USS Knapp ( DD - 653 ) USS " Knapp " ( DD - 653 ) , a , was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Harry Shepard Knapp . Her keel was laid down on 8 March 1943 by Bath Iron Works , in Bath , Maine . She was launched on 10 July 1943 , sponsored by Margaret L . and Mary C . Knapp , and commissioned on 16 September 1943 , with Commander Frank Virden in command . Service history . After shakedown out of Bermuda , " Knapp " departed Boston on 26 November for the Pacific Ocean , arriving Pearl Harbor on 21 December . She departed Pearl Harbor on 16 January , with the aircraft carrier s of Admiral Marc Mitscher ' s Task Force 58 , headed for the Marshall Islands invasion . At sea on this duty from 16 January to 12 February when she put in to Majuro , " Knapp " also bombarded Kwajalein . She continued her screening as carriers launched raids on Truk from 16 – 17 February and on bases in the Mariana Islands from 21 February to 22 February , then sailed from Majuro to Espiritu Santo to screen carriers providing air cover for the seizure of Emirau Island from 20 March to 25 March and raiding the Palau Islands , Yap , and Woleai from 30 March to 1 April . The destroyer returned to Majuro on 6 April 1944 , and a week later she sortied with heavy ships for the Hollandia landings of 21 – 24 April , and air raids on Truk , Satawan , and Ponape at the close of the month . Following replenishment at Majuro in May , " Knapp " joined and screened carriers during operations against Saipan . On 19 June , " Knapp " guarded her force during the momentous air Battle of the Philippine Sea in which Japan ' s air power was annihilated . From 25 July to 5 August , she continued her screening in the raids on Palau , Ulithi , Yap , Iwo Jima , and Chichi Jima during the last of which she Joined in the surface gunfire which sank several ships of a Japanese convoy earlier badly mauled by carrier aircraft . " Knapp " refitted at Eniwetok on 11 August to 30 August . " Knapp " steamed out of Eniwetok for the invasion of the Palau Islands on 30 August , screening five battleship s and later rendezvousing with , , , and before their strikes at targets in the Palaus during the struggle to take Peleliu . During September , " Knapp " screened heavy ships making strikes at the Philippine Islands , and on 6 October she sailed from Ulithi for the air strikes on Okinawa and Formosa in preparation for the Leyte landings , and fired protective antiaircraft cover for her force during the Formosa air battle of 12 – 14 October . After guarding the retirement toward safety of , which had been struck by an aerial torpedo 13 October , she rejoined her force for air strikes on Luzon , and screened them during the Battle of Surigao Strait , one phase of the decisive Battle of Leyte Gulf . She returned to Ulithi on 30 October , and two days later headed back to the Philippines . After was damaged on 3 November by a submarine torpedo , " Knapp " guarded her withdrawal to safety . From November 1944 to January 1945 , " Knapp " screened air strikes on Luzon , French Indochina , and cities on the China coast neutralizing Japanese bases in preparation for the Lingayen invasion . Escorting which was hit during an air attack on 21 January , " Knapp " arrived in Ulithi 24 January 1945 with the crippled carrier . Accomplishing her mission , the veteran destroyer sailed 30 January for the West Coast , arriving 20 February for overhaul . " Knapp " sailed for the Western Pacific 23 April arriving off Okinawa on 27 May 1945 . She served on dangerous and demanding duty as radar picket ship until 26 June . Three days later she Joined carrier Task Force 39 for the final series of raids against the Japanese home island . Following the end of fighting 15 August , " Knapp " arrived in Sagami Wan , Honshū , Empire of Japan , on 27 August and sailed into Tokyo Bay on 1 September for the surrender ceremonies aboard on 2 September . During the early days of the occupation she helped demilitarize Japanese midget submarine and suicide boat bases . She sailed for the United States on 5 December and arrived at San Diego on 21 December 1945 . Shortly thereafter " Knapp " sailed via the Panama Canal for Boston arriving 17 January 1946 . She sailed for Charleston , South Carolina , on 2 April and decommissioned 5 July 1946 . " Knapp " recommissioned on 3 May 1951 when the outbreak of the Korean War necessitated more naval vessels . She served in the Atlantic Fleet working out of Newport , Rhode Island . She cruised in the Caribbean Sea from 20 July to 13 September when she pulled into Charleston , where she was refitted with modern equipment then sailed 4 February 1952 with a task force to England , Norway , and Germany . She made a voyage to the Mediterranean Sea on 22 November visiting ports in Italy , Turkey , and Spain . " Knapp " transited the Straits of Gibraltar on 26 January 1953 and overhauled at Boston until 10 August 1953 , when she deployed with Destroyer Division 182 for a world cruise . Her cruise was delayed when she arrived in the Far East . She patrolled the Korean coast with Task Force 77 until 14 January 1954 when she resumed her cruise via Hong Kong , Singapore , Colombo , Aden , Saudi Arabia , Suez Canal , visited Port Said , Naples , Barcelona , Lisbon , Bermuda , and arrived Fall River , Massachusetts , on 10 March 1954 . " Knapp " sailed from Newport for San Diego , arriving on 15 December . She got underway on 4 January 1955 for the Western Pacific , and patrolled the East China Sea and the Formosa Straits until June , when she returned to San Diego on 19 June 1955 . After operations along the California coast , she returned to the Far East on 27 January 1956 , visited ports of Kobe , Subic Bay , Buckner Bay and patrolled the Formosa Straits before returning San Diego on 31 May 1956 . She operated along the California coast , entering Long Beach Naval Shipyard on 4 September for overhaul . " Knapp " was decommissioned on 4 March 1957 and assigned to the Long Beach Group , Pacific Reserve Fleet . The bridge of the " Knapp " is on display at the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria , Oregon . Honors . " Knapp " received eight battle star s for World War II service .