USS Greene ( DD - 266 ) USS " Greene " ( DD - 266 / AVD - 13 / APD - 36 ) was a " Clemson " - class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II . She was named for Samuel Greene . " Greene " was launched 2 November 1918 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation , Quincy , Massachusetts ; sponsored by Mrs . John Stevens Conover , the namesake ' s daughter ; and commissioned 9 May 1919 , Commander R . A . Theobald in command . Service history . " Greene " sailed from Newport , Rhode Island 5 June 1919 for Brest via Plymouth , England , and returned to New York 27 July . Underway again 18 August , she put in at San Diego , California , 22 December and decommissioned there in March 1920 . Remaining in the Reserve Destroyer Force until 10 September 1921 , she sailed from San Diego that date for the Puget Sound Navy Yard . " Greene " returned shortly thereafter to San Francisco , California , arriving 2 December 1921 , and decommissioned there 17 June 1922 . Recommissioned 28 June 1940 at San Diego , " Greene " was towed to San Francisco and was redesignated AVD - 13 6 April 1941 following conversion . She sailed 27 April for the Caribbean and conducted training and tended seaplane s off Puerto Rico and Bermuda . One week after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor , " Greene " sailed for Brazil . Until the summer of 1942 she served as seaplane tender at Natal with one call at Rio de Janeiro for repairs in February 1942 . She returned to Charleston , South Carolina 18 July 1942 . She escorted a convoy from Norfolk , Virginia to Bermuda and operated in the South Atlantic for the next 6 months as a convoy escort , making two voyages to Rio de Janeiro . Back at Norfolk 26 February 1943 , she steamed from there to NS Argentia , Newfoundland , to operate with , one of the new escort carrier s designed to hunt German submarine s in the North Atlantic . Both warships sailed 23 April to escort a convoy to Londonderry Port , Northern Ireland , and made the eastward passage without incident . On the return leg of the voyage , however , one of the first major engagements between carrier - based aircraft and submarines attempting a rendezvous for mass attack occurred 21 May – 22 May , when " Bogue " s planes made six attacks on submarines and sank in 50 - 40 N . , 35 - 21 W . Twenty - four Germans were captured . During a second antisubmarine patrol from 31 May to 20 June 1943 , " Bogue " and her escorts , including " Greene " , sank further submarines : 5 June in 30 - 18 N . , 42 - 50 W . , and in 30 - 49 N . , 33 - 49 W . one week later . For these two successful antisubmarine operations " Greene " received the Presidential Unit Citation . The " Bogue " group was the first of a series of offensive antisubmarine warfare patrols in response to the U - Boat assault in the Atlantic . Subsequently , until the fall of 1943 , " Greene " escorted a fast troop convoy from Norfolk to the United Kingdom and return , and operated off Bermuda . On 5 October she sailed as carrier escort for in company with and . On 20 October the group sank in 47 - 40 N . , 28 - 27 W . " Greene " returned to Charleston 19 January 1944 for conversion to high speed transport , and was designated APD - 36 on 1 February 1944 . After intensive training , she stood out 12 April for Oran , Algeria , to take part in Operation Dragoon , the invasion of Southern France . On 14 August , when she left the staging area at Propriano , Corsica , and landed American and Canadian troops on the Levant and Port Cros Island s off the coast of France between Toulon and Cannes . " Greene " s troops were assigned to the mission of seizing the strategic islands and silencing long range coastal batteries thought to be emplaced there . That day , the islands were secured - many of the German " guns " turned out to be stove pipes - and the stage was set for 15 August assault on the mainland . With her tasks accomplished , " Greene " served on escort duty in the Mediterranean until departing Oran 6 December 1944 for Norfolk , where she put in 21 December . Underway once more 29 January 1945 , the warship steamed via Panama to reach Ulithi 31 March and commenced escort duties . During April she escorted four carriers to Okinawa while the battle for that island was underway . She returned to Guam to meet another Okinawan convoy , and stood antisubmarine picket line duty off Okinawa . Until the fall of 1945 , " Greene " continued escort duties between Okinawa , Saipan , and the Philippines . After the war ' s end , she evacuated ex - prisoners of war from Nagasaki after that port had been razed by the second atomic bomb dropped on Japan , and moored at Okinawa 24 September . Fate . " Greene " s long career came to an end during Typhoon Louise on 9 October 1945 at Okinawa . Winds in excess of 100 knots drove her aground on the northwest coast of Kutaka , damaging her beyond economic repair . All useful material from the ship was salvaged . She decommissioned 23 November 1945 . " Greene " was struck from the Navy List 5 December 1945 . Awards . " Greene " received three battle star s and the Presidential Unit Citation for World War II service .