USS Selfridge ( DD - 357 ) The second USS " Selfridge " ( DD - 357 ) was a in the United States Navy . She named for Rear Admiral Thomas O . Selfridge ( 1804 – 1902 ) and his son , Thomas O . Selfridge , Jr . ( 1836 – 1924 ) . " Selfridge " was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden in New Jersey on 18 December 1933 , launched on 18 April 1936 and commissioned at Philadelphia on 25 November 1936 , Commander H . D . Clarke in command . . Shakedown . " Selfridge " conducted her shakedown cruise in the Mediterranean in January and February 1937 and returned to the east coast , via the Caribbean , in March . From April into August , she underwent post - shakedown overhaul at , and conducted training exercises out of Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . In September , Presidential escort duties took her to Poughkeepsie , New York ; and , in October , she proceeded to Norfolk , Virginia , whence she got underway for the Panama Canal Zone and duty with the Battle Force in the Pacific . Diverted back to Norfolk for another Presidential escort mission in early November , she got underway again for the west coast on 9 December 1937 . Pearl Harbor . " Selfridge " transited the Panama Canal and joined the Battle Force as flagship of Destroyer Squadron ( Des - Ron ) 4 on 13 December 1937 and reached San Diego , California on the 22nd . Except for fleet problems and exercises , she remained in the southern California area for the next two years . In 1940 , she was reassigned to Pearl Harbor , whence she operated until after the Japan ese attack on 7 December 1941 . That day , " Selfridge " , having just completed an escort run from Palmyra Island , was moored in berth X - 9 . Within five minutes of the start of hostilities , " Selfridge ' s " guns were firing on the enemy planes . By 1300 , manned by a mixed crew from various ships , she was underway and soon thereafter joined other ships in patrolling off Oahu . During the remainder of the month , " Selfridge " patrolled the Hawaiian area and , screening " Saratoga " , participated in the abortive attempt to reinforce Wake Island . In January 1942 , she continued operations in the " Saratoga " group until that carrier was torpedoed some 500 miles southwest of Oahu on the 11th . " Selfridge " then screened the carrier back to Pearl Harbor . Exercises and patrols in the Hawaiian area followed until 20 January when she assumed escort duty for a merchant ship on a Canton Island run . After arriving at Canton on the 27th , she patrolled off the island until the merchant ship completed offloading , then started back to Hawaii . En route , on the 30th , " Selfridge " depth charged and may have damaged an enemy submarine . Guadalcanal . " Selfridge " returned to Pearl Harbor on 6 February 1942 and was underway again on the 9th to escort " Saratoga " to Bremerton , Washington for permanent repairs . In mid - March , she returned to Hawaii in the screen of a convoy and , by the end of the month , had escorted more supplies to Canton . In April , she carried Marine Corps personnel and mail to Palmyra and Christmas islands , and then proceeded to Bora Bora in the Society Islands , to rendezvous with and escort convoys carrying reinforcements to the Samoan and Tonga groups . On 21 May 1942 , she departed the latter group for the New Hebrides and Australia ; where , by the end of the month , she had commenced coastal escort work . A unit of TF 44 , she remained in Australian waters into July ; then , with others of the force , proceeded to the Fiji Islands to rehearse for Operation " Watchtower " , the assault and occupation of Guadalcanal and Tulagi . Soon after 0120 on 7 August 1942 , TF 44 , now designated TG 62 . 6 , the screening group for the transports , arrived in the Guadalcanal area . At 0620 , " Selfridge " opened fire on a small gasoline carrier entering Tulagi harbor . A few hours later , the transports moved in toward the beaches . At 1320 , the Japanese sent in a high level bombing attack . Shortly thereafter , they followed that strike with a dive bomber attack . On the 8th , " Selfridge " continued to screen the transports and , after a noon bombing attack , picked up two Japanese airmen . On the morning of the 9th , she assisted survivors of the Battle of Savo Island and , with " Ellet " , scuttled the badly - damaged Australian cruiser , " Canberra " ; then , toward evening , departed the area to