USS Isherwood ( DD - 520 ) USS " Isherwood " ( DD - 520 ) , a " Fletcher " - class destroyer , was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Rear Admiral Benjamin F . Isherwood ( 1822 – 1915 ) . " Isherwood " was launched by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Co . , Staten Island , N . Y . , 24 November 1942 , sponsored by Mrs . A . J . Kerwin , granddaughter of Rear Admiral Isherwood ; and commissioned 12 April 1943 at New York Navy Yard , Commander R . E . Gadrow in command . The new destroyer conducted her shakedown training in Casco Bay , Maine , and off Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , through April and May . During the next 2 months she operated with a patrol and escort group out of NS Argentia , Newfoundland , and on 5 August 1943 departed for England with troop ship RMS " Queen Mary " . " Isherwood " arrived Scapa Flow 19 August to carry out combined operations with the British Home Fleet , including a search toward Spitzbergen for German battleship " Tirpitz " . Sailing 14 September , the destroyer returned to Boston with a convoy 29 September 1943 . " Isherwood " was subsequently reassigned to the Pacific , sailing from Boston 14 November for San Francisco . From there she steamed to Pearl Harbor and sailed 11 December to join Task Force 94 ( TF 94 ) in the Aleutians . For the next eight months , " Isherwood " carried out anti submarine sweeps of the cold Alaskan waters . In June she took part in bombardments of the Kurile Islands , finally arriving San Francisco for repairs 15 August 1944 . Philippines invasion . " Isherwood " sailed for Pearl Harbor 26 August 1944 to take part in the long - awaited invasion of the Philippines , scheduled for October . She arrived at Manus on 4 October and steamed into Leyte Gulf with the assault force 20 October , carrying out escort and patrol duties during the first days of the operation . She also provided gunfire support and night illumination fire . " Isherwood " remained in the assault area during the giant four - part Battle for Leyte Gulf 23 – 26 October , in which the Japanese surface fleet was all but annihilated . During November the ship escorted convoys from advance bases to the Philippines in support of the buildup there . The next major invasion of the Philippines campaign was to be at Lingayen Gulf . " Isherwood " joined Vice Admiral Theodore S . Wilkinson ' s Lingayen Attack Force at Manus , sailing 27 December . During the voyage through the islands from Leyte to Lingayen , the transport groups and carrier task groups were attacked incessantly by kamikaze s , but even these desperate attacks could not stop the invasion . " Isherwood " shot down at least one suicide plane and assisted in splashing others before arriving the assault area 9 January 1945 . She screened a landing craft group during the landing , sailing for Leyte with a returning group 11 January . During the last days of the month , specifically 29 and 30 January , the ship returned to Luzon to support the unopposed landings at San Antonio and Subic Bay , as ground units moved on Manila . " Isherwood " remained in the Philippines providing antisubmarine protection and patrolling until mid - March . Okinawa invasion . " Isherwood " sailed for the Okinawa operation 21 March 1945 ; and , after her arrival 5 days later , took part in the landings on Kerama Retto preparatory to the main assault on Okinawa . Troops from the main task force stormed ashore 1 April in the biggest amphibious operation of the Pacific war , and 2 days later " Isherwood " moved to a position off the beaches for fire support missions . This continued until 16 April , when the ship was sent to aid stricken destroyers " Pringle " ( DD - 477 ) and " Laffey " ( DD - 724 ) off Ie Shima . That afternoon she took over " Laffey " ' s duties as fighter director ship on picket station . The days that followed found " Isherwood " in numerous heavy air raids , as the Japanese made a desperate attempt to drive off the invasion fleet with suicide planes . While on station 22 April a kamikaze made a dusk attack on the destroyer and crashed No . 3 gun mount . One veteran described the kamikaze pilot as : " a jockey riding in on a horse . " Many fires were started by the D3A1 " Val " dive bomber and his 500 - pound bomb , but all were quickly extinguished except the one in the depth charge rack aft . After 25 minutes of dangerous fire - fighting , the charge exploded , causing great damage in the after engine room . " Isherwood " arrived Kerama Retto with over 80 men killed , wounded , or missing . After the war . " Isherwood " arrived Ulithi for repairs 9 May 1945 and steamed into San Francisco Bay 3 June . She finished her overhaul just as the Pacific war ended ; and , after training exercises , sailed 3 October for New York . After taking part in the Navy Day Presidential Review , the ship steamed to Charleston , where she decommissioned 1 February 1946 and was placed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet . " Isherwood " recommissioned at Charleston 5 April 1951 , and after shakedown and training in the Caribbean steamed into Newport , her new home port , 6 August . Plane guard duty off Jacksonville and operations in Narragansett Bay occupied her through the end of 1951 . She then sailed for a cruise with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean , departing 22 April 1952 , and , for the next 6 months , visited various ports supporting the important peace - keeping operations of the fleet . She returned to her home port 17 October 1952 . " Isherwood " made another 6th Fleet cruise 22 April – 26 October 1953 , after which she took part in maneuvers and plane guard duty off the East Coast . In June 1954 the ship underwent refresher training out of Guantanamo Bay , and sailed from Newport 30 November 1954 to join the Pacific Fleet . The veteran ship arrived San Diego via the Panama Canal 15 December 1954 , and got underway for the Far East 4 January 1955 . During this cruise she operated mainly in the Philippines , with a period on Taiwan Patrol in April and May 1955 . Her part in these important 7th Fleet operations ended in June and she arrived San Diego the 19th for additional training and readiness steaming . 1956 , however , brought " Isherwood " back to these troubled waters , as she spent the period January – July on operations off Taiwan , Malaya , and Japan . The destroyer returned to the Far East in 1957 , making stops in Sydney , Perth and Darwin , Australia with the three other destroyers of DesDiv 211 , DesRon 21 . This was the first US Navy visit to an Australian port , and the country welcomed the ships by opening a national park in Sidney , commemorating the Battle of Coral Sea . During the 1958 , she steamed off Taiwan during the tense Quemoy - Matsu crisis , when American forces afloat helped prevent a flareup between Nationalist and Communist China . The ship returned to her home port of San Diego on 7 December 1958 , and spent the first 6 months of 1959 on maneuvers and training exercises after refitting in Mare Island ( Vallejo ) Navy Yard . " Isherwood " then sailed for her fifth 7th Fleet cruise 1 August 1959 . During the next months she operated with carrier " Lexington " ( CV - 16 ) in the South China Sea , helping to limit the fighting in Laos and lending strength to United Nations efforts to find a solution . After additional flight operations and fleet exercises , the ship sailed for San Diego 29 November 1959 . In 1960 " Isherwood " took part in training operations , including a summer NROTC midshipmen training cruise , until sailing again for 7th Fleet duty 18 October . She served on Taiwan Patrol and took part in an amphibious exercise on Okinawa before arriving San Diego 27 March 1961 . " Isherwood " engaged in training off California until decommissioning 11 September 1961 . She was loaned to Peru 8 October 1961 , but was never returned . The Peruvian Navy renamed the ship BAP " Almirante Guise " ( DD - 72 ) . The ship was stricken and scraped in 1981 . Awards . " Isherwood " received five battle star s for World War II service .