USS Winterberry ( AN - 56 ) USS " Winterberry " ( AN - 56 / YN - 75 ) was an which served with the United States Navy in the Pacific Ocean theatre of operations during World War II . Despite being attacked near Okinawa by enemy suicide planes , she managed to return safely home after the war with the ship bearing one battle star . Launched in California . " Winterberry " ( AN - 56 ) - - originally projected as " Tupelo " ( YN - 75 ) - - was laid down on 17 September 1943 at Stockton , California , by the Stockton - Pollock Shipbuilding Company ; reclassified an auxiliary net - laying ship and redesignated " AN - 56 " on 20 January 1944 ; launched on 22 March 1944 ; and commissioned on 30 May 1944 , Lt . Sheldon E . Aarens in command . World War II service . Pacific theatre operations . Following preliminary operations along the California coast , " Winterberry " departed San Pedro , California , on 30 July and headed west . The net - laying ship arrived in Pearl Harbor on 10 August and remained there for almost a month . She stood out of Pearl Harbor on 5 September to resume her voyage westward . " Winterberry " stopped briefly at Johnston Island on 9 September and reached Majuro Atoll on the 15th . Records regarding " Winterberry ' s " service between mid - September 1944 and the time of the Okinawa invasion in April 1945 are fragmentary and imprecise . She appears to have served at Majuro , Guam , Ulithi , and in the Palau Islands . In November , she was definitely at Kossol Roads in the Palau group because she reported sighting a submarine at 0858 on the 19th while she was laying torpedo nets at the west entrance to the roadstead . She indicated that the submarine submerged and surfaced three times in the space of two minutes and then moved off before auxiliary motor minesweeper USS " YMS - 33 " belatedly got underway to investigate . That submarine probably was " RO - 37 " , which and sank later that day about 20 miles north of the west entrance . Supporting the Okinawa invasion . While it is conceivable that she was in the neighborhood of the Ryukyu Islands for the preliminary occupation of the roadstead at Kerama Retto , no hard evidence supports the conclusion . In any event , she was off Okinawa on 1 April 1945 , D - day for the invasion of that bitterly contested island . By the 7th , she had moved to Ulithi . " Winterberry " was back at Okinawa by 28 May . At 0730 that day , an enemy plane attacked the ships assembled in Buckner Bay . " Winterberry " opened fire , but the enemy succeeded in crashing into one of the attack transports . Attacked by aircraft . Fifteen minutes later , three more dive bombers raided the anchorage . They dove in from the sun and immediately drew antiaircraft fire . " Winterberry " opened up with her guns and assisted in bringing down two of the three raiders . At the height of that melee , a Japanese " Val " swooped on the anchorage . " Winterberry " could not fire on this enemy because friendly ships were in her line of fire , but the other ships brought him down . During the early afternoon of 3 June , she again assisted in downing a kamikaze . At 1912 on the 11th , she joined the antiaircraft barrage when a single " Val " swooped down out of a heavy cloud cover . Oblivious to the curtain of gunfire , he dove at dock landing ship . He overshot the dock landing ship , climbed , did a wingover and entered his second suicide dive . This time , he chose a victory ship ; but the antiaircraft fire , which he had ignored so contemptuously , cut his mission short . " Winterberry ' s " guns combined with those of the other ships in the area to splash the kamikaze but a scant few yards short of his intended victim . End - of - war operations . During the waning months of World War II , " Winterberry " continued to serve at Okinawa . On 5 August , she departed the Ryukyus , bound for Saipan where she arrived on the 11th . The cessation of hostilities on 15 August found her still at Saipan . However , on the 20th , she got underway for Iwo Jima . The net - layer reached her destination three days later and operated in the Volcano Islands — at Iwo Jima and at Chichi Jima — until late in October . On 24 October , she departed Iwo Jima to return to the United States . Post - war disposition . After stops at Saipan , Eniwetok , Johnston Island , and Pearl Harbor , she entered San Diego , California , harbor on 29 November and reported to the Commandant , 11th Naval District , for disposal . She was decommissioned at San Diego on 15 February 1946 , and her name was struck from the Navy list on 26 February 1946 . The former net - layer was subsequently transferred to the U . S . Maritime Commission for final disposition . She was sold to Joe Medina Enterprises , of San Diego , California , on 31 March 1947 . Honors and awards . " Winterberry " earned one battle star for World War II .