escort the transports to Noumea . For the remainder of the month , the Australian group ( TF 44 ) screened the carriers of the air support group . On 31 August 1942 , the ships headed back to Brisbane ; and , for the next nine months , " Selfridge " continued to operate with that force in the Coral Sea to prevent a Japanese landing at Port Moresby and to cover Allied shipping to the Papuan Peninsula . Battle of Vella Lavella . In May 1943 , " Selfridge " was reassigned to the 3rd Fleet . On the 12th , she arrived at Nouméa . Through the summer , she operated with cruisers of TF 36 , later TF 37 , and participated in exercises with TF ' s 38 , 39 , and 34 . In late September , as a unit of the 3d Fleet ' s amphibious force , she escorted an LST convoy to Vella Lavella , then commenced nighttime patrols in the Solomon Islands up “ the Slot ” to intercept Japanese shipping . On the night of 6 October 1943 , " Selfridge " , " O ' Bannon " , and " Chevalier " intercepted an enemy force of six destroyers , three destroyer transports , and smaller armed craft some 12 miles off Marquana Bay as it attempted to evacuate land forces from Vella Lavella . In the ensuing Battle of Vella Lavella , " Chevalier " was torpedoed and damaged beyond repair . She was sunk on the 7th by an American torpedo . " Selfridge " and " O ' Bannon " were both heavily damaged ; " Selfridge " by an enemy torpedo , " O ' Bannon " by enemy action compounded by collision with " Chevalier " just after the latter had gone dead in the water . Personnel casualties on board " Selfridge " amounted to 13 killed , 11 wounded , and 36 missing . 1944 . Temporary repairs to " Selfridge " were made at Purvis Bay and at Nouméa . Permanent repairs , including the installation of a new bow and a complete new gun armament , were made at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard ; and , after refresher training out of San Diego , she returned to Pearl Harbor on 10 May 1944 in time to join the forces staging for the invasion of the Marianas Islands . Initially assigned to TG 50 . 11 , she joined TF 58 , the fast carrier force , at Majuro in early June ; and , on the 11th , screened " Bunker Hill " as sweeps were conducted over Guam . On the 13th , she participated in a shore bombardment of Saipan to cover minesweeping operations off that target island ; then shifted to night fire . On the 14th , she joined the fire support unit ; and , on the 15th , screened the transport area as the assault troops landed on Saipan . From then to the 17th , she rotated between daytime screening activities and nighttime harassment duty . On the latter date , word of a Japanese force moving in from the Philippines reached the assault force , and " Selfridge " rejoined TF 58 and took station as the linking vessel between TG ' s 58 . 7 and 58 . 3 . On the 19th , the Battle of the Philippine Sea raged ; but none of the enemy ' s aircraft came within range of " Selfridge ' s " guns . On the 20th and 21st , the Japanese proceeded westward . On the 24th , " Selfridge " rejoined the transport screen off Saipan ; and , on the 26th , resumed fire support duties . Selfridge departed Saipan on 11 July 1944 ; and , screening the transports , arrived at Eniwetok on the 15th . Three days later , she was underway again to return to the Marianas with reinforcements for the Guam assault . She arrived off Agat on the 22d , the day after the initial assault and , for the next three weeks , provided screening and fire support services and conducted anti - boat and barge patrols . On 10 August , she sailed for Eniwetok , whence , she returned to Pearl Harbor . On 21 August , she received orders back to the Atlantic . 1945 . Transiting the Panama Canal on 7 September 1944 , " Selfridge " proceeded to New York for an abbreviated overhaul after which she joined TF 65 ; and , serving as flagship , commenced transatlantic escort duty for convoys plying between the east coast and Tunisia . Continuing that duty until after the fall of Germany in May 1945 , she completed her last run at New York on 7 June . Upkeep and training exercises in the Caribbean and off the Maine coast took her through August ; and , on 15 September , she returned to New York to prepare for inactivation . On 15 October 1945 , " Selfridge " was decommissioned , struck from the Navy list on 1 November 1945 and scrapped in October 1947 . She earned four battle stars during World War II .