USS Lansdowne ( DD - 486 ) USS " Lansdowne " ( DD - 486 ) , a , is the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Lieutenant Commander Zachary Lansdowne . He was awarded the Navy Cross " for distinguished service . . . as one of the crew of the British airship " R34 " , which in July 1919 , made the first successful nonstop passage from England to the United States . " " Lansdowne " was laid down 31 July 1941 by Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company of Kearny , New Jersey ; launched on 20 February 1942 , sponsored by Miss Peggy Lansdowne , daughter of Lt . Cmdr . Lansdowne ; and commissioned on 29 April 1942 , Lt . Cmdr . W . R . Smedberg III in command . 1942 . " Lansdowne " first operated along the Atlantic seaboard on shakedown , antisubmarine , and escort duty , and attacked an enemy submarine off Cape Hatteras on 3 July . Following a severe depth charge attack , large quantities of oil bubbled to the surface and it was presumed the submarine had been sunk . Arriving at Cristobal , Panama Canal Zone , 13 July , the destroyer was sent to a position where " PC - 458 " had located an enemy submarine . Upon arrival , " Lansdowne " launched a depth charge attack . Large quantities of oil rose to the surface , and the forward motion of the submarine ceased . Postwar records established that " U - 153 " was sunk by these attacks . On 21 August , " Lansdowne " transited the Panama Canal and headed for the South Pacific . En route to Tonga , she rescued the pilot and radioman of a splashed observation plane from . Arriving Nukualofa Bay on 6 September , the destroyer joined Task Force 18 ( TF 18 ) , under Rear Admiral Leigh Noyes in . On 15 September 1942 , " Wasp " was torpedo ed and heavily damaged by gasoline fires . " Lansdowne " narrowly avoided one of the submarine Type 95 torpedo es that missed " Wasp " and later hit . " Lansdowne " rescued 447 of " Wasp " s crew when the burning carrier was abandoned . As the remainder of ( TF 18 ) moved on , Admiral Noyes ordered " Lansdowne " to sink " Wasp " and stand by the carrier until she was sunk . " Lansdowne " s Mark 15 torpedo es had the same unrecognized flaws reported for the Mark 14 torpedo . The first torpedo was fired at a range of 1000 yards and set to run 15 feet under " Wasp " s keel for maximum damage with the magnetic influence exploder . When no result was observed from an apparently perfect wake , a second torpedo was fired at keel depth from a range of 800 yards . Once again , an apparently perfect shot produced no results ; and " Lansdowne " had only three more torpedoes . " Lansdowne " s torpedomen disabled the magnetic influence exploders and set depth at ten feet . All three torpedoes detonated , but " Wasp " remained afloat in the orange flames of a burning pool of gasoline and oil . " Lansdowne " nervously zig - zagged silhouetted in the fire ' s glow until " Wasp " sank by the bow at 2100 . " Lansdowne " , with Task Group 64 . 1 ( TG 64 . 1 ) , took part in the occupation of Funafuti , Ellice Islands , 2 October , then escorted aircraft ferry to Espiritu Santo . From 13 October , the ship screened various task forces , groups , and units in the British Solomons , escorted damaged ships to safety , and an 30 November sighted and bombarded a large group of Japanese landing barges , sinking several and scoring direct hits on a beached enemy ship east of Cape Esperance . She also shelled shore installations from Buala to Visale . On 30 November , " Lansdowne " made three attacks against a submerged target west of Koli Point , bringing diesel oil , slabs of cork , and air bubbling to the surface . In December , she made an escort run from Tulagi to Sydney and Auckland , returning to Nouméa . 1943 . Continuing to serve in the Solomons , " Lansdowne " grounded in the Russells on 26 February , and sailed on 11 March for repairs at San Francisco . From May to July , the ship operated in the Aleutians , bombarding Kiska on 6 July . She headed back to Espiritu Santo from Pearl Harbor 20 July , and joined an antishipping force off Vella Lavella on 2 September . Escort duty in the Solomons and to Fiji continued until 29 October . " Lansdowne " then screened fast carriers as they attacked Buka - Bonis ( 1 to 2 November ) and Rabaul ( 5 and 11 November ) . While covering landing operations at Empress Augusta Bay 28 November the ship repelled an enemy air attack , and two days later , bombarded Bougainville , which she hit again late in December . 1944 . During January and February 1944 , " Lansdowne " covered the landings at Torokina , Bougainville , and Green Island , and conducted antishipping sweeps between Buka and Rabaul . On 18 February the destroyer bombarded and torpedoed shipping at Koravia Bay in the first surface action against Rabaul . Numerous fires were started ashore and on the shipping . On the night of 24 / 25 February , Lansdowne sank a 6 , 800 - ton Japanese cargo ship about 20 miles ( 35 km ) north of New Hanover . Early the following morning , she opened fire on shore emplacements and shipping at Kavieng , silencing a large coastal gun and several other batteries and sinking one ship while setting fire to two others . After operating northwest of the Admiralties , " Lansdowne " joined TFs 77 and 78 for the initial landings in the Aitape – Hollandia – Tanahmerah area of northern New Guinea and launched air attacks on Palau , Yap , Ulithi , and other enemy bases in the Central Pacific on 3 March through 1 April . The ship then returned to Pearl Harbor for refit , arriving 18 May . " Lansdowne " arrived at Majuro on 5 June , and the next day , joined TF 58 for the Marianas operation through June and July , thus participating in the raids on Bonis on 15 and 16 June , the Battle of the Philippine Sea 19 and 20 June , and the assaults on Guam and Tinian . On 30 July the destroyer sailed for overhaul at Bremerton , Washington , returning to Ulithi on 29 October . 1945 . On patrol and escort in the western Carolines until 5 May 1945 , she then steamed to the Ryūkyūs for duty off Okinawa . She patrolled anti - submarine stations around the island complex , gave fire support , and screened aircraft carriers . " Lansdowne " next operated with the 3rd Fleet off Japan screening logistics groups and fast carriers launching strikes against the enemy homeland . The ship was detached from the task force 20 to 23 August to transport the Atomic Bomb Investigation Group to Okinawa and then proceeded to Sagami Wan , arriving 27 August . On 29 August , " Lansdowne " escorted battleship , Admiral Chester Nimitz ’ flagship , into Tokyo Bay , and then operated with units of the Allied Prisoner of War Rescue Group evacuating prisoners from camps in southern Honshū . The ship was detached on 2 September 1945 to transfer Japanese emissaries from Yokohama to the battleship in Tokyo Bay for the official surrender ceremonies , returning the party to Yokohama the same day . She operated out of Yokohama until sailing on 15 October from Wakanoura for the United States via Singapore , Colombo , and Cape Town , arriving at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on 6 December 1945 . Post war . " Lansdowne " departed for Charleston , South Carolina , on 17 January 1946 and decommissioned to enter the Atlantic Reserve Fleet there 2 May 1946 . On 10 June 1949 the ship was transferred to the Turkish Navy which she served as TCG " Gaziantep " ( D 344 ) until 1973 . " Lansdowne " received 12 battle star s for World War II service .