USS George E . Badger ( DD - 196 ) USS " George E . Badger " ( DD - 196 / CG - 16 / AVP - 16 / AVD - 3 / APD - 33 ) was a in the United States Navy during World War II ; she was named for Secretary of the Navy George E . Badger ( 1795 - 1866 ) . " George E . Badger " was laid down on 24 September 1918 by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company ; launched on 6 March 1920 ; sponsored by Miss Mary B . Wilson , the namesake ' s granddaughter ; and commissioned on 28 July 1920 , with Lieutenant Commander Albert Gleaves Berry , Jr . , in command . Service history . After shakedown , she was based at Charleston , South Carolina , while operating in Caribbean waters and along the eastern seaboard from Jacksonville , Florida , to Boston , Massachusetts . Returning to Philadelphia , Pennsylvania on 6 June 1922 , she was decommissioned there on 11 August 1922 . She was subsequently transferred to the Treasury Department on 1 October 1930 for use by the Coast Guard . She was reacquired by the Navy on 21 May 1934 and redesignated AVP - 16 on 1 October 1939 . World War II . " Badger " recommissioned at Philadelphia on 8 January 1940 , Lieutenant Commander Frank Akers in command . During the next year she engaged in training operations in the Caribbean . Redesignated AVD - 3 on 2 August 1940 , she returned to Norfolk , Virginia on 12 January 1941 and subsequently tended planes while based at NS Argentia , Newfoundland , and Reykjavík , Iceland , until the spring of 1942 . Ordered to Charleston , on 26 May 1942 , she escorted convoys along the eastern seaboard , in the Gulf of Mexico , and to Recife and Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , until returning to Norfolk on 15 January 1943 to be fitted out for Atlantic convoy duty . Through the spring of 1943 she operated out of Argentia escorting convoys bound for the United Kingdom . In June , she underwent overhaul at Norfolk , then sailed on 13 July for North Africa . Steaming with and , she sank on 23 July 1943 after four depth charge attacks broke up the deep - running submarine southwest of Sao Miguel , Azores ; all 48 crew on board died . This victory came just a few hours before planes from " Bogue " attacked and sank not far away . After a landfall at Casablanca , " Badger " returned to New York on 23 August . During the next two months she made another escort voyage from New York to Casablanca , then returned to New York on 21 October . Departing Hampton Roads on 14 November , she sailed for North Africa with " Bogue " , , , and " Clemson " on an offensive anti - submarine patrol . On 12 December 1943 , in the mid - Atlantic west of the Canary Islands this patrol engaged . A protracted fight ensued , with TBF Avenger and F4F Wildcat aircraft from " Bogue " dropping depth charges and Fido homing torpedoes , and the destroyers expending roughly 200 depth charges in total . After 27 hours , the submarine was sunk with the loss of 13 crew ( 46 survived the action ) . After escorting another convoy from Norfolk to North Africa and back , " Badger " underwent conversion to high speed transport at Charleston and was redesignated APD - 33 on 19 May 1944 . Sailing for duty in the Pacific , she steamed via the West Coast and Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal where she arrived on 12 August . From there she carried to the Palau Islands . Reaching Angaur Island on 12 September , she screened warships bombarding the island and from 14 to 16 September sent her frogmen ashore for reconnaissance and demolition work . Intelligence was gathered and obstacles on the beach removed before the ship got underway on 12 October for Leyte , where until 18 October she supported the reconnaissance and bombardment of the east coast of that strategic island and again landed her frogmen . Departing on 21 October , she called at Kossol Passage , Manus , and Nouméa before participating in the Lingayen landings of 5 – 11 January 1945 . In these she lent her effective fire support as requested , and on the first day of the landings , 5 January , shot down an attacking Japanese torpedo plane . Her frogmen landed on the beaches two days later , and , despite frequent air attacks , " Badger " continued screening during landings from 7 January until sailing on 11 January for Leyte and Ulithi . Until the spring of 1945 , the veteran warship was overhauled at Ulithi ; conducted patrols off Iwo Jima during heavy fighting on the island ; and escorted ships from Guam to Guadalcanal , Nouméa , and Manus . She sailed from Ulithi on 2 April 1945 for Okinawa with carriers delivering replacement aircraft , and subsequently escorted convoys from Saipan to Okinawa . " Badger " sailed from Eniwetok on 24 June for Pearl Harbor . Ordered thence to San Francisco , California for reconversion , she reverted to DD - 196 on 20 July 1945 and was later decommissioned at that port on 3 October 1945 . " George E . Badger " was scrapped on 3 June 1946 . As of 2005 , no other U . S . Navy ship has been named " George E . Badger " . Awards . " George E . Badger " received eight battle star s for World War II service and a Presidential Unit Citation .