USS Schley ( DD - 103 ) USS " Schley " ( DD - 103 ) was a " Wickes " - class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War I and later designated , APD - 14 in the World War II . She was the first ship named in honor of Winfield Scott Schley . " Schley " was laid down on 29 October 1917 by Union Iron Works , San Francisco , California ; launched on 28 March 1918 ; sponsored by Miss Eleanor Martin ; and commissioned on 20 September 1918 , Commander Robert C . Giffen in command . Service history . World War I . " Schley " sailed from San Diego on 10 October 1918 for the east coast and , on 12 November , departed New York for the Mediterranean . On 24 January 1919 at Taranto , Italy , she embarked Rear Admiral Mark L . Bristol , Senior American Naval Officer in Turkey , and transported him to Constantinople . " Schley " next assumed duty in the Adriatic , acting as station ship at Pola , Italy , from 17 February to 15 April , and then visiting Italian and Yugoslav ports on the Adriatic until heading for the United States on 2 July . " Schley " returned to San Diego on 8 September 1919 and , except for trips to San Francisco for repairs , remained there until she was placed out of commission , in reserve , on 1 June 1922 . World War II . With Europe again at war and war threatening in the $ 3 , " Schley " was recommissioned at San Diego on 3 October 1940 . She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 17 December for patrols and exercises there the next year . When Japan ese planes attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 , the destroyer was moored in a nest of ships undergoing overhaul and , as her guns were dismantled , was able to do little besides reply with small arms fire . Her overhaul was rushed to completion ; and , on 20 December , she took up a patrol station off the channel approaching Pearl Harbor . She operated there and off Honolulu for almost a year . On 13 December 1942 , she departed Hawaiian waters for conversion into a fast transport at the Puget Sound Navy Yard . " Schley " was reclassified APD - 14 effective 6 February 1943 . " Schley " returned to Pearl Harbor on 22 February and proceeded to the New Hebrides , arriving at Espiritu Santo on 24 March . In the South Pacific , she trained intensively with Marine raiders and other troops , acted as a patrol and escort vessel , and operated as a transport between the Solomons , the New Hebrides , American Samoa , and New Zealand . " Schley " first participated in a landing under combat conditions on 30 June at New Georgia . With two other APD ' s and some smaller ships , she put troops ashore at Wickham Anchorage at the southwest end of Vangunu . On 5 July , she landed a second group of troops at Rice Anchorage , New Georgia . During this operation , a Japanese reinforcement group belatedly arrived on the scene and , in retiring , sank with a long - range torpedo shot . After another trip to Rice Anchorage with supplies and ammunition , " Schley " sailed from Espiritu Santo on 1 August for overhaul at Mare Island . 1944 . " Schley " left the west coast for Pearl Harbor on 7 October , but engine repairs at Pearl Harbor took most of the rest of the year . On 30 December 1943 , she arrived at San Diego to join the task force training for the invasion of the Marshall Islands . The force sailed from the west coast on 13 January 1944 and arrived off Kwajalein on 31 January . " Schley " landed her troops that day and then performed antisubmarine patrol duty until she reembarked her troops on 7 February . She sailed for Eniwetok a week later . Her activities there showed the versatility of the small , fast transports . She arrived on 17 February and , that night , put her troops ashore on Bpgon Island to prevent enemy infiltration from Engebi , which American troops had invaded earlier in the day . The next morning , she began seizing the remaining islands west of the main island of Eniwetok . That day , her troops captured five islands and helped to secure Engebi and Bogon . On 24 February , after transferring her troops to other transports , she got underway for Kwajalein to escort two transports from that atoll to her new area of operations , New Guinea . " Schley " arrived off New Guinea on 12 March and conducted convoy operations for the next month . On 22 April , she participated in the landings at Aitape , putting troops ashore and providing gunfire support . The next day at Tumleo Island , her boats landed troops from a larger transport while " Schley " again provided gunfire support . After repairs to a damaged propeller , " Schley " landed a company of troops on Niroemoar Island to set up a radar unit on 19 May . The next day , she rescued the crew of a wrecked American gasoline barge off Wakde Island and then sank two Japanese barges and silenced an enemy shore battery . The busy ship landed troops on Biak on 27 May and at Cape Sansapor at the western end of New Guinea on 30 July . She then proceeded to Australia for repairs . " Schley " next participated in two important preliminaries for the reconquest of the Philippines . She landed troops on Morotai on 9 September , and , on 17 October , formed part of the APD group that occupied the small islands at the mouth of Leyte Gulf , clearing the way for the invasion of Leyte three days later . After a month of convoy operations , " Schley " joined the task group which carried out landings in Ormoc Bay on 7 December . The group came under intense " kamikaze " attack ; although her sister ship , , was sunk , " Schley " escaped damage . She then participated in the landings at Mindoro on 15 December 1944 and at Lingayen on 9 January 1945 ; and , during each operation , evaded an attacking " kamikaze " . At Mindoro , American planes shot down the " kamikaze " a scant thousand yards from " Schley " . At Lingayen , the " kamikaze " veered off at the last minute to attack another ship but missed . " Schley " remained on patrol off Lingayen until the 18th . 1945 - 1946 . On 15 February , she landed troops at Mariveles Harbor in order to cut off Japanese escape routes during the assault on Manila Bay and , two days later , put troops ashore under enemy fire on Corregidor , climaxing and completing her operations in the Philippines . " Schley " departed Manila Bay on the 19th and left the Philippines for Ulithi on 25 February . She then escorted convoys in the western Pacific , and was briefly at Okinawa with one from 26 April to 28 April . On 29 May , " Schley " arrived at San Diego for repairs , and was redesignated DD - 103 effective 5 July " for duty as rear - area escort and training vessel " , as she was then too worn out for further front - line service . She was still under overhaul when the war ended , and after being made seaworthy , sailed on 17 September 1945 for inactivation at Philadelphia . " Schley " was decommissioned on 9 November 1945 and struck from the Navy list on 5 December 1945 . Scrapping was completed by the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 29 March 1946 . Awards . " Schley " received 11 battle star s for her duty in World War II .