USS Niblack ( DD - 424 ) USS " Niblack " ( DD - 424 ) , a " Gleaves " - class destroyer , is the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Albert Parker Niblack . Niblack became the Director of Naval Intelligence 1 March 1919 , and Naval Attache in London 6 August 1920 . As Vice Admiral , he commanded U . S . Naval Forces in European waters 15 January 1921 to 17 June 1922 . " Niblack " was laid down 8 August 1938 by the Bath Iron Works Corp . Bath , Maine ; launched 18 May 1940 ; sponsored by Mrs . Albert P . Niblack , widow of Vice Admiral Niblack ; and commissioned 1 August 1940 , Lieutenant Commander E . R . Durgin in command . On 10 April 1941 " Niblack " dropped depth charges aimed at a German U - boat , the first hostile action between American and German forces during the Second World War . Service in the Atlantic , 1940 – 43 . After shakedown and training in the Caribbean , " Niblack " made her first convoy trip to NS Argentia , Newfoundland . In July 1940 she escorted the task force which landed the American occupation troops in Iceland . However , before the actual landings , " Niblack " made preliminary reconnaissance . On 10 April 1941 , as she was nearing the coast , the ship picked up three boatloads of survivors from a torpedoed merchantman . When a submarine was detected preparing to attack , the division commander , Denis L . Ryan , ordered a depth charge attack which drove off the U - boat . This bloodless battle apparently was the first action between American and German forces in World War II . On 1 July 1941 , " Niblack " sailed from Argentia with the occupation force , arriving on 7 July . The destroyer continued escort duty and , with four other destroyers , was escorting a fast convoy across the Atlantic when , on 31 October 1941 , a German U - boat ' s torpedo struck blowing her in half — the first United States naval vessel to be lost in World War II . Only 44 survivors were picked up . After Japan ' s attack on Pearl Harbor pushed America officially into the war 7 December 1941 , the " Niblack " continued to escort North Atlantic convoys to Reykjavík , Iceland , Derry , Northern Ireland , and Greenock , Scotland . In July 1942 she was transferred to the Caribbean for temporary duty at the height of the U - boat campaign there , resuming northern duty in August . In November 1942 , she escorted the first support convoy to Casablanca after the Allied landings on the Moroccan Coast . The ship then performed coastal convoy escort duty until departing early in May 1943 for Mers - el - Kébir , Algeria . Service in the Mediterranean , 1943 – 44 . During the invasion of Sicily she performed escort duties and screened the minelaying operation near Gela . She escorted troop ships into Syracuse harbor the day after British troops captured the city . During this operation German torpedo boat s attacked " Niblack " and " PC - 556 " under cover of a dense smoke screen . The American ships drove off the E - boat s by gunfire after the enemy craft had fired three torpedoes which missed and exploded near the harbor breakwater . The destroyer supported the advance of the Allied ground forces across Sicily and entered Palermo Harbor following its capture . Shortly after the rout of the Germans across the Strait of Messina , " Niblack " , with , , , , and sortied from Palermo on the night of 17 / 18 August 1943 , and proceeded at high speed to the Italian coast for the first bombardment of the Italian mainland by U . S . Naval Forces . The ship took part in the landings at Salerno on 9 September 1943 . She served at first in the screen , but when the situation ashore became desperate , she joined the fire - support destroyers . On 16 – 17 September she conducted eleven call - fire support missions . American forces advancing after the bombardment sent back reports of the complete destruction of enemy men and material in " Niblack " ’ s target areas . Later in the Salerno campaign the ship screened cruiser " Philadelphia " during the radio - controlled bomb attacks which damaged " Philadelphia " and . On 27 October the " Niblack " and bombarded enemy coastal guns far behind the front lines in the Gulf of Gaeta , Italy , to pave the way for Allied ground forces . On 11 December 1943 , " Niblack " joined the HMS " Holcombe " in a search for a German U - boat whose torpedoes had sunk several freighters off Bizerte the day before . " U - 593 " struck first however , and blew up " Holcombe " with an acoustic torpedo . " Niblack " rescued 90 survivors and transferred them to an Army hospital