USS McConnell ( DE - 163 ) USS " McConnell " ( DE - 163 ) was a built for the United States Navy during World War II . She served in the Pacific Ocean and provided escort service against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys . At war ' s end , she returned Stateside proudly with three battle star s . She was laid down by Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Newark , New Jersey , on 19 October 1942 ; launched on 28 March 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . Grace Otteson McConnell ; and commissioned at Brooklyn Navy Yard on 28 May 1943 , Comdr . D . D . Humphreys in command . World War II Pacific Theatre operations . After shakedown off Bermuda and training out of Norfolk , Virginia , " McConnell " sailed for the west coast 24 August , transited the Panama Canal the 31st , and reached San Francisco , California , on 10 September . Departing ten days later , she escorted ships to Pearl Harbor , Samoa , New Caledonia , and the New Hebrides and on 29 October arrived off Guadalcanal , Solomons , for patrol and escort duty . Assigned to Escort Division 11 , " McConnell " carried out extensive escort and ASW patrol operations in the South Pacific during the next seven months . Operating primarily out of New Caledonia and the New Hebrides , she escorted ships to American bases throughout the Solomons from Tulagi to Bougainville , as well as to the Fijis and Samoa . She departed the Solomons on 12 June 1944 in the screen of a convoy bound for the Marshalls and reached Eniwetok on 18 June . Supporting the recapture of Guam . " McConnell " patrolled between Eniwetok and Kwajalein until on 23 July when she sailed to escort ships carrying men and supplies for the recapture of Guam . She closed the western coast of Guam on 28 July , protected off loading ships from enemy submarines , thence returned to Eniwetok in convoy on 29 July to 2 August . Departing the Marshalls on 20 August , she arrived Manus , Admiralties , the 26th ; and , on 1 September , sailed with ships of the Logistics Support Group ( TG 30 . 8 ) . During much of the month she escorted oilers and supply ships as they replenished ships of the Fast Carrier Task Force , then carrying out devastating air strikes in the Palaus and the Philippines . In October she screened logistics ships as they provided at sea support for the hard hitting carriers pounding enemy positions from Formosa to Mindanao . " McConnell " departed Eniwetok on 5 November , touched at Pearl Harbor the 12th , and reached San Francisco on 22 November . Following overhaul at Mare Island , California , on 16 January she departed for Hawaii to perform , patrol and escort duties until sailing for the Marshalls on 11 March . Between 24 March and 4 May she made three round trips to the Marianas and back while escorting convoys to Guam and Saipan . " Mopping Up " operations . " McConnell " steamed to Majuro on 6 May and during the closing months of World War II patrolled off the bypassed islands in the Marshalls . She conducted periodic shore bombardments , and she provided air - sea rescue service during air strikes against enemy controlled islands . She rescued eight Marshallese natives off Jaluit on 13 May . On the 14th , and again on the 21st , she captured two surrendering Japanese soldiers from Enejet and the island of Bokku . Following the Japanese capitulation on 15 August , she carried American occupation troops to Mille Atoll on 28 August ; at Jaluit , Japanese came aboard to surrender their forces on the island on 5 September . Post - War decommissioning . " McConnell " departed the Marshalls on 16 September and steamed via the west coast to New York , arriving on 20 October . She sailed to Green Cove Springs , Florida , 13 to 16 November , decommissioned there on 29 June 1946 , and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet . She remained with the Atlantic Inactive Fleet at Norfolk , Virginia until she was sold for scrapping on 21 March 1974 . Awards . " McConnell " received three battle star s for World War II service .