USS John R . Pierce ( DD - 753 ) USS " John R . Pierce " ( DD - 753 ) , an " Allen M . Sumner " - class destroyer , is the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Lieutenant Commander John Reeves Pierce , who commanded , a transport submarine , which was lost during battle in January 1943 . Lieutenant Commander Pierce was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross . " John R . Pierce " was laid down by the Bethlehem Steel Co . , Staten Island , New York on 24 March 1944 ; launched on 1 September 1944 ; sponsored by Mrs . Mary Taylor Pierce , widow of Lieutenant Commander . Pierce ; and commissioned on 30 December 1944 at Brooklyn Navy Yard , Commander C . R . Simmers in command . Service history . World War II . Following shakedown off Bermuda , " John R . Pierce " operated out of Norfolk during the spring of 1945 , training destroyer crews and conducting antisubmarine warfare ( ASW ) patrols along the eastern seaboard . She sailed on 17 June for duty in the Pacific , arrived Pearl Harbor on 6 July . Departing on 12 August as escort for a carrier - cruiser striking force sent to attack Wake Island , she was ordered to cease offensive operations on the 15th . She then proceeded via Eniwetok to Japan and arrived Wakayama , Honshū on 15 September as escort for a convoy of occupation troops . Post war . For the next 3 months , she operated in the Japanese Inland Sea , covering occupation landings and assisting in the liberation of Allied POW s . She sailed on 21 December from Kure , Honshū , to Shanghai , China , to support the Chinese Nationalists in their conflict with the Communists for control of the mainland . She also conducted the " North China Omnibus Courier Run " between China and Korea until 6 March 1946 , when she departed Tsingtao , China , for the United States . Arriving San Francisco on 27 March , she deactivated 16 September . " Pierce " then sailed for San Diego 17 January 1947 , decommissioned 24 January and entered the San Diego Group , Pacific Reserve Fleet , 1 May . " Pierce " recommissioned on 11 April 1949 , Commander O . W . Goepner in command . Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet , she departed on 11 July for Norfolk . Arriving on 5 August , she commenced 12 months of Atlantic operations that extended from Greenland to the Panama Canal Zone . Under the command of Commander J . R . Wadleigh , she cleared Norfolk on 8 August 1950 for duty with the 6th Fleet . Before returning to the United States on 23 January 1951 , she operated in the Mediterranean from Gibraltar to Crete and along the western coast of Europe from England to Norway . Korea . For more than 15 months , " John R . Pierce " operated out of Norfolk along the Atlantic coast ; then she departed on 15 May 1952 for duty in the Far East . Sailing via the Panama Canal , San Diego and Pearl Harbor , she arrived Yokosuka , Japan on 18 June . With Commander O . C . Foote , Jr . in command , she sailed on the 20th for blockade and bombardment operations against Communist forces along the east coast of Korea . From Chongjin to Songjin , she conducted interdiction firing and " anti - mine , anti - junk and anti - fishing " patrols . While engaging enemy shore batteries at Songjin on 6 August , she sustained three hits from enemy fire , but continued interdiction patrols until 11 October . She then departed for the United States via the Indian Ocean , Suez and Gibraltar , arriving Norfolk 12 December . 1954 - 1967 . From 5 January 1954 to 1 April 1962 " John R . Pierce " deployed to the Mediterranean on six cruises of varying duration . When not conducting operations with the 6th Fleet , she operated out of her home port on training exercises and readiness operations in the Atlantic and the Caribbean . When in the Mediterranean , fleet operations carried her the length and breadth of the sea , and deployments in 1954 and 1956 sent her , in addition , to the coast of Western Europe . On 1 October 1956 , 75 miles south of Ville Franche , the ship was on aerial gunnery exercise firing at a towed aerial target , when at 0950 , a shell exploded in the breech of mount 53 , killing a member of the mount and seriously wounding nine others . Three of the injured were in grave condition and later died . Doctors from were taken by helicopter to the destroyer , and then transferred the wounded to the cruiser at sea . Then , " Salem " took the men to Ville Franche to be transported to Nice Airport , France , where a C - 119 Flying Boxcar waited to fly them to a military hospital in Frankfurt , Germany . One of the seriously wounded was Ensign John T . Pierce , son of John R . Pierce , for whom the ship was named . After the wounded were transferred , " Pierce " went to Cannes , France and arrived on 2 October . She stayed there until the 15th and then got under way for the states . She refueled at San Miguel in the Azores on the 20th and again in Bermuda on the 25th , arriving in Norfolk on the 27th . From there , she went to the Philadelphia naval yard for repairs . Engaged primarily in conducting ASW barrier patrols and screening carrier flight operations , " Pierce " responded quickly to international crises that threatened world peace . When the Syrian Army threatened King Hussein ' s pro - Western government of Jordan during August and September 1957 , destroyers , including " Pierce " , patrolled the ancient sea lanes of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea to guard against possible intervention by Nasser ' s Egypt . She returned to the same area in December 1958 to bolster the security of Lebanon , recently threatened by the Soviet - backed United Arab Republic . Following the assassination of General Trujillo on 27 May 1961 , this versatile destroyer patrolled off the Dominican Republic , thus helping to stabilize a potentially explosive situation . Returning to Norfolk 1 April 1962 from her seventh Mediterranean cruise , she sailed 15 May to participate in Project Mercury recovery operations following Lt . Commander M . Scott Carpenter ' s scheduled three - orbit flight in " Aurora 7 " . On the 24th she steamed 206 miles at flank speed from her designated position in the Atlantic Recovery Area east of Puerto Rico and recovered the floating space capsule . After delivering it safely at Roosevelt Roads , Puerto Rico , the next day , she returned to Norfolk 28 May before resuming duty in the Caribbean . During the Cuban Missile Crisis , under the command of Commander J . W . Foust , " Pierce " departed Norfolk 22 October ; joined the quarantine force on the 24th ; and during the next 5 days , investigated 13 ships . On 28 October , the Soviets agreed to the American demands , thus alleviating a tense and crucial crisis . " Pierce " departed from her assigned position the following day , but she continued a Caribbean sea - vigil from Jamaica to the Canal Zone until returning to Norfolk 14 December . She departed home port on 29 March 1963 for the Mediterranean and the Middle East . After 2 weeks of maneuvers with the 6th Fleet , she transited the Suez Canal 30 April and commenced an 11 - week cruise through the Red Sea , the Arabian Sea , and the Persian Gulf . Returning to the Mediterranean 16 July , she resumed fleet operations . On 14 August she rescued three survivors of a plane that splashed off her starboard bow while attempting an emergency landing on . Departing Palma , Majorca , 24 August , she arrived Norfolk 4 September . " Pierce " spent the next year operating out of Norfolk ; and during off - shore surveillance patrols in January 1964 she escorted five Cuban boats , which were illegally fishing in U . S . territorial waters , to Key West for internment . Once again she departed Norfolk for the Mediterranean 8 October . Reaching Naples late in the month , she joined the 6th Fleet and through the remainder of the year operated along the western coast of Italy . " John R . Pierce " returned to Norfolk 27 February 1965 . She reported to Commandant of the 3rd Naval District in Brooklyn , New York , for duty as a reserve training ship and began a schedule of 2 - week training cruises for naval reservists . She continued this duty into 1967 . Awards . " John R . Pierce " received one battle star for service during the Korean War .