USS Edmonds ( DE - 406 ) USS Edmonds ( DE - 406 ) was a " John C . Butler " - class destroyer escort acquired by the U . S . Navy during World War II . The primary purpose of the destroyer escort was to escort and protect ships in convoy , in addition to other tasks as assigned , such as patrol or radar picket . At the end of World War II , she returned home proudly with five battle stars to her credit . When the Korean War started , she was recommissioned and , at that war ' s end , she returned home with two more battle stars . She was named in honor of Aviation Ordnanceman First Class Bert C . Edmonds who was posthumously awarded the Silver Star Medal for his heroism while serving with Torpedo Squadron 8 in the Solomons . She was launched 17 December 1943 by Brown Shipbuilding Co . , Houston , Texas ; sponsored by Mrs . F . Campbell , mother of Aviation Ordnanceman Edmonds ; and commissioned 3 April 1944 , Lieutenant Commander C . S . Barker , Jr . , in command . History . World War II . " Edmonds " reached Pearl Harbor from Boston , Massachusetts , 27 June 1944 . After screening escort carriers to Eniwetok and back , she took part in the reception given President F . D . Roosevelt 25 July when he arrived at Pearl Harbor to confer with Pacific Ocean commanders . Four days later " Edmonds " sailed to report to the U . S . 7th Fleet at Manus . On 31 August she embarked Commander , Escort Division 63 , and served as his flagship until 20 November . Between 10 September and 7 October " Edmonds " screened escort carriers providing air support for the invasion of Morotai . She got underway with the same ships 14 October for the first invasion of the Philippines at Leyte 20 October . When the baby flattops fought their historic battle with the Japanese fleet off Samar on 25 and 26 October , " Edmonds " was at sea bound for Morotai as screen for and who were to pick up replacement aircraft . She escorted veterans of the Battle of Leyte Gulf to Manus , then continued to Pearl Harbor for overhaul . " Edmonds " left Pearl Harbor 5 December 1944 screening two escort carriers to Manus . With the escort carrier group she returned to the Philippines for invasion landings at Lingayen Gulf 9 January . Joining the U . S . 5th Fleet at Ulithi in January 1945 , " Edmonds " screened escort carriers in the Iwo Jima operation in February . On the 21st was sunk after the crash of a Japanese suicide plane detonated her ammunition . " Edmonds " directed the rescue operations , saving 378 of the carrier ' s crew including the commanding officer , in spite of darkness , heavy seas , and continuing air attacks . Thirty of her own crew went over the side to bring the wounded and exhausted carrier men to safety . " Edmonds " returned to Leyte in March 1945 to join Carrier Division 22 for the invasion of Okinawa . This group supplied direct air support for the landings 1 April and later neutralized the airfields on Sakishima . On 19 May " Edmonds " began dangerous and exacting duties on the radar picket line , patrolling in company with , a fighter - director ship on station north of Okinawa . She also took part in the capture of Iheya Shima and Aguni Shima in June . " Edmonds " arrived at San Pedro Bay , Leyte , 23 June 1945 , and in July escorted convoys from the Philippines to New Guinea , Ulithi , and Okinawa until the end of the war . She returned to San Diego , California , 6 November and was placed out of commission in reserve there 31 May 1946 . Korean War . Recommissioned 28 February 1951 for service in the Korean War , " Edmonds " arrived at her home port , Pearl Harbor , 14 July . She deployed to the Far East from 29 October 1951 to 1 June 1952 , and served on the bomb - line off Songjin . From March 1953 through mid - 1958 " Edmonds " conducted surveillance patrols in the Marianas and Carolines , United Nations Trust Territories under the Trusteeship of the United States since the end of World War II . During this time she apprehended fishing vessels violating territorial waters off these islands ; transferred natives for repopulation ; and aided various scientific experiments . Quemoy and Matsu crisis . When Chinese Communists began intensive shelling of the Nationalist - held offshore islands of Quemoy and Matsu in the summer of 1958 , " Edmonds " was ordered from Pearl Harbor to the Pescadores , and until the end of the year remained off the Chinese coast on patrol , screening Nationalist supply convoys to within three miles of Quemoy . She cleared Yokosuka for Pearl Harbor 13 January 1959 . Training operations . " Edmonds " arrived at Portland , Oregon , in March 1959 for duty in the reserve training program . In September 1961 , the warship began preparations for an overseas cruise with her reserve crew , ultimately sailing for the Far East on 22 January 1962 . Arriving in Da Nang , South Vietnam on 18 February , the destroyer escort conducted training operations with the South Vietnamese Navy through 10 April , including exercises in the Gulf of Siam . After port visits to Hong Kong and Yokosuka and Sasebo , Japan , she steamed east to her new home port of Treasure Island , California , arriving there on 17 July . " Edmonds " spent the next two years conducting training cruises north to Canada and south to Mexico , with the occasional voyage to Pearl Harbor , until December 1964 when she began inactivation procedures . Final decommissioning . " Edmonds " decommissioned at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in March 1965 and remained there in reserve until struck from the Navy List on 15 May 1972 . She was sold for scrap to General Metals of Tacoma Inc . on 28 September 1973 . Awards . " Edmonds " received five battle stars for World War II service and two for Korean War service .