USS Thomas J . Gary ( DE - 326 ) USS " Thomas J . Gary " ( DE - 326 ) was an . The ship was named for Seaman 2nd Class Thomas Jones Gary . The ship was renamed " Thomas J . Gary " on 1 January 1945 to free the name for planned light cruiser . " Gary " ( DE - 326 ) was laid down on 15 June 1943 at Orange , TX by the Consolidated Steel Corporation ; launched on 21 August 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . Wille Mae Gary , mother of Seaman 2nd Class Gary and commissioned on 27 November 1943 , Lieutenant Commander William H . Harrison , USNR , in command . Service history . Following shakedown exercises out of Bermuda and post - shakedown overhaul at Charleston , " Gary " reported to the Commander Caribbean Sea Frontier at Guantanamo Bay for temporary duty on 5 February 1944 . She was detached from that command on 9 March and set her course for the Straits of Gibraltar , escorting the first of many transatlantic convoys . Until May 1945 , " Thomas J . Gary " operated as an escort vessel in the Atlantic , safely screening eleven convoys from the East Coast to ports in the Mediterranean and the United Kingdom and back to the United States . Here is a list of the ETO convoys : Casablanca Algiers ( twice ) Tunisia Naples Taranto , Italy Southampton ( twice ) Plymouth Portsmouth Liverpool While on the east coast between patrols , Gary trained off the coast of Maine and out of Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , and conducted antisubmarine warfare exercises out of New London . During June 1944 , she was assigned to the Navy Fleet Sound School . In December 1944 , she detached from the homebound convoy she was escorting from British ports to aid which had collided with a merchantman . On the 9th , she took on board more than 100 Coast Guardsmen from the badly damaged patrol escort vessel and then screened her as she was towed to Bermuda . Pacific Duty . While the ship was moored at Boston on 1 January 1945 , her name was expanded to Thomas J . Gary . She completed her last Atlantic convoy upon her arrival at New York on 7 May and spent the remainder of the month preparing for service in the Pacific . Following refresher training in the Caribbean , she departed waters of the coast of Haiti on 22 June ; steamed - via the Panama Canal - to the west coast ; and departed San Diego on 12 July with the convoy bound for Hawaii . She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 20 July to begin repairs and training . On 1 August , she departed Oahu with Escort Division 57 and steamed for Saipan . After a brief stop at Eniwetok , she was rerouted to Guam and arrived at Apra Harbor on the 13th . The same day , she again got underway ; this time with Carrier Division 27 . As the force steamed toward the Philippines , word of Japan ' s surrender reached the ship . Following her arrival at San Pedro Bay on 17 August , " Thomas J . Gary " remained in port until the 29th when she departed Leyte to screen the aircraft carriers of Task Group ( TG ) 77 . 1 during their passage to Korea . Voyage to Japan . Bob Redmon says " Toward the end of the war we were part of a task force that was probably larger than the one on D - Day . This task force was commanded by Admiral Kincaid and we were underway for the first invasion of the Japanese mainland . Now get this , we were running escort for the battleship on which Seaman Gary lost his life at Pearl Harbor . Still gives me goose bumps . We knew something was up . We had left Okinawa for the invasion . Since we were only about 300 miles from the Japanese coast we had no idea why it was taking so long . Of course when we started dropping the big bombs we understood . I still would have liked for the big boys who were sunk at Pearl to have had a chance to lob those 16 inchers ashore and say " hey , Japs , look who ' s here . " especially the California . " " En route " , the task group was diverted to Formosa . With Commander Escort Division 57 embarked , " Thomas J . Gary " was designated to liberate Allied prisoners of war who had been held on that island . On 3 September , she embarked 19 marines from charged with arranging the details of the evacuation of the POW ' s . Her division commander was also responsible for making the preliminary arrangements for the occupation of Formosa . Bob Redmon says " After the surrender is when we were diverted to Formosa to rescue POWs . The first thing the prisoners said was " where have you guys been . " Some had been involved in the Bataan Death March . Before dawn of 5 September off the coast of Formosa , " Thomas J . Gary " and were detached from the escort carrier task group . The destroyer escorts were without navigational guides to indicate the location of mines in water surrounding the island . Despite the signing of the peace some days before , resistance from die - hard Japanese was a distinct possibility . At 0718 , as the two ships approached the waters most apt to be mined , every precaution was taken to minimize damage