USS Darby ( DE - 218 ) USS " Darby " ( DE - 218 ) , a of the United States Navy , was named in honor of Ensign Marshall E . Darby ( 1918 – 1941 ) , who was killed in action , while serving aboard the battleship , during the Japan ese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 . " Darby " was launched 29 May 1943 by Philadelphia Navy Yard , sponsored by Mrs . M . E . Darby , and commissioned 15 November 1943 , Commander D . D . Humphreys , United States Naval Reserve , in command . Service history . 1944 – 1947 . Clearing Philadelphia on 19 January 1944 , " Darby " sailed on escort duty to Bora Bora , Society Islands , and Espiritu Santo , New Hebrides , and arrived at Guadalcanal on 20 March . She operated with Task Force 31 in the Solomons until 23 July , among other duties screening the landings on Emirau Island on 10 April . From 23 July , she escorted convoys among the islands of Guadalcanal , Eniwetok , New Hebrides , Manus , and Majuro . After a brief overhaul at Pearl Harbor from 8 to 24 October , she served on convoy duty between Guam and Eniwetok until mid - November . On 15 November , she conducted a hunter - killer patrol off Ponape , then fired a shore bombardment on Tanga Islands before returning to Eniwetok . Three days later , she sailed by way of Kwajalein , Guadalcanal , and Manus for exercises in Milne Bay , New Guinea from 7 to 26 December in preparation for the Lingayen assault . " Darby " sortied from Manus on 2 January 1945 screening transports to Lingayen Gulf , Luzon , to reinforce the troops there . Arriving 11 January , she remained in the Philippines on escort and patrol duties until 28 February when she cleared for Ulithi to join a convoy carrying garrison troops for Iwo Jima . She arrived off the island 18 March , remaining there on patrol until 27 March when she sailed to escort transports to Eniwetok . She continued on to Pearl Harbor , arriving 12 April for repairs . " Darby " was training in the Hawaiian area when the war ended and on 29 August 1945 got underway for San Francisco , carrying servicemen eligible for discharge . After an overhaul she sailed for the east coast , arriving at New York on 15 December and at New London , Connecticut on 8 January 1946 . She sailed out of New London for training and exercises until 16 January 1947 when she cleared for Charleston , South Carolina . " Darby " was placed out of commission in reserve there on 28 April 1947 . 1950 – 1962 . Recommissioned on 24 October 1950 , " Darby " became flagship for the newly commissioned Escort Squadron 8 on 14 May 1951 , with Norfolk , Virginia her home port . On 19 June , she entered Newport News Shipyard to have advanced anti - submarine weapons installed , then began intensive training and joined in exercises in the Caribbean and Atlantic . She served as school ship for the Fleet Sonar School at Key West , from 4 April to 12 July 1952 , and between 26 August and 11 October sailed in NATO exercise " Operation Mainbrace " , visiting the Firth of Forth and Rosyth , Scotland , and Kristiansand , Norway . " Darby " alternated school ship duty at Key West with training in the Virginia Capes area and took part in a midshipmen cruise in the summer of 1954 , visiting Dublin , Ireland , and Portsmouth , England . Between 28 January and 25 April 1958 , she called at Trinidad and Rio de Janeiro while on a cruise to survey Ascension Island in connection with missile tracking operations in the South Atlantic . On 23 February 1959 , " Darby " was placed in service in reserve for use in the training of the Naval Reserve out of Baltimore . These training cruises took her along the east coast and to Puerto Rico , and this duty continued through 1962 . On Saturday , 19 March 1960 at around 8 pm , the Darby collided with a Swedish merchant ship , the Soya - Atlantic , in the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay . Thirteen Naval Reservists were injured and two died in the accident . Awards . " Darby " received two battle star s for World War II service .