USS Raby ( DE - 698 ) USS " Raby " ( DE / DEC - 698 ) was a for the United States Navy . She was named for Rear Admiral James Joseph Raby ( 1874 – 1934 ) . " Raby " was laid down on 7 June 1943 at the Defoe Shipbuilding Company , Bay City , Michigan , Rear Admiral Raby ' s home town . The ship was named " Raby " on 22 June 1943 , and launched on 4 September 1943 , sponsored by Mrs . James Joseph Raby , the Admiral ' s widow . She was commissioned on 7 December 1943 at New Orleans , Louisiana , with Lieutenant Commander J . Scott II , in command . Service history . World War II , 1943 – 1945 . After shakedown off Bermuda , " Raby " sailed from Norfolk , Virginia on 10 February 1944 via the Panama Canal for Nouméa , arriving on 11 March . She then escorted fast convoys from Guadalcanal as far as Manus Island , in the Admiralties . " Raby " was engaged in hunter - killer activities in the Solomons during the early spring . On 16 May , she sailed from Florida Island , in the Solomons , in a hunter - killer group with and on what was to become one of the most successful anti - submarine actions in the Pacific war . During this patrol from 19 to 31 May , the three - ship team sank six Japan ese submarine s ( , , , , , and ) in waters north of the Bismarck Archipelago . " Raby " resumed convoy escort missions at the end of June , remaining in the Solomons until 26 October when she got underway for Manus for similar duty in the Admiralties . In December , she shifted to Ulithi . On the evening of 21 January 1945 , a plane spotted a Japanese submarine on the surface 18 miles due west of Ulithi . The alarm brought a hunter killer team composed of DEs " Raby " , and steaming quickly from Uithi . The three ships conducted an expanding search that lasted all day and night on the 22nd . Early in the morning of the 23rd , radar contact was made . After the submarine submerged , sonar contact was established . Several attempts with hedgehog mortars resulted in the destruction of Japanese submarine . At the end of January , " Raby " proceeded to Guam where she served as escort and patrol ship into June . Between 22 June and 31 August , she completed two slow tows to Okinawa , and on 13 September , she steamed for Pearl Harbor and the United States . Post - war activities , 1946 – 1953 . Remaining in California waters through the winter , she underwent a conversion where the three - inch guns were replaced by two single 5 - inch guns and a hedgehog anti - submarine launcher . She reported to the 7th Fleet for duty in the Far East on 6 April 1946 , rescuing on the same day the crew of a downed B - 29 bomber . She subsequently put into Hong Kong , Kiirun , Shanghai , and Tsingtao , reaching Okinawa on 26 June . She operated out of Okinawa , China , and Japan until returning to San Diego on 9 April 1947 . She was assigned to Task Force 15 and made two runs from the west coast to Pearl Harbor before getting underway on 7 December for Eniwetok , Kwajalein , and Bikini where she arrived on 1 May 1948 . She returned to Pearl Harbor on 27 May and to San Diego on 28 January 1949 . She conducted local operations on the west coast , making two trips to Pearl Harbor during the rest of the year . Reclassified as control escort ship DEC - 698 on 2 November 1949 , " Raby " transited the Panama Canal on 25 January 1950 , and arrived at Norfolk on 1 February . During the next 3½ years , she operated alternately in the Norfolk area and in the Caribbean . Decommissioning and sale , 1953 – 1968 . She was at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard , from June to September 1953 for deactivation , and she arrived in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet berthing area at St . James River , Florida , on 24 September . " Raby " decommissioned on 22 December 1953 . She was re - designated back to DE - 698 on 27 December 1957 . She was transferred to the Orange , Texas , berthing area in 1960 . " Raby " was struck from the Navy List on 1 June 1968 , and subsequently sold for scrap . Awards . " Raby " earned three battle star s for World War II service .