USS Benham ( DD - 796 ) USS " Benham " ( DD - 796 ) , a " Fletcher " - class destroyer , was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Rear Admiral Andrew E . K . Benham ( 1832 – 1905 ) . " Benham " was launched 30 August 1943 by Bethlehem Steel Company , Staten Island , New York ; sponsored by Mrs . Harold Benham , wife of a grandson of Rear Admiral Benham ; and commissioned 20 December 1943 , Commander Erle V . Dennet in command . Service history . World War II . 1944 . After fitting out at New York , " Benham " conducted her initial shakedown training in Long Island Sound before sailing southeast to Bermuda in early January 1944 . After arriving in Kingston on the 14th , she carried out four weeks of shore bombardment , anti - submarine , and carrier escort exercises before returning to New York on 13 February . Following post - shakedown availability , she proceeded to Norfolk , Va . on the 28th , joined with , and escorted the destroyer tender through the Panama Canal to Hawaii , arriving at Pearl Harbor on 27 March . " Benham " then conducted destroyer type training — carrier screen exercises , antiaircraft gunnery practice , and antisubmarine drills — in preparation for Operation Forager , the planned invasion of the Marianas . On 24 April , however , the destroyer collided with during a night screening exercise , causing extensive damage to her bow . Given the priority accorded " Forager " preparations , " Benham " s repairs proved slow , and the warship did not return to duty until 14 May . On 29 May , " Benham " joined Task Group 52 . 11 ( TG 52 . 11 ) , comprising , , , and , and sailed for Eniwetok , arriving there a week later . Steaming to Saipan in the Marianas on 15 June , " Benham " screened the two escort carrier s as they launched air strikes against Japanese ground troops ashore . After hearing reports of a large enemy naval force from the Philippines headed toward the Marianas , the fast carriers — which had also been flying ground support missions — moved west to fight and win the Battle of the Philippine Sea on 19 and 20 June . Meanwhile , the American troops ashore had to rely on the seven escort carriers of TG 52 . 1 for any close air support . The first Japanese counterattack around Saipan took place on the night of 15 June when three small air raids attacked TG 52 . 1 . Although none closed " Benham " that night , a strike by a dozen or so Aichi D3A “ Val ” dive bombers attacked the escort carriers at dusk on the 17th . " Benham " joined in the ensuing antiaircraft barrage , helping to shoot down two of the attackers without loss . The following day , several more raids closed the task group ; but combat air patrol ( CAP ) fighters drove off the attackers . The destroyer remained with the escort carriers until 2 July when she shifted to the screening and fire support group ( TG 52 . 12 ) to back up mopping - up operations on Saipan . After that island was secured on the 10th , the destroyer got underway for Eniwetok , arriving there on the 16th . She quickly loaded supplies and ammunition for the next phase of the operation and escorted a convoy of assault troops from Eniwetok to Tinian , arriving off that island on 19 July . For the next four days , " Benham " screened troop transports at sea while other warships conducted gunfire missions against enemy forces on Tinian . After the landings on 24 July , the destroyer spent the rest of the month firing at targets around Sunharon town during the day and covering Marine Corps battalion s with defensive gunfire at night . " Benham " also closed the island in the evenings to fire interdiction missions and pound enemy gun emplacements . On 6 August , the destroyer shifted to Guam and spent four days bombarding the last Japanese positions on the northeast corner of the island . With the island declared secure on the 10th , " Benham " steamed east to Eniwetok for repairs alongside a tender . As part of the preliminaries to the invasion of the Philippines , the fast carriers were ordered to attack Japanese air strength in the Bonins and the Palaus and on Yap and Mindanao . On 28 August , in company with TG 38 . 2 — consisting of , , , , , two battleship s , four cruiser s , and seventeen other destroyers — " Benham " steamed west for a large raid on the Palaus . She screened the carriers during attacks there between 6 to 8 September and against Japanese airfields near Sarangani Bay on Mindanao in the Philippines on 9 and 10 September . Returning to the Palaus on 15 September , the destroyer screened the carriers as they flew strikes in support of the landings on Peleliu and Angaur . After a final series of strikes against airfields on Luzon between 21 and 24 September , the task force steamed to Ulithi on the 29th to rearm and refuel . On 6 October , TG 38 . 