ship that night . During the transfer , she spotted antiaircraft fire from the submarine against a British patrol plane and directed and HMS " Calpe " to the scene , where they sank " U - 593 " . Four days later , when a Liberty ship was torpedoed near the harbor entrance at Oran , " Niblack " and searched for the submarine . They had narrowed down the search to a small area when they were relieved by the , , and , who subsequently sank " U - 73 " . After a month in Task Force 86 , the ship was ordered to support the landings at Anzio . During this invasion the ship commanded the beachhead screen , and fought off simultaneous attacks by dive and torpedo bombers , E - boats , and human torpedoes . From 22 to 29 January 1944 , the ship repulsed repeated attacks by enemy aircraft and received credit for destroying one plane and probably splashing two others . During one attack , two ships of her division , DesDiv 13 were put out of action , " Plunkett " by a 550 - pound bomb and " Mayo " by a mine . In February , " Niblack " returned to New York for a brief overhaul , but was back on duty in the Mediterranean in May . The enemy driven from Sicily , North Africa , and Southern Italy intensified his submarine and air attacks on Allied shipping along the African Coast . One of the audacious U - boats made the mistake of firing at a hunter - killer group which had just finished off another enemy U - boat . These American ships had begun the work of rooting the sub out , but were soon relieved by " Woolsey " , , " Benson " , , and " Niblack " . " Niblack " and " Ludlow " worked together in the hunt , which began 18 May 1944 . British planes picked up the sub by radar at 02 : 40 the next morning and " Niblack " and " Ludlow " raced to investigate . Establishing sonar contact , the two destroyers dropped eleven depth charges , forcing the sub to the surface . As she started down again both ships opened fire , while the planes dropped bombs close aboard . When the target had gone under again , " Niblack " rushed in to hit her again with ten more ash cans . Coming up once more , " U - 960 " turned nose down and made her final dive , leaving 20 survivors who were promptly captured . The summer months of 1944 were spent in fighter - director training . " Gleaves " and " Niblack " qualified as the only two fighter director destroyers in the 8th Fleet , and directed French and British planes in repelling the intense German torpedo plane attacks against Allied convoys during the invasion of Southern France . The initial landings on 15 August 1944 met little resistance , and for several days the ship controlled the routing and dispatching of all outbound convoys , taking her place in the outer screen at night . On 20 August she joined the inshore screen for , and during the siege of Toulon . She was frequently taken under fire by the large coast defense batteries of St . Mandrier and St . Elmo and escaped damage from several near misses . Following the capture of Marseille and Toulon , she was assigned to Task Force 86 and later to " Flank Force , " the Allied Naval forces which provided fire support for the 1st Airborne Task Force on the Franco – Italian frontier . During the periods 4 to 17 October and 11 to 25 December 1944 , the ship completed numerous fire support missions , operating under the constant threat of explosive boats , human torpedoes , and floating mines . The ship also sank 43 mines , destroyed one German MAS boat , and damaged four others in the harbor of San Remo , Italy . Service in the Pacific , 1945 . " Niblack " next returned to Oran to serve as flagship for Commander , Destroyer Squadron 7 , ( Commander Destroyer 8th Fleet ) , returning to the Boston Navy Yard in February 1945 . After serving in various antisubmarine groups and as an escort for one convoy from England in April . She transited the Panama Canal on 3 July 1945 and proceeded to Pearl Harbor via San Diego . Following a training program , during which hostilities with Japan ended , the ship escorted the occupation group which landed at Sasebo , Japan , 22 September 1945 . She then escorted landing forces to Matsuyama , remaining in the Western Pacific for further duties during the occupation period . By a directive of June 1946 , the ship was decommissioned ; and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Charleston , South Carolina . She was subsequently transferred to Philadelphia where she remained until struck 31 July 1968 . " Niblack " earned five battle star s for service in the European , African – Middle Eastern Areas .