USS Hawkins ( DD - 873 ) USS " Hawkins " ( DD - 873 ) was a " Gearing " - class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II . " Hawkins " was originally " Beatty " , but renamed 22 June 1944 and launched by Consolidated Steel Corporation , Orange , Texas , 7 October 1944 ; sponsored by Mrs . Clara Jane Hawkins , mother of First Lieutenant William Deane Hawkins ( killed on Tarawa ) ; and commissioned 10 February 1945 , Comdr . C . Iverson in command . 1940s . Following shakedown training in the Caribbean , " Hawkins " arrived Norfolk 23 March 1945 to undergo conversion to a radar picket ship . Emerging 26 May , she conducted training exercises before sailing 18 June from Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , for San Diego and Pearl Harbor . After her arrival 8 July " Hawkins " prepared to enter the last phase of the Pacific War , but 3 days after her 12 August departure from Pearl Harbor for Eniwetok the Japan ese surrendered . The destroyer continued from Eniwetok to Iwo Jima and Tokyo Bay , arriving 27 August , and assisted in early occupation operations . She then escorted ships to and from the Marianas , remaining in Japanese waters until 3 January 1946 . " Hawkins " then steamed to the Philippines and Saipan , finally arriving Pearl Harbor 3 April . Arriving San Diego 11 April , the destroyer took part in training operations off the West Coast until sailing again for the Far East January 1947 . During the months that followed she steamed between Chinese and Korean ports , assisting and supporting American Marine units in their attempts to stabilize the explosive Chinese situation and protect American lives . " Hawkins " under the command of Cmdr . Alfred L . Cope , played a significant role in rescue operations off Chilang Point Hong Kong 19 July 1947 , when giant steamer sank with over 2 , 000 passengers on board . She returned to the United States 8 October 1947 . After a year of operations out of San Diego the ship sailed again for the troubled Far East , arriving Tsingtao , China , 29 October . Following operations off the China coast " Hawkins " got underway from Tsingtao 6 December . On this long voyage , completing a circuit of the globe , the destroyer visited Ceylon , Turkey , Gibraltar , New York , and Panama before arriving San Diego 10 March 1949 . " Hawkins " was reassigned to the U . S . Atlantic Fleet soon afterward , arriving at her new home port , Newport , Rhode Island , 23 May 1949 . For the next year she took part in Reserve training cruises and readiness exercises in the Caribbean . The ship had been reclassifled DDR - 873 18 March 1949 . " Hawkins " departed 2 May 1950 for a cruise with 6th Fleet in the strategic Mediterranean . Korean War Service . While there she and the world were shocked by the Communist invasion of South Korea . After NATO maneuvers , she returned to Newport 10 October and prepared to become part of the nation ' s far - flung bulwark in the Korean War . Sailing 3 January via the Panama Canal she arrived Pusan 5 February . During her four months of Korean duty , " Hawkins " screened the mobile carrier forces during strikes on enemy positions and supply lines , provided antisubmarine protection , and controlled jet aircraft in combat air patrols . She also acted as plane guard during operations in the Formosa Straits designed to discourage Communist aggression against the friendly island . Departing the Far East in June , the destroyer returned to Newport 8 August via the Mediterranean . Post Korean War service to 1964 . For the next few years the veteran ship alternated picket duty and training operations in the western Atlantic with periodic cruises to the Mediterranean with the 6th Fleet . She was in the Eastern Mediterranean during the summer of 1950 when the Suez crisis threatened the security and peace of the area . " Hawkins " arrived Mayport , Florida , her new homeport , 18 August 1960 . She became part of DESRON - 8 performing exercises in the Bahamas and Caribbean areas with one deployment of radar picket duty off the coast of Nicaragua returning to Mayport in December 1960 . In January 1961 she soon resumed her pattern of cruises to the Mediterranean . In 1961 she operated with a special Task Group in connection with American space experiments and missile tests off Cape Canaveral , now Cape Kennedy . When the introduction of offensive missiles into Cuba in 1962 threatened the security of the United States , " Hawkins " joined with other ships in quarantining that Caribbean country , cruising the Caribbean from late October until December in a modern demonstration of the power of forces afloat . In 1963 the ship returned to the Mediterranean in January returnig to Mayport in July and in August took part in Polaris missile tests in the Caribbean with USS Alexander Hamilton ( SSBN - 617 ) . During the next 5 months , " Hawkins " operated with carriers off Florida and in the Caribbean . Following additional Polaris missile tests with USS Andrew Jackson ( SSBN - 619 ) in February 1964 , she steamed to Boston 21 March and was placed in commission , in reserve , prior to undergoing FRAM I overhaul . 1964 - 1967 . Reclassified DD - 873 on 1 April , " Hawkins " completed FRAM late in 1964 . Assigned to Destroyer Squadron 24 , she operated out of Newport until departing 29 September for duty in the Far East . Steaming via the Panama Canal and the West Coast , she joined the 7th Fleet 23 November as part of America ' s powerful naval commitment to thwart Communist aggression in Southeast Asia . For the next 3 months she guarded hard - hitting carriers in the South China Sea and the Gulf of Tonkin and provided gunfire support for ground troops along the coast of South Vietnam . She departed Subic Bay late in February 1966 , steamed via the Suez Canal , and arrived Newport 8 April . " Hawkins " maintained the peak readiness of her crew and equipment over the next few months with exercises off the East Coast and in the Caribbean . Departing Newport 28 November , she joined the 6th Fleet at Gibraltar 8 December and became flagship for ComDesRon 24 . For more than 3 months she cruised the Mediterranean from Spain to Greece before returning to Newport 20 March 1967 . Into mid - 1967 she operated along the Atlantic Coast from New England to Florida . Transfer to ROC Navy and fate . The ship was struck from the Navy List on 1 October 1979 and sold to Taiwan in 1983 . The ship was renamed " Shao Yang " or " Tze Yang " in service with the Republic of China Navy . The ship was scrapped in late 1990s , but part of her superstructure is on display at a museum in Taiwan . Honors and awards . " Hawkins " received two battle star s for Korean War service .