USS Gainard ( DD - 706 ) USS " Gainard " ( DD - 706 ) , an " Allen M . Sumner " - class destroyer , was named for Joseph Gainard , who was awarded the Navy Cross for distinguished service while Master of American merchant steamer " City of Flint " during 1939 . " Gainard " was laid down on 29 March 1944 by the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company , in Kearney , New Jersey ; launched on 17 September 1944 , sponsored by Mrs . Joseph A . Gainard , widow of Captain Gainard ; and commissioned at New York on 23 November 1944 , with Commander Francis J . Foley in command . World War II . After shakedown training off Bermuda , " Gainard " departed New York on 1 February 1945 for operations out of San Diego , California , and Pearl Harbor . She departed Pearl Harbor on 12 March and staged at Saipan for the forthcoming invasion of Okinawa , acting as a part of a decoy task force that made feints against the southeastern coast between 1 and 2 April while the landings were effected on the western beaches . " Gainard " operated as radar picket and fighter director ship throughout the bloody Okinawa Campaign , detecting enemy air raids , providing early and continuous information to friendly forces , and initiating interception with a Combat Air Patrol unit that found her controlling an average of 10 planes from dawn to dusk with the assistance of a fighter director team on board . In 39 days on picket stations , she was instrumental in the destruction of at least 27 kamikazes , 5 of which were shot down by her gunners . On 27 occasions , enemy aerial strikes of 50 or more planes attacked " Gainard " and ships in her immediate vicinity . Seventeen of these attacks were close aboard the destroyer , and four nearby ships were hit by suicide planes . She manned the fighter director unit for initial landings at Iheya Shima , Aguni Shima , and Kume Shima . " Gainard " also rescued the crew of a Navy patrol bomber which had run out of fuel and landed in the sea , and she directed two other damaged patrol planes back to their base . Though several times narrowly missed by determined runs of suicide planes , her skillful gunners and effective maneuvering prevented damage . She remained on station until 1 July when Okinawa was officially declared secured . After patrol and convoy escort duty in approaches to Okinawa , she sailed on 21 July to the Philippines for logistics and upkeep . The destroyer arrived off Honshū , Japan , on 17 September and served as air - sea rescue ship until 21 February 1946 when she sailed for the United States . " Gainard " reached San Pedro , California , on 15 March , then steamed via the Panama Canal to Casco Bay , Maine , arriving there on 16 April . Based out of Newport , Rhode Island , her operations over the next 20 years have included nine deployments as an anti - submarine warfare specialist with the " Steel Gray Diplomats " of the 6th Fleet ; several cruises to northern Europe for the training of midshipmen ; amphibious warfare exercises along the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina ; plane guard duty for aircraft carrier s off Mayport , Florida ; and combined 2nd Fleet exercises and anti - submarine tactics along the Atlantic seaboard and in the Caribbean . Cold War . As one of 150 warships from six NATO nations , in September 1957 , " Gainard " participated in Exercise " Strikeback , " large - scale combined fleet manoeuvres that ranged over the North Atlantic to waters adjacent to the British Isles , between Iceland and the Faroes , and into the Norwegian Sea and portions of the North Sea . This was only one of many operations in which " Gainard " made important contributions to improve the overall combat readiness of forces earmarked for the Allied command in defence of an outbreak during the Cold War . As an interesting side note , during a 1958 deployment in the Mediterranean with the 6th fleet , while in the Italian port of Livorno , parts of the German comedy film " Kanonenserenade " ( Italian title " Pezzo , capopezzo e capitano " ) were filmed on board " Gainard " . The film was the work of German director Wolfgang Staudte and starred Italian actor / director Vittorio De Sica . " Gainard ' s " eighth tour with the 6th Fleet ( August 1960 - February 1961 ) was interrupted by 6 weeks of combat readiness operations with the Middle East forces in the Indian Ocean . During her ninth Mediterranean tour ( February – August 1962 ) , she transited the Suez Canal for 5 days of battle rehearsals with units of the British and Iranian Navies and many days of realistic training in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf . Other vital tasks included schoolship duties for the Fleet Sonar School at Key West , Florida ; participation in Operation " Mercy " with carriers " Shangri - La " ( CVA - 38 ) and " Antietam " ( CVS - 36 ) in rendering assistance to thousands of flood - stricken victims of Hurricane Carla off the Texas coast during September – October 1961 ; gunnery schoolship duties for the Fleet at Norfolk ; and service as a unit of the Cuban Contingency Task Groups during the Cuban missile crisis of November – December 1962 . In May 1963 , " Gainard " served as support ship on recovery station during the successful launching of Faith 7 , the ninth and final Project Mercury manned space flight , piloted by Astronaut L . Gordon Cooper . In addition , between 1963 and 1967 , " Gainard " continued schoolship and support services in the Caribbean and along the Atlantic and Gulf Coast s from Newport to New Orleans . She was decommissioned and struck from the Naval Register on 26 February 1971 . On 26 March 1974 , " Gainard " was sold to be broken up for scrap . " Gainard " received the Navy Unit Commendation for extraordinary heroism in action off Okinawa and one battle star for World War II service .