and casualties , should the ships strike a mine . The American sailors maintained a state of readiness to repel possible attack , as " Thomas J . Gary " , with her sister ship 500 yards astern , threaded her way at nine knots through the unknown and dangerous waters . Four Combat Air Patrol planes provided cover , and two anti - mine sweep planes from the carriers relayed word of the sightings of possible mines as the destroyer escorts picked their way through the hazardous approaches to Kiirun , making frequent changes of course to avoid sonar contacts which exhibited a suspicious similarity to those made by mines . One mile north of Kiirun Island , she rendezvoused with a small Japanese tug which led the way into Kiirun Harbor , where a Japanese harbor pilot pointed out the dock to be used . The ships maintained a condition of modified general quarters and stationed armed guards on shore . A detail headed by " Thomas J . Gary " s communications officer took over the local Japanese radio station to insure reliable communications between the task group and Japanese authorities in Kiirun for the duration of the evacuation operation . Finally , at 1630 , a train arrived bearing Allied prisoners of war who were quickly transferred to the waiting destroyer escorts . At 1800 , provided now with a Japanese pilot and Japanese charts of the minefields in the vicinity of Kiirun , " Thomas J . Gary " got underway . Her commanding officer later dryly reported : " Our outbound route did not coincide with the one used inbound since we discovered that our inbound track crossed several minefields . " That night , she rendezvoused with the carriers and transferred the newly freed POW ' s to the larger ships . On the 6th , " Thomas J . Gary " , joined by other DE ' s , returned to Kiirun to transport additional POW ' s . After transferring most other passengers to " Block Island " , she got underway for Manila ; and , on the 9th , she arrived at Manila to discharge the last 50 of her POW ' s . Duties in the Far East and Europe . Later in the month , she steamed on to the Ryukyus with the escort carrier group : and she operated out of Okinawa into October , conducting exercises in the East China Sea . On 19 October , while at sea with the escort carrier group , she struck a submerged log , which caused considerable damage to her starboard propeller . Slowed to 13 knots , she was forced to leave the formation and put in at Saipan on 23 November for repairs . She next operated in the Philippines into the new year with calls at Hong Kong and Okinawa . She parted Singapore on 8 April 1946 and set her course via the Suez Canal for the Mediterranean where she spent much of May visiting European ports . On 29 May , she arrived at Charleston to commence dry - docking and preservation procedures . ON 25 September , tug Nancy Moran towed the destroyer escort from Charleston and headed for Green Cove Springs , Florida . She was decommissioned there on 7 March 1947 and placed in reserve . DER - 326 . On 24 July 1956 , she was delivered to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for conversion to radar picket escort ship ; and , on 1 November 1956 , she was designated DER - 326 . She was re - commissioned on 2 August 1957 and spent the remainder of the year in training exercises out of Newport , Rhode Island , and Guantanamo Bay , Cuba . On 30 December , she departed Newport and began duties on the Atlantic Barrier , a part of the North American Defense Command . Operating out of Newport , she completed 12 radar picket assignments in the 18 months , breaking the routine duty with a visit to Belgium and the United Kingdom in August 1958 . In July 1959 , " Thomas J . Gary " entered the Boston Navy Yard for overhaul . She remained there until 30 October when she got underway for refresher training in waters off the coast of Cuba . On 20 December , she resumed her former duties in the Atlantic alternating North Atlantic Barrier and Contiguous Radar Coverage System assignments . Early in 1961 , she varied radar picket duties with participation in Operation " Springboard " ; and , in May , she steamed off Bermuda participating in Operation " Lantbex " . In August , she completed a DEW Line assignment in the northeast Atlantic with a visit to Scotland and finished out the year in overhaul at Boston . " Thomas J . Gary " next set her course of Guantanamo Bay for refresher training ; then , on 10 July 1962 , she steamed from Newport for now familiar North Atlantic picket deployment . Between picket assignments , she put in at Greenock and at Wilhelmshaven for well - earned recreation for all hands . Shortly after her return to Newport on 22 October , she was called upon to conduct patrols in support of the Cuban Quarantine . Relieved of her patrol station off Key West on 29 November , she returned to Newport for availability and a welcome holiday in homeport . She filled the opening months of 1963 with radar picket duty out of Key West as Southern Tip