USS Southard ( DD - 207 ) USS " Southard " ( DD - 207 / DMS - 10 ) was a " Clemson " - class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II . She was the second Navy ship named for Secretary of the Navy Samuel L . Southard ( 1787 – 1842 ) . " Southard " was laid down on 18 August 1918 at Philadelphia , Pennsylvania by William Cramp & Sons ; launched on 31 March 1919 ; sponsored by Miss Francesca Lewis Steward ; and was commissioned on 24 September 1919 , Commander Richard Willson in command . Service history . 1919 – 1940 . During the early fall of 1919 , " Southard " completed fitting - out and sailed for the Florida coast for shakedown . She next headed for New York to join six other destroyers in escorting the British battlecruiser out to sea as that warship departed carrying Edward , the Prince of Wales , after his visit to the United States . On 19 November 1919 , " Southard " departed Newport , Rhode Island , for duty with the naval forces in the eastern Mediterranean . For about a year , she operated in the Adriatic Sea . She then departed the Dalmatian coast , transited the Suez Canal , and , after calling at ports in Egypt , Arabia , India , and China , put in at Cavite in the Philippines on 16 February 1921 . " Southard " underwent repairs at the navy yard there until 21 March , when she resumed operations . On 27 August 1922 , she sailed for the United States and arrived in San Francisco , California , on 2 October . From there , she moved on to San Diego , where she was decommissioned on 7 February 1922 . After almost seven years in reserve , " Southard " again flew a commissioning pennant on 6 January 1930 . She operated off the west coast of the United States throughout 1930 and in the vicinity of the Panama Canal during the first months of 1931 . For the next nine years , " Southard " continued operations in the Pacific with the Battle Force . The only exceptions to this schedule came in 1934 and 1939 when she made short cruises in the Atlantic . In 1940 , she was converted to a high - speed destroyer minesweeper and , on 19 October , was reclassified DMS - 10 . World War II . Though stationed at Pearl Harbor when war broke out in the Pacific , " Southard " was at sea during the Japanese attack on 7 December . Two days earlier , she had departed that base to participate in exercises in the vicinity of Johnston Island . The destroyer minesweeper returned to Oahu two days after the attack and patrolled the approaches to Pearl Harbor until 23 January 1942 . 1942 . After escorting a convoy to San Francisco and back , on 15 February " Southard " resumed patrols in Hawaiian waters . On 20 May , she again exited Pearl Harbor in the screen of an eastbound convoy . The ships reached San Francisco on the 31st , and " Southard " spent the next 10 days in restricted availability in the Mare Island Navy Yard . She reentered Pearl Harbor on 1 July and , nine days later , stood out for the South Pacific . Stopping along the way at both British and American Samoa , she arrived at Tongatapu , Tonga on 22 July . She departed three days later , stopped at Efate Island in the New Hebrides , and made Guadalcanal by 7 August . " Southard " participated in the opening bombardment of Florida Island , then joined the minesweeping force in a sweep to the south of Gavutu Island and through Lengo Channel . On the 8th , about 20 high - altitude bombers attacked the transport area , and " Southard " succeeded in shooting down at least one enemy plane . When the beachhead on Guadalcanal had been successfully established , " Southard " settled down to the risky routine of screening the convoys from New Caledonia and the New Hebrides to the Solomons . For almost eight months , she steamed back and forth between Espiritu Santo , Efate , Nouméa , Tulagi , Purvis Bay , and Guadalcanal . There were frequent air attacks , and submarines prowled the sea - lanes . Early in the morning of 10 November , while passing between San Cristobal and Guadalcanal en route to Aola Bay , " Southard " encountered the Japanese submarine " I 172 " steaming on the surface . She immediately slowed to 10 kn and opened fire . " I 172 " submerged , and " Southard " commenced her first depth - charge attack . The destroyer minesweeper lost contact with her adversary and did not regain it again until 0607 , almost three and one - half hours later . Over the next three hours " Southard " made five more depth - charge runs . After the last barrage , oil was sighted on the surface ; and she moved in to investigate . Upon reaching the slick , " Southard " s crew could find no further evidence of damage , and she steamed on through the slick . When she reached a point about 2 , 000 yards on the other side of the slick , the submarine surfaced almost vertically - exposing her whole conning tower , her hull forward of the tower , and part of her keel . Then the bow dropped about 10 degrees , and the submarine sank rapidly by the stern . Though absolute confirmation of a kill was never received , all evidence strongly indicated that the submarine had indeed been sunk . 