USS Thomas F . Nickel ( DE - 587 ) USS " Thomas F . Nickel " ( DE - 587 ) was a of the United States Navy named in honor of Private Thomas F . Nickel , United States Marine Corps , who was killed in the Pacific War in 1942 and posthumously awarded a Silver Star . " Thomas F . Nickel " was laid down on 15 December 1943 at Hingham , Massachusetts , by the Bethlehem - Hingham Shipyards ; launched on 22 January 1944 ; sponsored by Mrs . Fred W . Nickel ; and commissioned on 9 June 1944 , Lt . Comdr . Claude S . Farmer , USNR , in command . Service history . World War II , 1944 – 1945 . After shakedown training in the Caribbean from 29 June to 26 July , the destroyer escort made one round - trip voyage across the Atlantic escorting Convoy UGS - 50 to Bizerte , Tunisia , and back before departing Boston with Escort Division 71 on the last day of September , bound for the South Pacific . She transited the Panama Canal on 15 October and , after calls at the Galápagos and Society Islands , arrived at Espiritu Santo on 1 November . There , after the destroyer escort had taken on 15 aerial torpedo es as deck cargo , she headed for Manus . She delivered her dangerous cargo at Seeadler Harbor on 7 November . Three days later , the ship was anchored there slightly more than a mile from ammunition ship when she exploded , but was not damaged . " Thomas F . Nickel " next proceeded to New Guinea and arrived at $ 3 on 21 November . The following week she again put to sea in the screen of a Philippine - bound convoy . She arrived at San Pedro Bay , Leyte , on 15 December and , two days later , began the return voyage to Hollandia with another convoy . On 28 December , the destroyer escort departed Aitape with Task Group 78 . 1 , the San Fabian Attack Force , which was transporting the 43rd Infantry Division to make the initial assault against Luzon . The American ships entered Lingayen Gulf on 9 January 1945 , and the DE protected the landings . She was then assigned to the anti - submarine and anti - aircraft screen until 18 January . On 10 January , was hit and badly damaged by a suicide plane ; a boat from " Nickel " rescued five of that attack transport ' s crewmen who had been blown overboard and gave them medical attention . On 18 January orders sent DE - 587 to New Guinea waters to conduct anti - submarine patrols between the islands of Biak and Owi ; but , early in February , she found herself heading back to the Philippines in the screen of Task Group 78 . 6 , the third Lingayen reinforcement group . She remained in the Lingayen area of Luzon from 6 February until 7 March . In the following months , the escort performed anti - submarine patrol and escort duty between San Pedro , Subic Bay , and ports in New Guinea and the Carolines . On 6 August , she departed Subic Bay with a convoy to refuel at Buckner Bay and returned to the Philippines escorting . In the evening of 12 August " Oak Hill " reported a periscope on her port quarter and , eight minutes later , a torpedo wake 2 , 000 yards astern of her . " Thomas F . Nickel " made several depth charge attacks and then lost contact . Both ships arrived safely at Leyte on the 15th , the day hostilities ended . Post - war activities , 1945 – 1946 . The destroyer escort made one more round - trip voyage to Buckner Bay in late August , escorting there and returning with . She operated in the Philippines until 29 November when she got underway for the United States . " Thomas F . Nickel " arrived at San Diego on 18 December 1945 , and was decommissioned on 31 May 1946 . Naval reserve training ship , 1948 – 1957 . In June she was assigned to the 12th Naval District as a training ship . On 31 October , she arrived under tow at San Francisco and was subsequently moved to Sacramento for use as a naval reserve armory . The destroyer escort was reactivated on 8 July 1948 and placed in service as a naval reserve training ship . She made weekend and two - week cruises to Mexico , Canada , Alaska , Pearl Harbor , and Pacific coast ports . After the ship was recommissioned on 22 September 1950 she continued the same duty . She operated out of San Francisco until December 1951 , when she moved to San Diego . " Nickel " made a goodwill visit to Humboldt Bay , California for Armed Forces Day in May 1954 and also a two - week Pacific cruise in February 1955 arriving in Honolulu on 17 February , and returning to Treasure Island , San Francisco on 26 February . Decommissioning and sale . On 25 November 1957 " Thomas F . Nickel " was assigned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet . She was decommissioned on 26 February 1958 and berthed at San Diego until she was struck from the Navy List on 1 December 1972 . Her hulk was sold for scrap at San Jose , California , to the Levin Metals Co . on 9 June 1973 .