Picket , and two tours as Sonar School Ship at Key West . In April , a period of tender availability was cut short for " Thomas J . Gary " when she was called upon to take part in the unproductive search for the submarine lost off the Atlantic coast . She resumed Southern Tip Picket duties in July , and she returned to Newport late in August . On 24 September , she arrived at Boston for the overhaul and trials , which occupied the remainder of the year . She opened 1964 with operations in the Caribbean including refresher training and participation in Operation " Springboard " . She spent March undergoing availability at Newport and , during April and May , patrolled on picket station off Florida , with time out in May for a good will visit to Fall River , Mass . , on Armed Forces Day . She continued picket duties for the rest of the year breaking her routine with gunnery exercises off the Virginia Capes and a visit to the Naval Academy in October . Trip to New Zealand , and Return to the Mediterranean . After participating in the annual exercise Operation " Springboard " again in 1965 , she resumed picket duties and , on 30 June , phased out the Southern Tip Picket Station where she had spent so much of her post - World War II career . On 13 September , she departed Newport for a nine - month deployment in the Pacific which took her through the Panama Canal later that month and included support for Operation " Deep Freeze , " a scientific expedition to the Antarctic . In March 1966 , she departed New Zealand and steamed , via the Suez Canal , to the Mediterranean . Her ports of call in there and in the eastern Atlantic included Barcelona , Bremen , Copenhagen , and Edinburgh . She returned to Newport on 21 May 1966 . " Thomas J . Gary " again got underway from Newport on 24 August and set her course , via the Panama Canal and Pago Pago to Dunedin , New Zealand , her replenishment port during her participation in Operation " " Deep Freeze " . Manning her station midway between McMurdo Sound and New Zealand , " Thomas J . Gary " acted as logistics headquarters for Operation " Deepfreeze " and stood ready to provide search and rescue for downed fliers . She remained in southern waters through the end of 1966 . In March , she called at Perth , Australia ; then she set her course on the 23rd for the Suez Canal . She called at European ports and returned to Newport on 24 May . On 1 July , her home port was officially changed to Key West . After her arrival there on 9 July , she helped to test experimental equipment during Operation " Combat Keel " late in the year . On 12 December , she returned to Key West for a period of upkeep . In 1968 , she operated out of Key West ; conducted refresher training out of Guantanamo Bay ; and , in August , participated in support operation for the practice firing of Polaris missiles by nuclear submarine Daniel Webster ( SSBN - 626 ) . Later in the year , she conducted special operations in the Bahamas and acted as school ship for the Fleet Sonar School at Key West . She continued operations in the Caribbean and off Florida into 1969 . During that period her duties included patrolling off of Cuba ' s south coast , as an intelligence gathering ship , monitoring the Russian presence there . In July , she began a special four - month deployment during which she conducted intelligence support activities for antisubmarine forces in the Atlantic and earned a Navy Unit Commendation . She visited the Canary Isl ands and Malta before returning to Key West late in October . After participating in Operation " Springboard " off Puerto Rico early in 1970 , she got underway on 1 April and steamed across the Atlantic for operations which took her to Spain , Denmark , Germany , and the British Isles . On this deployment , she helped to develop new techniques and tactics in antisubmarine warfare in such an exemplary manner that she was awarded another Navy Unit Commendation . She returned to Key West on 7 September and operated out of that port into 1972 providing surveillance in support of the Atlantic Fleet . Departing Key West on 14 January 1972 , she visited Wilhelmshaven ; then returned via Senegal to the United States . Back in Key West in March , she resumed local operations out of that port which she continued well into 1973 . Transfer to Tunisia . In September 1973 , she began preparations for transfer to the Tunisian government . That month , 33 members of a Tunisian turnover team came on board for training . On 12 October , she got underway from Charleston and crossed the Atlantic , stopping briefly at Ponta Delgada and Palma de Mallorca before arriving at Bizerte on 21 October . The next day , " Thomas J . Gary " was decommissioned in ceremonies at the Quai d ' Honneur , Bizerte ; and moments later , the ship was commissioned by the Tunisian Navy as the " President Bourgiba " . Her name was struck from the Navy list that same day . She suffered a major fire on 16 April 1992 and is no longer operational .