USS Aaron Ward ( DD - 483 ) USS " Aaron Ward " ( DD - 483 ) was a in the service of the United States Navy . She was the second Navy ship named in honor of Rear Admiral Aaron Ward . She sank on 7 April 1943 in a shoal near Tinete Point of Nggela Sule , Solomon Islands during Operation I - Go . Her wreck was discovered on 4 September 1994 . Construction . She was laid down on 11 February 1941 at Kearny , New Jersey by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , launched on 22 November 1941 , sponsored by Miss Hilda Ward , the daughter of the late Admiral Ward , and commissioned on 4 March 1942 with Commander Orville F . Gregor in command . Service history . Following her shakedown out of Casco Bay , Maine and post - shakedown availability at the New York Navy Yard , " Aaron Ward " sailed for the $ 3 on 20 May 1942 and proceeded via the Panama Canal to San Diego . A short time later , as the Battle of Midway was developing off to the westward , the destroyer operated in the screen of Vice Admiral William S . Pye ' s Task Force 1 ( TF 1 ) , built around four battleship s and an escort carrier as it steamed out into the Pacific Ocean — eventually reaching a point some 1 , 200 miles ( 2 , 200 km ) west of San Francisco , California and equally northeast of Hawaii — to " support the current operations against the enemy . " With the detachment of " Long Island " from the task force on 17 June , " Aaron Ward " screened her on her voyage back to San Diego . World War II . After local operations off the west coast , " Aaron Ward " sailed for Hawaii on 30 June 1942 and then to the Tonga Islands with TF 18 . Assigned to escort duties soon afterwards , she convoyed to Nouméa . During the course of the voyage she made two sound contacts , one on 5 August and the other the following day , which she developed and attacked with depth charge s . Although she claimed a probable sinking in each case , neither kill was borne out in postwar accounting . Subsequently assigned to screening duties with forces seeking to cover and resupply Guadalcanal , " Aaron Ward " saw torpedoed by on 15 September 1942 . Within a month ' s time , " Aaron Ward " was earmarked for a shore bombardment mission on 17 October . She stood into Lunga Roads to lie to and await the arrival of a Marine liaison officer who would designate targets for the ship . Before she could embark passengers , though , she spotted five enemy bombers approaching from the west . These attacked " Aaron Ward " but ran into a heavy antiaircraft barrage from both the ship and marine guns on shore . The destroyer went ahead at flank speed when she spotted the attackers , to carry out evasive maneuvers and avoid the falling bombs , radically swinging to the right or left as the occasion demanded . Three bombs splashed 100 to 300 yards astern of the ship . The marines claimed two of the five attackers destroyed while the ship and marines shared a third kill . The action over , the destroyer embarked Martin Clemens , the former British consular representative on Guadalcanal , major C . M . Nees , USMC , and corporal R . M . Howard , USMC , a photographer , and got underway soon afterwards , reaching her target area within 40 minutes . For three hours , " Aaron Ward " shelled Japanese shore positions , her targets ranging from a gun emplacement to ammunition dumps ; fires , smoke , and explosions marked her visit as she quit the area . Reaching Lunga Roads , she disembarked her passengers and after going on alert for a Japanese air raid that failed to materialize , cleared Lengo Channel and rejoined her task force . Three days later , while again performing screening operations , " Aaron Ward " saw take a torpedo hit on 20 October from . The destroyer went to the aid of the stricken cruiser and dropped a full depth charge pattern on " Chester " s assailant , but did not record a kill . She then escorted the damaged cruiser to Espiritu Santo . Ten days after this , " Aaron Ward " carried out another bombardment of Japanese positions on Guadalcanal , this time in company with light cruiser , flagship of Rear Admiral Norman Scott , and destroyers , , and . Arriving off Lunga Point at 0520 on 30 October , the task group stood in , and " Atlanta " embarked a liaison officer from Major General Alexander A . Vandegrift , Commander of the 1st Marine Division , 20 minutes later . Steaming to its designated area , the task group reached its destination within an hour ' s time , and " Atlanta " opened fire . " Aaron Ward " followed suit soon afterwards ; eventually , she expended 711 rounds of 5 inch ammunition . Pausing briefly to investigate a reported submarine in the vicinity , " Aaron Ward " then cleared the area . Naval Battle of Guadalcanal , 13 November 1942 . " Aaron Ward " screened transports unloading men and material off Guadalcanal on 11 and 12 November , shooting down one enemy plane and damaging two others on the former day and two more planes off Lunga Point on the latter . The Allies learned that the Japanese were sending a large force to disrupt air operations based at Henderson Field and land reinforcements for the Japanese forces on the island . The resulting Naval Battle of Guadalcanal proved to be the climactic engagement of the Guadalcanal campaign . On the evening of 12 November , " Aaron Ward " retired with her task force — five cruisers and eight destroyers under Rear Admiral Daniel J . Callaghan — in an eastward direction , escorting the transports out of " Ironbottom Sound " . Later , the force reversed course and stood back through Lengo Channel . At about 0125 on 13 November , the American ships which possessed radar picked up numerous contacts on their screens — the " Volunteer Attack Force " under Rear Admiral Hiroaki Abe , which consisted of battleship s and , light cruiser , and 14 destroyers . " Aaron Ward " , leading the four destroyers bringing up the rear of Callaghan ' s column , ranged in on the Japanese ships , opening fire soon afterwards on a target she took to be a battleship . A short time later , after the ship had fired approximately ten salvoes , she saw that the cruisers ahead of her had apparently changed course ; " Aaron Ward " observed two torpedoes pass beneath her . An instant later , blew up , torpedoed by . " Aaron Ward " , with the waters clear ahead of her , surged ahead once more . She prepared to fire torpedoes at a target to port , but did not because she sighted a ship which she took to be 1 , 500 yards ( 1 . 