2 put to sea and joined the three other carrier groups of Task Force 38 ( TF 38 ) . Then , the entire task force steamed northwest for raids on the Ryukyu Islands , Formosa , and the Philippines . " Benham " screened " Bunker Hill " during the strikes on Okinawa and the smaller Ryūkyūs on the 10th . A diversionary raid on Aparri in the Philippines followed on the 11th , and then a large - scale effort to destroy Japanese air power on Formosa began on 12 September . Although the American attacks neutralized much of the defending Japanese planes on that island , the task force was plagued by night harassing attacks from Mitsubishi G4M " Betty " twin - engine bombers operating out of Kyūshū . Over two nights of attacks , " Benham " s gunners helped splash nine enemy planes and chalked up a tenth as " probable . " The task force then slowly steamed east , covering the retirement of — heavily damaged by a Japanese torpedo — before striking at Japanese installations in the Philippines starting on the 15th . These attacks , intended to clear the way for an American amphibious landing , continued until the 20th when the first troops landed on Leyte . Detached from the main body on 24 October , " Benham " escorted " Bunker Hill " to Manus Island in the Admiralties for repairs . She therefore missed the series of major engagements in and around the Philippines on 24 and 25 October known as the Battle for Leyte Gulf . Meanwhile , after a brief refit at Manus , the destroyer steamed to Saipan where she rejoined the carrier task force for operations in early November . Arriving off Luzon on the 11th , " Benham " helped screen the carriers as they provided air support for Leyte ground operations . These continued until the 22d , when the fast carriers returned to Ulithi . The task force returned to the Philippines on 10 December , this time to support landings on Mindanao . As Japanese air attacks had slackened off by this time , the most notable event to the ships of the task force was a typhoon that swept through the area on the 18th . Caught in the center of the storm , " Benham " found herself faced with stack - high seas and 100 - knot ( 185 km / h ) winds that sent her laboring greatly . More seriously , water flooding through the ventilators shorted out her switchboards , the vent fans failed , and the crew had to bail free water in the extreme heat below decks . After five hours of punishing weather , the worst of the storm passed ; and the warship limped to Ulithi for repairs . There , the crew heard the news that the storm had sunk three other destroyers and damaged at least 27 other ships . 1945 . Just over a week later , " Benham " got underway again , this time with TG 38 . 1 , built around , , and . These fast carriers struck at Formosa on 3 and 4 January 1945 in preparation for Operation " Musketeer , " the landings on Luzon in the Philippines . On 6 and 7 January , while the American invasion forces suffered under enemy air attacks in the South China Sea and at Lingayen Gulf , the fast carriers retaliated against airfields on Luzon in a successful attempt to suppress these Japanese strikes . After refueling at sea , TF 38 conducted a final raid against Formosa on the 9th . In an effort to secure the American supply line between Mindoro and Lingayan Gulf , TF 38 steamed through the Luzon Strait into the South China Sea to strike at nearby Japanese defensive installations . Although plagued by bad weather , the American carriers raided Japanese shipping along the coast of Indochina on 12 January and struck at airfields and ports on Formosa , Hainan , and in China on the 15th and 16 . After a brief excursion north to fly photographic missions over Okinawa , the task force returned to Ulithi on 27 January . With operations on Mindoro and Luzon well underway , the destroyer ’ s crew received two weeks of rest while the fast carriers geared up for their next mission , a major raid on the Japanese home islands . On 10 February , after the carrier force departed Ulithi , " Benham " and 14 other destroyers formed a scouting and picket line about 35 miles ( 65 km ) ahead of the carriers . Intended to destroy enemy surface pickets and provide early warning for the carriers , the destroyers screened the fast carriers during their air strikes on Honshū on 16 and 17 February . During these operations , the destroyers vectored in combat air patrol ( CAP ) against enemy “ snoopers ” , helping to splash eight . The task force turned south the next day and began strikes on Iwo Jima in support of the amphibious landings on the 19th . After a second strike on Honshū on 25 and 26 February , the warships returned to Ulithi at the beginning of March . On 13 March , " Benham " embarked upon the last major amphibious operation of the war , the invasion of Okinawa . In company with other destroyers in the screen , she covered the carriers during the American attacks on the Kyūshū airfields and enemy naval installations on the shores of the Inland Sea . The destroyer made her first radar contact with enemy " snoopers " on 17 March and fired on , and drove off , a Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter that closed her position the following morning . The action continued on the 19th , when " Benham " and made a submarine contact at 02 : 50 . Over the next four hours , both destroyers exhausted their depth charge s on the target but