USS O ' Flaherty ( DE - 340 ) USS " O ' Flaherty " ( DE - 340 ) was a " John C . Butler " - class destroyer escort in the United States Navy . It was named after Ensign Frank Woodrow O ' Flaherty ( 26 November 1918 – 4 June 1942 ) , a pilot with the , who died during the Battle of Midway and was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for " extraordinary heroism " . " O ' Flaherty " was laid down by Consolidated Steel Corporation of Orange , Texas , on 4 October 1943 ; launched on 14 December 1943 ; sponsored by Ensign Lavada M . O ' Flaherty , N . N . C . , sister of Ensign O ' Flaherty ; and commissioned on 8 April 1944 , with Lieutenant Commander D . W . Farnham in command . History . After shakedown off Bermuda in May and June 1944 , " O ' Flaherty " accompanied battleship to Trinidad , British West Indies , on Midshipman training cruises for the Naval Academy . Then she transited the Panama Canal and steamed , via San Diego , to Pearl Harbor . She safeguarded the escort carrier to Majuro from 20 to 26 July . The remainder of that month was spent shepherding merchantmen to Eniwetok via Tarawa . From Eniwetok she escorted the escort carrier to Guam , arriving there on 4 August . There she witnessed her first action , becoming involved in Operation Forager the invasion and reoccupation of Guam through the power of the mighty Pacific Fleet . Leaving Guam , she returned to Eniwetok for a long stint on the " Milk - Run , " escorting convoys between Eniwetok and Manus . At midnight 4 October , " O ' Flaherty " was directed to proceed on a 600 - mile ( 1000 - kilometre ) dash in search of the survivors of a PBM Mariner crashed at sea , and with the aid of search planes located and rescued the 12 crew members approximately 48 hours later . On 26 October , with the installation of new CIC equipment , " O ’ Flaherty " was made a unit of Escort Division 64 , formed as a hunter - killer group around escort carrier to check out reported enemy submarine movements between Pearl Harbor and California . Later , she operated with escort carriers and in similar operations . In January 1945 , " O ' Flaherty " served in the Lingayen Gulf Attack Force exposed to frequent kamikaze raids . Following the Lingayen operation , " O ' Flaherty " retired to Ulithi . Gathering there was one of the greatest displays of Naval might in the world . " O ' Flaherty " was shifted to the 5th Fleet . From 10 February through 14 March , the aircraft carrier s supported the Iwo Jima invasion with air strikes and provided aerial spotters for the big guns of the battleship s and cruiser s . Many ships suffered damage during the operation , but " O ' Flaherty ' s " Irish luck held out . Two days before Iwo Jima was declared secure , on 16 March , " O ' Flaherty " departed to participate in the invasion of Okinawa . As a unit of TG 52 . 1 , Destroyer Division 120 , she screened the Amphibious Support Force composed of CVE task units . Here on 2 April she drew her first blood . As a Japan ese Zero was making its suicide run into the formation , " O ' Flaherty " brought it down with her after 40 mm guns . The following day , when two of the raiders made screaming dives for the " Wake Island " , one struck her near the waterline . A third just missed a screening destroyer , and " O ' Flaherty ' s " fire drove off a fourth to be brought down by US Navy fighters . " O ' Flaherty " participated in the Okinawa operation from 21 March to 22 June except for a short period , in April undergoing repairs at Guam . She then performed picket and auxiliary escort duty until the Japanese surrender . Afterwards , she operated out of Guam until receiving orders to return to the United States late in 1945 . " O ' Flaherty " operated off California until she decommissioned at San Diego , California , in January 1947 . She remained in reserve berthed at Mare Island , Vallejo , California until she was stricken from the Navy List on 1 December 1972 . " O ' Flaherty " was sold for scrap on 27 November 1973 . Honors . " O ' Flaherty " received four battle stars for World War II service .