USS Varian ( DE - 798 ) USS " Varian " ( DE - 798 ) was a " Buckley " - class destroyer escort of the United States Navy , named in honor of Ensign Bertram S . Varian , Jr . ( 1920 – 1942 ) , a naval aviator who was killed in action in the Battle of Midway . " Varian " was laid down on 27 August 1943 at Orange , Texas , by the Consolidated Steel Corp . ; launched on 6 November 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . Arnold F . Brunkow , sister of the late Ens . Varian ; and commissioned on 29 February 1944 , Lieutenant Commander C . W . Petrie , USNR , in command . After fitting out , " Varian " conducted her shakedown cruise out of Bermuda for the last half of the month of March 1944 . She then joined the homeward - bound ships of Convoy GUS - 33 on 30 March and helped to escort them to Hampton Roads , Virginia . Following repairs at Boston and further training out of Casco Bay , " Varian " shifted south and rendezvoused with Mediterranean - bound Convoy UGS - 44 on 2 June . After subsequently shepherding GUS - 44 from Bizerte to Hampton Roads , the destroyer escort arriyed at New York on 18 July . She then conducted two more round - trip convoy missions , with UGS / GUS - 51 from mid - August to mid - September and with UGS / GUS - 58 until mid - November , before she was assigned to the first " hunter - killer " group — formed on 30 November 1944 to track down and destroy enemy submarine s . " Varian " and her sisters accordingly underwent intensive training for 26 days . They received special instruction , principally in high - frequency direction finding and gunnery ; and spent 60 hours perfecting unit tactics for coordinated attacks on maneuvering submarines . Before they put to sea , Escort Division 62 — grouped as Task Unit 27 . 1 . 1 ( TU 27 . 1 . 1 ) and led by Cmdr . Jack F . Bowling in " Otter " ( DE - 210 ) — practiced every type of known antisubmarine warfare attack , rehearsing them in simulated operating conditions . In less than a month after TU 27 . 1 . 1 ' s departure from Casco Bay on the day after Christmas of 1944 , the new unit proved the " hunter - killer " concept valid . On the morning of 16 January 1945 , " Otter " , " Varian " , " Hayter " ( DE - 212 ) , and " Hubbard " ( DE - 211 ) hunted down " U - 248 " and sank her after a dogged two - hour hunt , 500 miles ( 900 km ) north of the Azores , at . A little over three months later , on 24 April , " Varian " and nine other DEs tracked down the U - boat that had recently torpedoed " Frederick C . Davis " ( DE - 136 ) . The 10 American DEs avenged their sister ' s loss with a punishing depth charge barrage that forced " U - 546 " to the surface , where the DEs then destroyed her with gunfire , at . " Varian " picked up nine survivors . The end of the war in Europe on 7 May 1945 saw many of Germany ' s U - boat fleet still at sea . On 12 May , " Varian " rendezvoused with one of these , " U - 805 " , and a party from the destroyer escort , led by Lt . ( jg . ) Earle D . Stevenson , USNR , boarded the submarine and brought her to the east coast . Following upkeep at the Boston Navy Yard , " Varian " got underway on 23 May and proceeded via New York to Hampton Roads . Shifting to Miami , Florida , soon thereafter , the destroyer escort operated in a training role , providing practical experience for newly commissioned officers until 16 July . The next day , earmarked for conversion to a radar picket ship , " Varian " arrived at Charleston , S . C . for availability . However , her conversion was cancelled , and the ship soon resumed training operations in the Caribbean . On 2 September , the ship departed Culebra , Puerto Rico , and she steamed north to New London , Conn . , for training duty with Atlantic Fleet submarines . At New Haven , Connecticut , for Navy Day festivities , " Varian " subsequently sailed south for inactivation at Green Cove Springs near Jacksonville , Florida . Arriving there , via Boston , on 27 November , " Varian " was decommissioned on 15 March 1946 and placed in reserve . She was later shifted to the Texas group of the Reserve Fleet at Orange . There , she remained through the 1960s . Struck from the Navy list on 1 December 1972 , " Varian " was sold on 12 January 1974 to the Southern Scrap Metal Co . , Ltd . , of New Orleans , for scrapping . Towed by three tugs , the erstwhile U - boat killer began her final voyage on 31 January . " Varian " received two battle star s for her World War II service .