USS Spangler ( DE - 696 ) USS " Spangler " ( DE - 696 ) was a of the United States Navy , named in honor of Lieutenant ( jg . ) Donald H . Spangler ( 1918 – 1942 ) . " Spangler " was laid down on 28 April 1943 at the Defoe Shipbuilding Company , Bay City , Michigan . She was launched on 15 July 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . Myrtle Spangler ; and commissioned on 31 October 1943 , with Lieutenant Commander W . A . Burgett in command . Service history . World War II , 1943 – 1945 . After shakedown in the vicinity of Bermuda , " Spangler " joined a convoy on 24 December 1943 , and headed for the $ 3 via the Panama Canal . She arrived at Bora Bora in the Society Islands , on 20 January 1944 . There she received orders to rendezvous with convoy Task Unit 116 . 15 . 3 as the flagship of Commander Escort Division 39 , and to head for Espiritu Santo New Hebrides Islands . In mid - February , she escorted to Purvis Bay , Florida Island , in the Solomons , and then took up patrol station off Guadalcanal two days later . After escorting to Torokina Point on Bougainville , she rounded out the month patrolling off Blanche Harbor , Treasury Island , and off Purvis Bay . For the next three months , " Spangler " escorted convoys on shuttle runs between various islands in the South Pacific . During that period , she visited Guadalcanal , Espiritu Santo , New Caledonia , Florida Island , Majuro , Emirau , Rendova , and Manus . In late May , " Spangler " sailed from Tulagi to the Admiralty Islands with a supply of hedgehog depth charges for her sister destroyer escorts , , and . She rendezvoused with the three ships at Manus on 27 May , delivered her cargo , and the four ships sortied the next day to join a hunter / killer group formed around the escort carrier . The task group was steaming north during the waning hours of 30 May when the destroyer made a sound contact on the . While " England " and " Spangler " headed toward the southern end of the scouting line , " Raby " and " George " charged to the attack . Both ships attacked the enemy , but with no apparent success . During the night , they lost contact with the submerged enemy . However , after a few hours , the Japanese commanding officer obligingly surfaced between " Raby " and " George " , and switched on his searchlights . " England " and " Spangler " raced toward the shaft of light which fixed " RO - 105 " s position for them perfectly . By 05 : 00 on 31 May , they were in contact with " Raby " and " George " , and with the Officer in Tactical Command ( OTC ) . At first light , " Raby " and " George " each attacked the Japanese submarine in quick succession . When their efforts failed , " Spangler " joined the fray . She attacked with 24 depth charges , but without success . " England " s full pattern of depth charges at 07 : 35 brought a huge explosion and a watery grave to " RO - 105 " . On 2 June , the ships joined Task Group 30 . 4 ( TG 30 . 4 ) and returned to Seeadler Harbor at Manus . " Spangler " continued to operate with " Hoggatt Bay " until 21 June , when she headed for Purvis Bay and overhaul . From the completion of overhaul in late July until the end of September , the destroyer escort operated out of Purvis Bay on escort assignments and anti - submarine warfare training . During that period , she called at Guadalcanal , Espiritu Santo , Barika Island , Tulagi , Eniwetok , Tarawa , and Hollandia . In October , " Spangler " became station ship at Funafuti in the Ellice Islands . However , she was employed in this role only briefly , and soon returned to Purvis Bay and escort duty , and , for the remainder of 1944 , screened ships shuttling to Kossol Passage , Ulithi , and Guam . " Spangler " s base of operations was changed to Guam on New Year ' s Day 1945 . She was assigned to escort duty on the Guam - Ulithi supply route and the additional duty of hunter - killer operations . Over the next three months , she escorted and patrolled as a part of the Marianas - Iwo Jima air - sea rescue unit . From 26 April to 27 May , she served as station ship at Saipan ; then she returned to her screening station off Guam until the end of World War II . On 4 September , after returning to Guam from Okinawa , " Spangler " got underway , in company with " Raby " , and headed back to the United States . The two destroyer escorts stopped at Pearl Harbor on 22 September ; then continued on to San Pedro , California , for overhaul . Post - war activities , 1946 – 1958 . After overhaul , " Spangler " departed the west coast on 20 February 1946 to return to the $ 3 , via Pearl Harbor and Guam . She remained in the Far East for the next five months and , during the deployment , visited the Chinese ports of Swatow , Hong Kong , Shanghai , and Tsingtao . " Spangler " put in at Okinawa on 19 November , and remained until 1 February 1947 , when she got underway in company with and to return to the United States . " Spangler " entered San Diego on 2 March 1947 and , for the next eight and one - half years , operated out of that port along the California coast . During those years , she often visited Long Beach and San Francisco , and made five voyages to Hawaii and one to Acapulco , Mexico . On 4 October 1955 , the destroyer escort departed San Diego for the western Pacific . She stopped briefly at Pearl Harbor and at Midway Atoll , and made Yokosuka , Japan , on 22 October . " Spangler " was deployed for six months , during which time she visited Sasebo , Japan ; Hong Kong ; and Subic Bay in the Philippines . She left Yokosuka on 13 March 1956 and after stops at Midway and Pearl Harbor , reached San Diego on 31 March . With the exception of one short trip to Long Beach and back in mid - September , " Spangler " spent the remainder of 1956 in port at San Diego . On 3 January 1957 , the destroyer escort again headed westward from San Diego . This voyage took " Spangler " on a tour to many of the places made famous over a decade before ; among her ports of call were Kwajalein Atoll and Auckland , New Zealand , in January ; Manus in the Admiralty Islands in February , Guam in February and March ; and Corregidor , Manila , and Singapore in April . She also visited Yokosuka , Japan ; Sattahip , Thailand ; Hong Kong ; Kaohsiung , Taiwan ; Sasebo , Japan ; Chinhae , Korea ; and Kobe and Beppu , Japan . On 20 June 1957 , " Spangler " headed homeward from Yokosuka . She returned to San Diego on 7 July , and , for the next 15 months , operated along the west coast . Decommissioning and sale . On 8 October 1958 , " Spangler " was decommissioned at Astoria , Oregon , and joined the Columbia River Group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet . She remained in reserve until 1 March 1972 , when her name was struck from the Navy list . Her hulk was sold on 20 November 1972 to Zidell Explorations , Inc . , of Portland , Oregon , for scrapping . Awards . " Spangler " earned two battle star s during World War II .