screening U . S . convoy NCF - 1 and British convoy KMF - 18 . On the 10th , as Allied waves hit the beaches , the destroyer guarded Transport Area Two . There until the 13th , she guarded the transports from enemy aerial and underwater attack . On the 16th , she arrived back at Oran , whence she returned to New York , with convoy UGF - 9 , on 3 August . A period of refresher training out of Casco Bay , Maine , followed . 1944 . Mediterranean and UK convoys ( UGF - 10 , GUF - 12 , UTF - 3 , KMF - 25 - A , TU - 03 , and TU - 6 ) , occupied " Nields " for the remainder of 1943 , and into 1944 . Highlighting that period was Commander , Task Force 60 , Rear Admiral C . F . Bryant , commending " Nields " for her role in the rescue operations for survivors of " Marnix " and " Santa Helena " from convoy KMF - 25 - A , the victims of a German air attack . In March 1944 , " Nields " joined other units of DesDivs 31 and 32 in hunter - killer exercises out of Casco Bay , Maine . On 7 April , two destroyers of her hunter - killer group , Task Group 21 . 5 , and , sank . " Nields " , displaying outstanding seamanship in heavy seas and decreasing visibility , picked up 11 survivors and transported them to New York where they were turned over to representatives of the Office of Naval Intelligence . From New York , " Nields " ' division sailed for the Mediterranean 21 April to join the 8th Fleet . Assigned to coastal escort and patrol duties on her arrival at Oran , on 2 May , " Nields " was soon drawn into a submarine chase lasting four days . On 14 May , was detected in the southwestern Mediterranean by British observation aircraft . " Nields " , temporarily with Destroyer Division 21 , was one of the ships to answer the call . Soon afterward , dropped the first depth charge pattern . On the morning of the 15th , oil slicks were spotted , but sound contact was lost . Another search plane sighted the submarine , now surfaced , ten miles away and running north toward southern France . The destroyers followed . At 1900 on the 16th , " Nields " , in a scouting line with and , left the formation to investigate a negative sound contact . At 2157 , all three destroyers made contact . " Macomb " illuminated the elusive quarry and opened fire . " U - 616 " returned fire and started diving . At 2214 , and again at 2231 , " Macomb " attacked with depth charges . At 2335 and again at 2342 , sound contacts were regained , but lost at 800 yards . " U - 616 " was deep and maneuvering radically . At 2346 , " Nields " set off an 11 - charge pattern ; and at 2350 began “ creeping attacks ” . At 0043 on 17 May , " Gleaves " , with " Nields " directing , fired an 18 - charge pattern , with deep settings , which surrounded the U - boat . Contact was lost at 0044 . Soon after 0100 , the three destroyers , having been joined by " Ellyson " , , and , commenced a box patrol , with " Nields " taking position third from the right end of the scouting line . At 0449 , " Hambleton " reported a sound contact , and , at 0515 , commenced firing depth charges . At 0525 , she made a second attack . Finally , at 0608 , " U – 616 " surfaced and was taken under fire by the surrounding destroyers . " Nields " , unable to fire without endangering others in the destroyer group , watched the hunted U - boat sink at 0612 and then screened the vessels detailed to pick up the 51 survivors . Up to the amphibious assault on southern France , " Nields " was employed on North African - Italian escort missions in support of Allied ground forces pushing north from Salerno , conducting patrol and escort duty off Anzio and Civitaveccia , Italy . On 15 August , in Operation Dragoon she was off St . Raphael blocking E - boat entry into the transport area and providing preliminary bombardment and neutralization fire of " Red Beach . " During that period , incident to her covering the passageways between the islands of St . Honorat and St . Marguerite , " Nields " came under heavy and rapid fire from German shore batteries . She returned fire and opened the range , emerging from the encounter unscathed . Through the 30th , she patrolled along the French coast , then turned back to North Africa whence she sailed for the U . S . , in the screen of Battleship Division 5 , on 4 September . 1945 . Arriving at Boston on 19 September to commence an availability , " Nields " conducted refresher training out of Casco Bay and escorted to Norfolk , Virginia , arriving there on 27 October . " Nields " completed two more North African convoy assignments , with UGS - 59 and UGF - 19 , before she rejoined the 8th Fleet on 16 January 1945 . She then resumed Mediterranean escort duties until 9 April when she reported to Senior Officer , Allied Destroyers , Flank Force , for patrol duty in the Ligurian Sea . Operating with that force for 10 days , she supported a motor torpedo boat attack at Vada on the 11th and assisted in a bombardment of the Bordighera area on the 17th . Relieved by on the 19th , " Nields " proceeded to Oran , thence to the United States , arriving at New York on 1 May . Undergoing availability ( extended to 3 July in order to effect repairs to her high pressure steam turbines ) as hostilities ended in Europe , " Nields " next trained at Guantanamo Bay for duty in the Pacific . On 20 July , she got underway for Pearl Harbor , arriving on 9 August , less than a week before V - J Day . Assigned to occupation duty , " Nields " departed Hawaii on 21 August , shaping a course for Eniwetok , in the Marshalls , and Saipan , in the Marianas ; she picked up at the latter place and escorted her to Okinawa , where " Nields " joined Destroyer Squadron 12 at Buckner Bay . Transfer to Pacific and fate . After a round trip to Guam , escorting convoy OKG - 7 to the Marianas , " Nields " took an active part in the occupation of the Ryukyus , as part of Task Force 53 , along with tank landing ship s ( LSTs ) engaged with units of the U . S . 10th Army in the uneventful disarming of Japanese positions on islands in Tokara Gunto and Amami Gunto . On 6 October , in the vicinity of Tokono Shima , " Nields " sent visit and search parties to , , and , finding them to be engaged in transporting former Japanese POWs back to their homeland . Three days later , while " Nields " and lay anchored off Koniya Hakuchi , in the narrow strait between Amami - O - Shima and Kakeroma Shima , wind velocity reached 110 knots ; " Nields " , piloting by radar , managed to stay in the middle of the stream but her consort went aground . In attempting to pass a line to " LST - 553 " , " Nields " lost her anchor . Two days later , with a Japanese midget submarine in tow , the destroyer returned to Okinawa for tender availability . Detached from the 5th Fleet , " Nields " sailed for the United States on 31 October 1945 in company with DesRon 12 , and arrived at San Diego on 21 November . Continuing on , she steamed to Charleston , South Carolina , reporting to the 16th [ Inactive ] Fleet on 8 December . She was decommissioned there on 25 March 1946 . Shifted later to the Inactive Ship Facility , Orange , Texas , " Nields " was ultimately deemed " unfit for further Naval service " and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 September 1970 . Sold to the Southern Scrap Material Company , Limited , of New Orleans , Louisiana , on 8 May 1972 , she began her final voyage astern of the tug " Betty Smith " on the afternoon of 25 May 1972 . She was broken up for scrap subsequently . Awards . " Nields " earned three battle stars during World War II . As of 2009 , no other ship in the United States Navy has been named " Nields " .