did not sink the Japanese submarine . The destroyer then collected survivors from — heavily damaged by a " kamikaze " on 19 March — and delivered them to " Wasp " . On 31 March , obtained a sonar contact and made a depth - charge attack on a suspected Japanese submarine . " Benham " ’ s crew reported an oil slick and a strong odor of diesel fuel afterwards , but again there were no firm results . On 6 April , five days after landings began on Okinawa , Japanese air activity increased dramatically as they launched the first of their massed kamikaze attacks against American forces in and around the Ryūkyūs . Although these massive raids plagued picket destroyers elsewhere , " Benham " suffered no direct attacks during this initial foray . At 09 : 44 on 17 April , however , four Zeros closed her position . One strafed Colahan ( DD - 658 ) , pulled up , and then dove straight at " Benham " . Although antiaircraft fire from several destroyers splashed the plane about astern , the Zero disintegrated in a large explosion that killed one sailor , wounded 14 , and knocked out the destroyer ’ s radar . After temporary repairs , " Benham " spent the rest of April and early May at sea , helping to protect American forces operating in and around Okinawa . After a brief repair period at Ulithi in mid - May , she once again screened the fast carriers during the naval air strikes against Kyūshū and Nansei Shoto in early June . The warship retired to Leyte on the 13th , intending to conduct a quick replenishment there but was diverted to Guam for more serious repairs on her engineering plant . Rejoining TF 38 on 21 July , " Benham " stayed with the fast carriers for the next four weeks , screening them during 24 and 28 July strikes on the Inland Sea , the attacks on Kobe and Nagoya on the 30th , and the final strikes on Honshū and the Tokyo plain in mid - August . During these operations , " Benham " carried out varied duties including an anti - shipping sweep off Shikoku , a shore bombardment against the naval seaplane base at Shionomisaki , and even shuttle missions ferrying British liaison officers between British and American aircraft carriers . Following the announcement of the Japanese surrender on 15 August , the destroyer patrolled off the home islands until the 27th , when she joined the long line of ships entering Sagami Wan to receive the surrender of the Yokosuka Naval Base . After a brief trip to Iwo Jima to pick up several million yen of military currency for use in Japan , the destroyer took up station near the port bow of for the official surrender ceremony on 2 September . The warship remained in Japanese waters until 26 October when she sailed for home . " Benham " spent the next year at various ports on the west coast until finally decommissioning on 18 October 1946 . She was assigned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet at San Diego , Calif . 1951 – 1960 . In 1951 , owing to the Korean War and the ensuing requirement for more warships in service , " Benham " was recommissioned at Long Beach , Calif . , on 24 March 1951 , Comdr . Allen P . Cook in command . After steaming to the east coast , by way of the Panama Canal , she underwent an extensive overhaul at the Boston Naval Shipyard . Among other modernization efforts , her old 40 - millimeter guns were replaced by newer guns — thought to be more capable against jet aircraft . Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet , with her home port at Newport , R . I . , the destroyer conducted shakedown operations and training exercises along the east coast for the rest of that year . " Benham " began her first overseas Atlantic deployment the next spring , sailing on a European goodwill cruise on 22 April 1952 . In company with , the warship visited ports in Newfoundland , Iceland , Ireland , England , Sweden , Germany , Libya , and Italy before returning home on 16 September . Following six months of antisubmarine exercises and type training out of Newport , she got underway for a second Mediterranean deployment on 17 April 1953 . This cruise , which lasted for five months , took her to Italy , France , Turkey , and Greece . Returning to the east coast on 3 September , she entered the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for a four - month modernization overhaul . Upon leaving the shipyard in January 1954 , she spent the next five months conducting training exercises along the east coast in preparation for a world cruise . Departing Newport on 1 June , " Benham " and the rest of Destroyer Division 242 ( DesDiv 242 ) steamed south , passed through the Panama Canal , and crossed the Pacific Ocean to Japan . There , she spent several months training and patrolling with the 7th Fleet . One such patrol took place in the South China Sea after two Chinese communist Lavochkin La . 