USS Van Buren ( PF - 42 ) USS " Van Buren " ( PF - 42 ) , a , was the second ship of the United States Navy to hold this name . The first " Van Buren " , a revenue cutter , was named for President Martin Van Buren ; the second " Van Buren " ( PF - 42 ) , honors the city of Van Buren , Arkansas . The second " Van Buren " ( PF - 42 ) , originally classified as PG - 150 , was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract ( MC hull 1453 ) on 24 June 1943 at the Consolidated Steel Corporation shipyard in Los Angeles , California ; launched on 27 July 1943 , sponsored by Mrs . Edward J . O ' Hara ; and commissioned at Terminal Island , California , on 17 December 1943 , with Lieutenant Commander Charles B . Arrington , USCG , in command . Service history . " Van Buren " conducted shakedown off the west coast before departing San Pedro , California , on 9 March 1944 , bound for the western Pacific . She sailed in company with sister ship and escorted the merchant tanker SS " Fort Erie " to Espiritu Santo from 23 to 29 March . Departing that port on the 30th , the frigate arrived at Milne Bay , New Guinea , on 2 April . On 21 April , Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher ' s task force of aircraft carrier s , battleship s , cruiser s , and destroyer s began pounding Japan ese airfields and defensive positions on Hollandia , Wakde , Sawar , and Sarmi , New Guinea , to neutralize them during an impending amphibious operation under the command of Rear Admiral Daniel E . Barbey . The next day , Army troops began splashing ashore at Aitape and Humboldt Bay . " Van Buren " escorted convoys supporting this operation into May and June . As Army forces encountered stiff enemy resistance ashore , naval units were often called upon to render gunfire support . " Van Buren " received such a request on the afternoon of 9 June . At 1740 , the patrol frigate opened with her main battery , firing salvoes at Japanese troop concentrations near a road in the Sarmi - Sawar sector . Ten days later , the warship again conducted a gunfire - support mission for the Army , this time near Maffin Village . The following day , " Van Buren " lobbed 150 rounds of and 180 of 40 - millimeter into the troublesome Maffin Village sector . Directions from an Army spotting plane provided information on enemy positions . Lying to off the beach , " Van Buren " soon demolished her targets and started many fires . An Army plane again provided call - fire guidance on the 23rd , when " Van Buren " once more supported Army troops struggling against the Japanese defenders ashore , breaking up troop concentrations and destroying communications and supplies . " Van Buren " subsequently screened the ships supporting the Cape Sansapor operations in August and continued escort operations into the autumn . On 10 November , " Van Buren " departed Humboldt Bay , bound for Cape Sansapor with a convoy of four LST ' s ( , , , and ) . En route on 16 November , the frigate saw an Army plane crash four miles ( 6 km ) away and altered course to close . The ship ' s motor whaleboat soon rescued the aircraft ' s crew unhurt . One week later , while participating in operations in the Philippines , " Van Buren " went to general quarters when radioed a contact report of an unidentified plane closing their vicinity . " Van Buren " ' s SA radar picked up the enemy at ; her SL receivers picked up the contact at . Although ready for action , the frigate did not get a chance to engage , as the plane veered away and passed along the opposite side of the convoy , well beyond the American warship ' s gun - range . " Van Buren " continued her convoy escort and screening duties with the 7th Amphibious Force , in the Philippines , into late 1944 . After escorting a convoy to Leyte in mid - December , " Van Buren " sailed via Manus , in the Admiralties , to Hawaii . Arriving at Pearl Harbor on 2 January 1945 , " Van Buren " operated as a training ship attached to the U . S . Pacific Fleet ' s destroyer forces through the spring of 1945 . Shifting to the west coast of the United States soon thereafter , the patrol vessel arrived at San Francisco on 2 July . Assigned to Commander , Western Sea Frontier , the warship was fitted out as a weather ship and operated as such through the end of hostilities with Japan and into the year 1946 . Departing San Francisco , California , on 13 March 1946 , " Van Buren " transited the Panama Canal and arrived at Charleston , South Carolina , on 3 April . Decommissioned there on 6 May 1946 , " Van Buren " was struck from the Navy List on 19 June 1946 , and sold soon thereafter to the Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , of Chester , Pennsylvania , for scrapping . " Van Buren " received three battle star s for World War II service .