USS Bebas ( DE - 10 ) USS " Bebas " ( BDE - 10 / DE - 10 ) was an " Evarts " - class short - hull destroyer escort in the service of the United States Navy . She was named for Ensign Gus George Bebas . Originally allocated to the Royal Navy under lend lease , BDE - 10 was laid down on 27 November 1942 at the Boston Navy Yard ; launched on 9 January 1943 ; reallocated to the United States Navy on 25 January 1943 ; named " Bebas " ( DE - 10 ) on 19 February 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . Angeline M . Bebas , Ens . Bebas ' s mother , in a special christening ceremony just before commissioning ; and commissioned at Boston , Massachusetts on 15 May 1943 , Lieutenant Commander George B . Gilbertson , USNR , in command . After arriving off Bermuda on 17 June for shakedown , the destroyer escort steamed back to the New York Navy Yard for repairs between 24 and 29 June . After returning to Bermudan waters to resume her interrupted shakedown training , " Bebas " completed that evolution during July and then spent the next few weeks in coastal escort and patrol operations out of Casco Bay in Maine , Boston , New York , and Norfolk , Virginia . Upon departing Hampton Roads on 24 August in company with three of her sister ships , " Bebas " sailed for the Pacific . After transiting the Panama Canal on 1 September , she proceeded via the Galapagos and Society Islands to Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides . The warship operated out of that port during October and November , conducting patrol and escort missions to Noumea , New Caledonia , and to Guadalcanal in the Solomons . Highlighting this service was her attempt to salvage the Liberty ship " John H . Couch " that had been set ablaze by a Japan ese aerial torpedo during a raid on the night of 11 October . " Bebas " , patrolling an antisubmarine sector off Lunga and Koli Points , Guadalcanal , went to general quarters at 0149 to investigate a " fire explosion at sea . " The destroyer escort then determined the fire to be on board a beached ship , and reduced speed to draw closer . Going alongside at 0600 , " Bebas " sent over her fire and rescue party to fight gasoline fires raging in " John H . Couch ' s " holds two and three , but the flames had gained the upper hand . After recovering her men , the warship backed away and shelled the merchahtman ' s number two hold , in an attempt to stop the fire or to sink the ship . " Bebas " was subsequently assigned " killer operations and local escort " duty under the auspices of the Commanding General , Fiji Island garrison , and carried out those tasks through January 1944 . She then resumed convoy escort and patrol work in the Solomons , New Hebrides , and New Caledonia areas . In April 1944 , the destroyer escort returned to the United States for an overhaul at Hunters Point . Clearing the west coast on 30 May , " Bebas " proceeded via Pearl Harbor to the Marshall Islands and reached Eniwetok on 27 June for convoy escort duty between Pearl Harbor and the Marshalls through the end of July . She then joined a " hunter - killer " task group formed around the escort carrier and provided support for the occupation of the Western Carolines and for the invasion of the Philippines at Leyte . Next , after performing screening and escort duties out of the Palaus and Ulithi late in October , " Bebas " underwent repairs at Espiritu Santo and then escorted shipping between the Palaus , Ulithi , and Eniwetok during the first three months of 1945 . On 2 February 1945 , " Bebas " cleared Eniwetok in company with the tankers and SS " Egg Harbor " , bound for Ulithi . On the second night out , " Bebas " and her two charges identified another convoy as friendly and then picked up a surface radar contact which a quick exchange of information showed to be " definitely suspicious . " Radar plot indicated that the contact was crossing the track of both convoys . " Bebas " obtained permission from the convoy commodore to pursue the target and went to general quarters . The quarry soon disappeared , only to be picked up on sonar — a definite submarine . Reducing speed to carry out a deliberate attack , " Bebas " stalked the submarine . Soon after her first " hedgehog " attack failed , she followed up with a second and heard one sharp and two muffled detonations soon thereafter . A third " hedgehog " pattern yielded negative results . An hour later , wood fragments , varying in length from two to ten feet , found on the water near the attack location prompted " Bebas " to carry out a box search through the night ; and , the following morning , four other destroyer escorts and an Eniwetok - based PBM Martin Mariner patrol bomber joined the search . Between 0800 and 1525 , they searched over of ocean . Late in the search , the PBM sent them to a concentrated oil slick about four miles ( 6 km ) from the site of the " hedgehog " attack on the previous night . " Bebas " took samples of the slick — heavy sludge or a mixture of lubricating oil and fuel oil — as well as a piece of wood . That afternoon , the four destroyer escorts parted company with " Bebas " , but joined her to continue the hunt . Further investigations yielded no additional evidence , and the search was terminated at noon on 6 February . Postwar accounting indicated no Japanese submarine losses that day , so the identity of " Bebas " ' target remains a mystery . " Bebas " then participated in the invasion of Okinawa , escorting transports and patrolling in the antisubmarine screen off the beachhead . While so engaged on 12 May , she rescued Lt . Robert R . Klingman , USMC , of VMF - 312 , after his F4U Corsair had suffered hydraulic system failure . Later that same morning , while " Bebas " witnessed the kamikaze attack on , one of her 20 - millimeter guns scored hits on the " Oscar " before it crashed into the nearby battleship . The destroyer escort then screened refueling groups supporting carrier strikes on the Japanese homeland in July before proceeding to Hawaii for repairs and alterations . She entered Pearl Harbor on 3 August and was still there on 15 August when Japan agreed to capitulate , ending the war . On 4 September , " Bebas " departed Oahu for the west coast of the United States . Reaching San Francisco , California on 9 September , " Bebas " shifted to San Pedro and was decommissioned there on 18 October 1945 . Her name was struck from the Navy list on 1 November 1945 , and she was sold to the Pacific Bridge Co . , San Francisco , in January 1947 for scrapping . " Bebas " ( DE - 10 ) was awarded three battle star s for her World War II service .