1943 . Following a liberty and recreation excursion to Brisbane , Australia , and six days in dry - dock at Sydney , " Southard " returned to patrol and convoy duty in early January 1943 . On 20 March , she stood out of Nouméa in company with , , and towing . This task unit stopped at Suva Harbor , Fiji , on the 25th and departed the next day to continue on to Pago Pago , Pearl Harbor , and ultimately to San Francisco . " Southard " entered the Mare Island Navy Yard on 19 April and remained until 8 June . By the 15th , she was in Pearl Harbor again and , nine days later , headed back toward the South Pacific . She reached Dumbea Bay , New Caledonia , on 6 July 1943 . Her return to the western Pacific meant a resumption of patrol and convoy escort duty to support the continuing Solomons campaign which , by this time , had progressed farther north . On 30 October , she joined a convoy off Tetere Point , Guadalcanal , and steamed for Bougainville . The convoy arrived off Cape Torokina the next day , and " Southard " joined other elements of the fleet in bombarding Bougainville . After minesweeping operations in Empress Augusta Bay , she made for Florida Island , entering Purvis Bay on 3 November . Four days later , she returned to Bougainville to investigate the shoals along the approaches to Empress Augusta Bay , then , she resumed patrols off Guadalcanal . These patrols and cruises with convoys occupied " Southard " s time until 21 November , when she passed through Lengo Channel bound for Nouméa . From 25 November to 16 December , " Southard " stayed in the vicinity of New Caledonia , participating in drills and screening ships into and out of Nouméa . On 17 December , she entered Suva Harbor with a convoy and , two days later , got underway for Guadalcanal . 1944 . Upon her reentry into the Solomons , she took up the familiar routine of patrols and screening supply ships . On 22 January 1944 , en route from Florida Island to Espiritu Santo , a Japanese submarine torpedoed while under escort by " Southard " . The tanker was damaged and " Southard " covered her retirement to Espiritu Santo . In late February , " Southard " visited Auckland , New Zealand . She returned to the Solomons in March , patrolled the Guadalcanal area , and conducted exercises in the Russell Islands . Her field of operations was expanded in April and May to include parts of the Bismarck Archipelago as she began escorting convoys to Borgen Bay , New Britain . By 10 May , she was back in Espiritu Santo ; and , a week later , she set sail for the United States and overhaul . She took on fuel at Funafuti on 19 May , provisioned and fueled at Pearl Harbor on the 24th and 25th and entered San Francisco Bay on 31 May . " Southard " commenced overhaul at the Mare Island Navy Yard the next day . " Southard " made Pearl Harbor on 5 August and , on the 12th , sortied with six escort carrier s and five other destroyer - type ships , bound for the Solomons . Twelve days later , the task group entered Purvis Bay . " Southard " stood out again the following day for exercises in the Russells . On 4 September , she rendezvoused with a task force off Guadalcanal , arrived in the Palaus on the 12th and swept mines off the coasts of Peleliu and Anguar . On the 24th , she fueled and replenished at Manus in the Admiralty Islands , then returned to the Palaus for patrols and screening duties . She reentered Seeadler Harbor on 4 October to prepare for the invasion of the Philippines at Leyte . " Southard " sortied from Manus with the Dinagat Attack Force on 10 October and began sweeping Leyte Gulf on the 18th . She swept mines in the gulf again on the 19th and made an exploratory sweep of Surigao Strait on the 20th . On the 24th , the destroyer minesweeper joined the screen of Carrier Group 77 . 4 and remained so employed until the 26th . Back in Seeadler Harbor by 30 October , " Southard " spent all of November and most of December engaged in drills and availability at Manus . Two days before Christmas 1944 , she rendezvoused with TG 77 . 6 and headed for Leyte Gulf . From there , the task group moved on to Luzon and the Lingayen assault . " Southard " began minesweeping operations at Lingayen on 6 January 1945 . Late that afternoon she was engaged by " kamikaze " attacks , and one of them crashed into " Southard " abaft her stacks . The plane ' s engine embedded itself in the ship while its fuselage ricocheted off her starboard side , tearing a trough six feet wide in her deck as it went . " Southard " quickly cut loose her sweep gear and retired to make emergency repairs . 1945 . Within 14 hours , she was back in action sweeping mines . She continued operations for five more days before departing the Lingayen area . She returned to San Pedro Bay on 14 January for further repairs ; then , on 4 February , headed east toward Hawaii . She stopped at Ulithi on the 6th and at Guam two days later . " Southard " departed from the Marianas on the 13th travelled to Pearl Harbor where she underwent extensive repairs , and did not leave Hawaiian waters until 4 May . She stopped at Eniwetok on the 12th , then , in company with and , continued on to the Marianas . On 21 May , she sailed from Guam to Saipan and , two days later , got underway for Okinawa . On the day of her arrival at Nakagasuku Wan ( also known as Buckner Bay ) , Okinawa , " Southard " almost suffered another suicide crash as an attacking kamikaze hit the sea about 15 yards ahead of the destroyer minesweeper . For the next three months , she swept mines , screened transports , and delivered mail to the fire support units around Okinawa . On 15 August 1945 , hostilities between the United States and the Japanese Empire ceased . " Southard " remained in the Ryukyus for the rest of August , undergoing inspection and survey . By 15 September 1945 , the survey team determined that she should be moved to the rear area for further inspection and repair . However , two days afterward , while maneuvering at anchor during Typhoon Ida , her screws were fouled by a drifting antisubmarine net ; and she was grounded on a pinnacle reef off Tsuken Shima . She was floated clear of the reef , and her propellers were cleared by divers on the 18th . Later , while still waiting to move to the rear area , on 9 October , " Southard " was wrecked on another reef about 1 , 000 yards southwest of Tsuken Shima . The next day , the officers and crew , save the commanding officer and a skeleton crew , were removed . The destroyer minesweeper was declared a total loss ; and , on 5 December 1945 , she was decommissioned . " Southard " was struck from the Navy list on 8 January 1946 , and her hulk was destroyed six days later . Awards . " Southard " received 10 battle star s for World War II service .