USS Sellstrom ( DE - 255 ) USS Sellstrom ( DE - 255 ) was an built for the U . S . Navy during World War II . She served in the Atlantic Ocean the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys . She was named in honor of Edward Robert Sellstrom , a Naval aviator who was awarded the Navy Cross for his superb marksmanship in shooting down attacking Japanese planes . She was laid down on 16 March 1943 by the Brown Shipbuilding Company , Houston , Texas ; launched on 12 May 1943 ; sponsored by Miss Genevieve Dahl , fiancé of " Ensign Sellstrom " ; and commissioned on 12 October 1943 , Lt . Comdr . William L . Maloney , USCG , in command . World War II North Atlantic operations . After trial runs and tests , final outfitting , and shakedown , " Sellstrom " departed Bermuda on 3 December 1943 for the east coast , arriving at Charleston Navy Yard on the 6th . On 13 December , the escort vessel departed Charleston , South Carolina , and proceeded to Norfolk , Virginia , arriving on the 15th . On 13 January 1944 , " Sellstrom " departed Norfolk as a unit of Task Force 63 bound for Gibraltar . On 31 January , Task Force 63 stood into the Straits of Gibraltar , turned over the escort of their convoy to British control , and set course to Casablanca , French Morocco . " Sellstrom " moored at Jetty de Lure , Casablanca Harbor , the next day . She remained in the harbor , doing some patrolling , until 4 February , when she got underway for Gibraltar to pick up another convoy en route to Chesapeake Bay . " Sellstrom " was relieved of the convoy in Chesapeake Bay on 22 February and proceeded to New York , mooring at the Brooklyn Navy Yard the next day . Refresher training Stateside . After repairs , alterations , and the loading of ammunition , " Sellstrom " engaged in refresher training off Montauk , Long Island . On 10 March , " Sellstrom " departed Long Island and arrived at Norfolk on the 11th . " Sellstrom " stood out of Chesapeake Bay on 15 March and joined convoy UGS - 36 en route to Bizerte , Tunisia . Attacked by enemy aircraft . At 0400 on 1 April , enemy planes dropped parachute flares prior to attacking " Sellstrom ' s " convoy . Evasive maneuvering and a screen of antiaircraft fire , however , kept the five two - engined bombers ' score to one burned merchant ship . The convoy arrived at Bizerte two days after the air attack . On 11 April , " Sellstrom " joined convoy GUS - 36 for the trip back to the United States . As flagship of Escort Division 23 , " Sellstrom " guided the New York section of the convoy into the swept channel on 1 May and patrolled the area until all merchant vessels had pilots on board . On 2 May , " Sellstrom " anchored in Gravesend Bay to unload ammunition prior to going to the Navy Yard for repairs . " Sellstrom " departed New York on 13 May en route to Casco Bay , Maine . After completing refresher training there on 17 May , the escort vessel proceeded to the Naval Mine Depot at Yorktown , Virginia . On 23 May , " Sellstrom " assumed her patrol station and began escort of convoy UGS - 43 bound for Tunisia . " Sellstrom " turned over the convoy to British escorts and entered Bizerte Harbor on 12 June . On the 20th , " Sellstrom " picked up GUS - 43 , delivering her section at New York on 9 July . She docked at the Boston Navy Yard Annex on 11 July , remaining there until the 23rd . From 24 July to 9 August , " Sellstrom " engaged in refresher training off the coast of Maine . After preparations on 10 and 11 August at the Boston Navy Yard , " Sellstrom " again reported for convoy duty . She successfully escorted sections of convoy TCU - 35 into the Clyde and Loch Ewe , Scotland , and into Lough Foyle , Northern Ireland , on 21 and 22 August . The destroyer escort then berthed at Derry from 23 to 26 August . Underway again on the 27th , " Sellstrom " escorted convoy UCT - 35 back to the east coast , arriving on 5 September . After training off New London , Connecticut , " Sellstrom " received fuel and provisions while moored off 33d St . , Brooklyn Pier . " Sellstrom " departed New York Harbor on 29 September and resumed convoy duty . The destroyer escort accompanied six more Atlantic convoys , delivering merchantmen to the ports of Belfast , Northern Ireland ; Liverpool , Plymouth , Southampton , and Birkenhead , England ; and Le Havre , France . After operating in the Caribbean early in June , she set her course for Charleston , South Carolina , arriving on 17 June 1945 . Transfer to the Pacific Fleet . As the war was over in Europe , " Sellstrom " , loaded supplies at Charleston in preparation for duty in the Pacific . She departed Charleston on 23 June , transited the Panama Canal between the 27th and the 29th , and arrived at San Francisco , California , on 7 July . On 11 July , " Sellstrom " departed San Francisco and proceeded to Alaskan waters , arriving at Adak on the 19th . From 21 to 27 July , she remained at Dutch Harbor for assigned availability . " Sellstrom " escorted her first Alaskan convoy , a minesweeper and eight LCI ' s , from Cold Bay at Adak , from 30 July to 1 August . " Sellstrom ' s " operations consisted of routine patrols and serving as a guard ship vessel for flights over the northern Japanese island chain . Post - War activity . From December 1945 through February 1946 , " Sellstrom " operated in the postwar Pacific , visiting such ports as Tsingtao , China ; Jinsen , Korea ; and Pearl Harbor . From 17 to 20 March , the destroyer escort transited the Panama Canal en route to drydocking in Charleston . In April 1946 , " Sellstrom " was placed out of commission , in reserve . Conversion to radar picket ship . On 1 November 1955 , " Sellstrom " was taken out of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet and was brought to the Brooklyn Navy Yard for overhaul and conversion to a radar picket escort ship . Having been redesignated DER - 255 , " Sellstrom " was recommissioned on 1 October 1956 and joined the Atlantic Fleet . After shakedown training at Guantanamo Bay and post - shakedown overhaul , " Sellstrom " began carrying out assignments on the radar picket lines and as an ocean weather station . " Sellstrom " continued her naval service throughout the 1950s , performing her tasks off Newfoundland , along the east coast , and in the Caribbean . Final decommissioning . " Sellstrom " was decommissioned in June 1960 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard . She was struck from the Navy List on 1 November 1965 . In April 1967 , she was towed from Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , to the Peck Iron Metal Works at Portsmouth , Virginia , for scrapping . Awards . " Sellstrom " earned one battle star for World War II service .