USS Robert I . Paine ( DE - 578 ) USS " Robert I . Paine " ( DE / DER - 578 ) , a of the United States Navy , was named in honor of Marine Corps Private Robert I . Paine ( 1923 - 1942 ) , who was killed in action during the attack on Tulagi on 7 August 1942 . He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star . " Robert I . Paine " was laid down at the Bethlehem Hingham Shipyards , Hingham , Massachusetts , on 5 November 1943 ; launched on 30 December 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . John Paine , mother of Private Paine ; and commissioned on 26 February 1944 , Lieutenant Commander Drayton Cochran in command . Service history . Atlantic Fleet , 1944 – 1945 . " Robert I . Paine " completed shakedown off Bermuda in mid - April 1944 and joined the Atlantic Fleet on the 24th . She departed Brooklyn the same day to screen the carriers and as they transported Army aircraft and Allied personnel to Casablanca . Arriving on 4 May , the destroyer escort patrolled off Casablanca until the 7th ; then put to sea for the return voyage . Detached on the 10th , she joined a hunter - killer group centered on the escort carrier on the 15th . On the 18th , the group returned to Casablanca , replenished and sortied again on the 23rd for another anti - submarine sweep west of the Canary Islands and south of the Azores . On the 29th , " Block Island " was sunk and was struck in the stern . Both were victims of torpedo es from . The remaining escorts commenced rescue and search operations , with " Robert I . Paine " taking on 279 survivors from the CVE , then moving in to cover the crippled DE . Another escort , , made contact with the U - boat , and assisted by , sank her . The search for survivors was called off the next day and the force retired to Casablanca . On 4 June , " Robert I . Paine " steamed for Gibraltar . Off Europa Point she rendezvoused with GUF - 11 and , as a unit of TF 68 , escorted the convoy to New York , arriving on the 14th . Anti - submarine warfare training in Casco Bay followed , and on 12 July she anchored in Hampton Roads to await the sailing of UGS - 48 , a slow convoy to Bizerte . Underway on the 13th , her radar picked up enemy aircraft shadowing the convoy on the 31st , and she assisted in beating off a Luftwaffe attack on 1 August . At Boston again at the end of the month , she completed another escort run to Bizerte and back in early November ; then , after further training , resumed anti - submarine activities , this time ranging between Casco Bay , Halifax , Nova Scotia and NS Argentia , Newfoundland . Twelfth Fleet , 1945 . In February 1945 , she shifted to escort work off the southern New England coast and in early March she headed east to join the 12th Fleet for patrol work under the Royal Navy ' s Western Approaches Command . She arrived at Liverpool on 3 April , and for the remainder of the European War " Robert I . Paine " guarded convoys on the first or last section of the transatlantic convoy lanes . On 14 May , " Robert I . Paine " represented the United States at surrender ceremonies of eight U - boats at Derry ; then , after a brief return to Liverpool , got underway for the United States . Post - war activities , 1946 – 1947 . On 1 June the destroyer escort arrived at New York , whence she continued on to Houston , Texas and conversion to a radar picket ship . In January 1946 , she trained in the Caribbean , then sailed north for exercises off Maine . Back at Norfolk in March , she sailed on the 10th for the Azores and duty as intermediate air - sea rescue ship based at Ponta Delgada . In May she returned to the United States and was laid up for four months because of lack of personnel . In the fall she underwent overhaul and in January 1947 resumed operations along the east Coast and in the Caribbean . Decommissioned and in reserve , 1947 – 1969 . Ordered to join the Reserve Fleet in June 1947 , she arrived at Charleston , South Carolina on 4 September , decommissioned on 21 November , and was berthed with the Charleston Group , Atlantic Reserve Fleet where she remained until struck from the Navy List on 1 June 1968 . During that time she was re - designated twice ; to DER - 578 on 18 March 1949 ; and to DE - 578 on 1 December 1954 . " Robert I . Paine " was sold on 18 July 1969 and broken up for scrap . Awards . " Robert I . Paine " earned one battle star during World War II .