USS Mertz ( DD - 691 ) USS " Mertz " ( DD - 691 ) was a World War II - era " Fletcher " - class destroyer in the service of the United States Navy , named after Rear Admiral Albert Mertz . " Mertz " was laid down by Bath Iron Works Corp . , Bath , Maine , 10 May 1943 ; launched 11 September 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . Selma M . Allen , daughter of Rear Admiral Mertz ; and commissioned at Charlestown , Massachusetts , 19 November 1943 , Commander William S . Estabrook , Jr . , in command . Arrival In Pacific . After shakedown off Bermuda , " Mertz " departed Norfolk , Virginia , 26 January 1944 for the central Pacific , via the Panama Canal and San Diego , California , arriving at Pearl Harbor 5 March . On the 9th , the destroyer got underway for the Marshall Islands as convoy escort , arriving Majuro Atoll 6 days later . " Mertz " sailed 22 March to join TG 58 . 2 on the 26th and act as escort back to Majuro . En route on 31 March , she caught a Japan ese maru at 0600 in the glare of her searchlights . The enemy merchant ship maneuvered to get away , only to go down under the hail of 5 inch projectiles from " Mertz " . The task group reached Majuro 6 April . Five days later " Mertz " steamed for the New Hebrides as a screen for " Barnes " , arriving at Espiritu Santo the 15th . In mid - May , the destroyer returned to Pearl Harbor to prepare for the Marianas campaign . She took fire support and patrol station close ashore to Saipan on 14 June , pounding gun emplacements in the daytime and at night maintaining illumination over the enemy lines until 22 June , when she began screening convoys . Peleliu and Angaur . " Mertz " participated in the occupations of Peleliu and of Angaur in the Palau Islands , arriving 10 September . She retired to Manus , Admiralty Islands , the 23rd to prepare for the invasion of Leyte , Philippines . Philippines Campaign . On 20 October , D - Day for the Leyte landing forces , " Mertz " escorted landing craft through air attacks to the beach and later in the day patrolled off Dinagat Island at the entrance to Leyte Gulf . Early in the morning of 25 October as the Japanese Southern Force approached Leyte Gulf through the Mindanao Sea , " Mertz " and " McNair " patrolled between Desolation Point and Homonhon Island , lest the enemy fleet choose to steam north along the east coast of Dinagat Island to attack the Allied beachhead . When the Japanese entered Surigao Strait , Rear Adm . Jesse B . Oldendorf ’ s force met and virtually destroyed the enemy armada in the classic “ crossing - of - the - T ” maneuver known as the Battle of Surigao Strait , part of the overall Battle of Leyte Gulf . Later that same day " Mertz " splashed a Zero at several hundred yards with heavy machinegun fire . With the Leyte beachhead established , the destroyer got underway 26 October for Hollandia , New Guinea , anchoring in Humboldt Bay on the 30th to replenish . She got underway for Leyte again 9 November escorting a reinforcement convoy arriving 5 days later . " Mertz " then continued on to Seeadler Harbor , Manus , to join a task unit staging for the daring expedition through the Sulu Sea , controlled by the enemy since early 1942 , to capture Mindoro . The American ships had to contend with both a typhoon and heavy air attacks . " Mertz " splashed an Ki - 43 ( " Oscar " ) 15 December and assisted in the destruction of several others . Departing San Pedro Bay 4 January 1945 , she made another voyage through the Sulu Sea , to support the invasion of Luzon at Lingayen Gulf on the 9th before returning to San Pedro Bay on the 16th . Attacks on Japan . On 10 February , " Mertz " steamed from Ulithi for 3 months at sea with the Fast Carrier Task Force . During this time , she played a role in the airstrikes on the Tokyo area 16 February , the landings on Iwo Jima 19 February , and the raids on Okinawa 1 March . While screening the flattops off Kyūshū , Japan , in March , she downed two more enemy planes . While operating off Okinawa " Mertz " helped sink Japanese submarine " I - 56 " on 18 April . The destroyer retired to Ulithi 14 May , before returning to Okinawa the 24th . She next steamed to Okino Daito Jima which she bombarded 9 June . The next day , she got underway for Leyte Gulf , anchoring at San Pedro Bay 13 June . As part of Adm . Willam F . Halsey ’ s 3rd Fleet she cleared San Pedro 1 July , and 9 days later arrived at the launching area off the southeast coast of Tokyo for strike on the Japanese home islands . Beginning with the attacks on Tokyo 10 July , " Mertz " ranged up and down the coasts of Japan until she joined an antishipping sweep in the Kuriles while en route to the Aleutians . The destroyer arrived at Adak 14 August , the day of Japan ’ s capitulation . End of World War II and fate . " Mertz " ' s first and only peacetime duty came 31 August , when she departed Adak for Japan , arriving Ominato , northern Honshū , 8 September , to operate with the 3rd Fleet during the occupation of the northern Honshū - Hokkaidō area . On the 15th the destroyer departed Ominato Harbor for the west coast , arriving San Francisco 30 September . On 1 December , " Mertz " steamed to San Diego , where she decommissioned 23 April 1946 and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet . She was reassigned to the Long Beach , California , group 1 July 1951 and the Stockton , California , group 1 January 1959 , to remain there into 1969 . Awards . " Mertz " received 10 battle star s for World War II service . References . This page uses material plagiarized from the " Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships " .