USS Porcupine ( IX - 126 ) USS " Porcupine " ( IX - 126 ) , an " Armadillo " - class tanker ( aka Z - ET1 - S - C3 class Liberty Ship Tanker ) designated an unclassified miscellaneous vessel , was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the porcupine . A station tanker , her keel was laid down 11 October 1943 as SS " Leif Ericson " ( MCE Hull 1930 ) by the Delta Shipbuilding Corporation in New Orleans , Louisiana . She was named " Porcupine " on 23 October , launched on 24 November , accepted by the Navy 29 December ; and commissioned the next day with Lieutenant Daniel M . Paul in command . After shakedown in the Gulf of Mexico , the new Liberty ship was assigned mobile oil storage duties with the Service Force , Pacific Fleet . Transiting the Panama Canal , she arrived Noumea , New Caledonia on 28 March and commenced fuel storage and transportation operations in the area of Nouméa , Langemak Bay , and Milne Bay , New Guinea ; and Seeadler Harbor , Manus , Admiralty Islands . By the end of November she was at Hollandia , New Guinea , and during the last days of 1944 she was a unit of resupply convoy " Uncle plus 15 , " which formed off Dulag , the Philippines , on 27 December and steamed up Leyte Gulf for Mindoro . The one hundred vessels of the convoy , under the command of Captain J . B . McLean , were screened by nine destroyer s . From 0330 , 28 December , when the convoy entered Surigao Strait , until it returned to Leyte , it was either under air attack , or hostile aircraft were held on its radars . With sunrise came the report that weather at Leyte was so foul that no Combat Air Patrol ( CAP ) could come out . Thus no air cover was available until after noon . But the weather was altogether too fair in the waters plowed by the convoy . At 1012 two groups of three planes each from Cebu attacked . One aircraft was immediately splashed , and another , which attempted to crash into aviation - gasoline laden " Porcupine " , overshot its target , and splashed into the sea . Liberty ships " William Sharon " and " John Burke " were less fortunate . Both were crashed , and " Burke " went down with a mighty explosion . " Sharon ’ s " superstructure was a mass of flame . Firefighters from USS " Wilson " ( DD - 408 ) finally extinguished the fires , and salvage tug USS " Grapple " ( ARS - 7 ) towed " Sharon " back to Leyte . Thus Mindoro never received " Sharon ' s " cargo of TNT , fuel , trucks , rations , and beer . An evening air raid resulted in the loss of LST - 750 . The next day saw Leyte still blacked in , but Mindoro responded to Captain McLean ' s requests for air cover , and the convoy suffered no damage 29 December . The ships arrived Mangarin Bay on 30 December at 0710 . Captain McLean was eager to offload his ships and head back to Leyte before dark . Until 1540 events ran smoothly , but then five Vals broke through and made a suicide attack . Within two minutes destroyers USS " Gansevoort " ( DD - 608 ) and USS " Pringle " ( DD - 477 ) , tender USS " Orestes " ( AGP - 10 ) , and " Porcupine " were hit . " Porcupine " was hit off White Beach by a low flyer which came in off her port bow . She opened fire with all guns , but was unable to divert the attacking Val from its course . The kamikaze released a bomb over " Porcupine ’ s " main deck and crashed in after it . Seven " Porcupine " sailors died and eight were wounded . Fuel tanks ruptured ; the engine room flooded , and the plane ' s engine passed through the ship ' s hull , tearing a large hole beneath her water line . " Gansevoort " , surviving her hit , was towed toward the PT base at Caminavit Point and anchored in 15 fathoms of water . She was soon ordered to blow off " Porcupine ’ s " stern in order to prevent flames from reaching the aviation gasoline . One of the destroyer ' s torpedo es slammed into " Porcupine " but the flames were not stemmed . The aviation gasoline ignited , and " Porcupine " burned to the water line . She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 19 January 1945 .