USS Roche ( DE - 197 ) USS " Roche " ( DE - 197 ) was an built for the United States Navy during World War II . Named for Ensign David John Roche ( a naval aviator shot down during the Battle of Midway ) , she was the only U . S . Naval vessel to bear the name . " Roche " was laid down on 21 October 1943 by the Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company of Port Newark , New Jersey ; launched on 9 January 1944 , sponsored by Mrs . Carrie M . Roche ; and commissioned at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on 21 February 1944 with Lieutenant Robert E . Parker in command . Service history . Atlantic convoys , 1944 – 1945 . Following shakedown off Bermuda , " Roche " returned to New York on 12 April on 1944 . On 21 April she proceeded to Norfolk where she served as " schoolship " until assigned on 12 May to TF 63 as escort for convoy UGS - 42 , en route to Mediterranean ports . The large convoy of 108 ships plus 17 escorts proceeded across the south Atlantic and into the Mediterranean without incident . Then it was one alert after another . German airpower was active in the area . But the convoy reached Bizerte on 2 June without having been attacked . " Roche " returned to New York on 29 June . Following refresher training at Casco Bay , Maine " Roche " departed Norfolk on 22 July with a convoy bound for Bizerte . Returning from Gibraltar as escort to a Liberty ship under tow , she evaded a German U - boat and arrived at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on 9 September for overhaul . On 14 October she departed New York escorting a convoy which reached Plymouth , England on 25 October . Throughout the winter and spring of 1945 , she made five more of these trips . In mid - Atlantic on 13 March 1945 , while en route to Southampton , England , " Roche " rescued 11 men from the water after the collision of and the . Pacific Fleet , 1945 . In May 1945 , " Roche " was ordered to the Pacific Fleet and on 9 June she was underway for Guantanamo Bay for refresher training . She transited the Panama Canal on 1 July ; and , after taking on supplies and passengers at San Diego , proceeded to Pearl Harbor where she conducted further training exercises . On 8 August she steamed for Eniwetok , receiving en route , word of the Japanese surrender . Arriving Eniwetok on 16 August , she departed 18 August for Ulithi . She then steamed back to Eniwetok and escorted " LCI - 520 " and " LCI - 761 " , carrying occupation troops , to Wake Island . Returning to Eniwetok , she operated on anti - submarine patrol as a precaution against any Japan ese submarine s which had not heard of the surrender . On 22 September " Roche " got underway for Tokyo Bay as escort for the . Just a few minutes after morning quarters on 29 September , a loud explosion shook the ship from stem to stern and was immediately followed by another . Battle stations were manned before it was learned that the ship had struck a floating mine . The fantail was a mass of twisted steel ; but , due to the quick action of repair parties , all watertight hatches in the vicinity were dogged down to keep the ship afloat and a port list was created artificially to aid in maintaining watertight integrity . There were three deaths in the explosion and many injuries . Ten men were transferred to " Florence Nightingale " . " Roche " was taken in tow by ATR - 35 , and 15 days after the surrender papers had been signed on board the , " Roche " entered Tokyo Bay and moored to repair ship . On 18 October a board of inspection and survey decided that " Roche " was beyond economical repair and recommended that she be cannibalized . Subsequently decommissioned , " Roche ' s " hulk was sunk off Yokosuka on 11 March 1946 . She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 5 June 1946 .