7 fighters shot down an Air Cathay passenger airplane in late July , killing half of the 18 passengers on board . On 25 July , while " Benham " searched for survivors , two Chinese fighters attacked nearby American fighters and were promptly splashed for their troubles . The destroyer also conducted antisubmarine training exercises with friendly submarines off Okinawa . Following a two - week yard period at Sasebo , Japan , the destroyer sailed for home in October . She visited Hong Kong and Singapore first , then sailed into the Indian Ocean before stopping at Ceylon and Aden . Other port visits included Naples , Barcelona , Gibraltar , and the Azores before she finally arrived in Newport on 18 December . After a short leave and upkeep period , she spent most of 1955 conducting brief training missions out of Newport for the Atlantic Fleet antisubmarine and destroyer force commands . On 7 January 1956 , " Benham " entered the Boston Naval Shipyard for another modernization overhaul . She then spent the summer serving as a school ship at Newport , helping to train prospective commanding officers and engineers . In September , the destroyer entered the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for a two - week availability period . Then , given the growing tensions in the Middle East over the Egypt ian nationalization of the Suez Canal , her crew began intensive training exercises out of Newport in preparation for a possible emergency deployment . On 29 October , Israeli forces attacked Egyptian forces in the Sinai , followed two days later by British and French air strikes on British and French paratrooper s dropped on Port Said , the start of a larger operation to seize the entire Suez Canal . The next day , however , the Soviet Union declared its intentions to support Egypt in this conflict . In response , on the morning 6 November , President Dwight D . Eisenhower put all American warships on alert ; and some , including " Benham " , received orders to reinforce the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean . The destroyer got underway that same day and , after a non - stop 16 - day voyage , arrived in the eastern Mediterranean on the 22d . There , she helped protect the deployment to Egypt of an emergency force under the auspices of United Nations . " Benham " also helped cover the slow withdraw of British , French , and Israeli forces from the Suez Canal region . With the crisis over , the warship departed for home on 11 February 1957 , reaching Newport on the 20th . Soon thereafter , she returned to a regular schedule of training missions off the east coast . Following three months of local exercises out of Newport , the destroyer conducted a midshipman summer cruise to South America in June and July visiting Rio de Janeiro , Brazil ; St . Thomas , Virgin Islands ; Guantanamo Bay , Cuba ; and Culebra , Puerto Rico . In September , " Benham " steamed northeast from Newport for a series of NATO antisubmarine exercises in the North Atlantic . After these operations , the crew spent two days in Belfast , Northern Ireland , and Chatham , England , before returning to Newport . Moving to Boston for a three - month yard period in January 1958 , the crew helped prepare the destroyer for another Mediterranean deployment later that spring . In the Middle East , meanwhile , the specter of civil war loomed in Lebanon following a Moslem uprising in Beirut in early May . The government of President Camille Chamoun appealed to Britain and the United States for aid . Although wary of becoming involved in what was essentially a domestic dispute , President Eisenhower authorized the positioning of a rapid reaction force in the region . On 14 July , following a left - wing coup in Iraq , Eisenhower authorized intervention in Lebanon in an attempt to contain the spread of unrest . Some 10 , 000 marines began landing in Lebanon on the following day . As part of the American response to this crisis , " Benham " hurriedly deployed to the Mediterranean , sailing for southern Europe from Newport on 14 July . Over the next four months , the warship served in the Mediterranean , the Red Sea , and the Persian Gulf , supporting American troops as they helped restore order in Lebanon . After the last troops evacuated Beirut on 25 October , she sailed for home , arriving late in November and remaining in port for the rest of the 1958 . During 1959 , in addition to her normal training routine out of Newport , " Benham " conducted two major exercises , a carrier familiarization cruise off Mayport , Fla . , that spring and an antisubmarine training voyage to the Caribbean that summer . Tapped for foreign transfer under the Military Assistance Program ( MAP ) , the warship moved to the Boston Naval Shipyard in early 1960 for repairs and a substantial overhaul . " Benham " was decommissioned at Boston on 30 June 1960 . The destroyer was then transferred to Peru as a loan under the Military Assistance Program ( MAP ) on 15 December 1960 . On 15 January 1974 , " Benham " ’ s name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register , and she was sold to the government of Peru that same day . BAP " Villar " ( DD - 71 ) . The ship served in the Peruvian Navy as BAP " Villar " ( DD - 71 ) until scrapped in 1980 . Awards . " Benham " ( DD - 796 ) earned eight battle star s for World War II service .