4 km ) away . Observing what she took to be heading directly toward her port side , " Aaron Ward " put her rudder over hard to port to avoid a collision . A short time later , the destroyer commenced firing on an enemy ship , and hurled some 25 salvoes in her direction ; her target may have been , which did blow up and sink , taking all hands with her . Changing course to bear on a new target in the melee , " Aaron Ward " managed to get off four salvoes on director control until a Japanese shell put the director out of action and forced the destroyer ' s gunners to rely on local control . In the minutes that followed , " Aaron Ward " received eight more direct hits ; unable to identify friend from foe and certain that the enemy had surely established her American character , the destroyer then stood out to clear the area . She lost steering control at 0225 , and , steering with her engines , attempted to come to the right . Seeing no more firing after 0230 , when the battle apparently ended , " Aaron Ward " went dead in the water at 0235 , her forward engine room flooded with salt water and her feed water gone . Utilizing a gasoline pump the destroyer ' s crew managed to pump salt water into the tanks and light the boilers off . At 0500 , " Aaron Ward " moved slowly ahead , bound for Sealark Channel ; ten minutes later , American motor torpedo boat s closed , and the destroyer signaled them to ask Tulagi for a tug . She kept up her crawling pace for only a half hour before going dead in the water again . Thirty minutes after she had slowed to a stop , Aaron Ward spotted the Japanese battleship , " Hiei " steaming slowly in circles between Savo and Florida Islands . Also nearby , nearer to Guadalcanal , lay " Atlanta " , , and , all damaged , and the destroyers both burning . Destroyer " Yudachi " ’ s presence in the vicinity proved to be her own undoing : " Portland " summarily sank her . " Aaron Ward " , perhaps prompted to do so with more urgency due to " Hiei " s proximity , got underway at 0618 , and two minutes later greeted tug , which had arrived to take the destroyer in tow . Before the towline could be rigged , " Hiei " spotted " Aaron Ward " and opened fire with her heavy guns . Four two - gun salvoes were laid , the third of which straddled the crippled destroyer . Fortunately for the American ships , planes sent from Henderson Field began attacking " Hiei " , distracting her from further fire . Losing power again at 0635 , " Aaron Ward " was taken in tow by " Bobolink " , and the ships began moving toward safety . The tug turned the tow over to a local patrol boat at 0650 , and the destroyer anchored in Tulagi harbor near Makambo Island at 0830 . The nine direct hits she had received resulted in 15 men dead and 57 wounded . After receiving temporary repairs locally , " Aaron Ward " sailed for Hawaii soon afterwards , reaching Pearl Harbor on 20 December 1942 for permanent repairs . The destroyer rejoined the fleet on 6 February 1943 and soon resumed escort work . During one stint with a small convoy on 20 March she aided in driving off attacking Japanese planes . A short time later , on 7 April , she had escorted and three tank landing craft from the Russell Islands to Savo . Not expecting to arrive until 1400 , the destroyer went ahead at 25 knots ( 45 km / h ) to provide " Ward " and the three LCTs with air cover until they reached Tulagi . At about noon the destroyer received notification of an impending air raid at Guadalcanal . Sinking . As the ships neared their destination , " Aaron Ward " received orders at about 1330 to leave her convoy to cover off Togoma Point , Guadalcanal . ( One of the passengers on " LST - 449 " at this time was then Lieutenant ( junior grade ) John F . Kennedy , later to become President of the United States . ) Joining the tank landing ship at 1419 , the destroyer directed her to follow her movements and zigzag at the approach of enemy aircraft . While the LST maneuvered to conform to " Aaron Ward " s movements , Lieutenant Commander Frederick J . Becton , CO of " Aaron Ward " , planned to retire to the eastward through Lengo Channel , as other cargo ships and escorting ships were doing upon receipt of the air raid warning from Guadalcanal . Sighting a dogfight over Savo Island , " Aaron Ward " tracked a closer group of Japanese planes heading south over Tulagi ; while swinging to starboard , the ship suddenly sighted three enemy planes coming out of the sun . Surging ahead to flank speed and putting her rudder over hard to port , " Aaron Ward " opened fire with her 20 mm and 40 mm guns , followed shortly afterwards by her 5 inch battery . Bombs from the first three planes struck on or near the ship , and the mining effect of the near - misses proved devastating ; the first bomb was a near miss , which tore holes in the side of the ship , allowing the forward fire room to ship water rapidly ; the second struck home in the engine room , causing a loss of all electrical power on the 5 inch and 40 mm mounts . Shifting to local control , however , the gunners kept up the fire . A third bomb splashed close aboard , holing her port side , near the after engine room . Having lost power to her rudder , the ship continued to swing to port as another trio of dive bombers loosed their loads on the now - helpless destroyer . While none of these bombs hit the ship , two landed very near her port side . Twenty destroyermen had died ; 59 had been wounded ; seven were missing . Despite the best efforts of her determined crew , and the assistance of and , however , the destroyer settled lower in the water . When it became evident that the battle to save " Aaron Ward " was being lost , " Ortolan " and " Vireo " attempted to beach her on a shoal near Tinete Point of Nggela Sule . At 21 : 35 , however , " Aaron Ward " sank , stern - first , in 40 fathoms ( 70m ) of water , only 600 yards ( 550m ) from shoal water . Discovery . On 4 September 1994 , divers located the wreck of the " Aaron Ward " . The first dive to the wreck was made on 25 September 1994 . Because of the depth , divers are limited to about 15 minutes at the wreck before beginning their return to the surface . Awards . " Aaron Ward " was awarded four battle star s for her World War II service .