USS Tattnall ( DD - 125 ) USS " Tattnall " ( DD – 125 ) was a " Wickes " - class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War I . She was the first ship named for Captain Josiah Tattnall . " Tattnall " was laid down at Camden , New Jersey , on 1 December 1917 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation ; launched on 5 September 1918 ; sponsored by Miss Sarah Campbell Kollock ; and commissioned on 26 June 1919 , Commander Gordon Wayne Haines in command . Service history . Following trials off the New England coast , " Tattnall " sailed for the eastern Mediterranean . She arrived at Constantinople on 27 July and , for almost a year , operated in Turkish waters . During that time , she also visited ports in Egypt , Greece , Russia , and Syria transporting passengers and mail . In June 1920 , the destroyer began her return voyage to the United States . During the voyage home , she was designated DD - 125 on 17 July 1920 when the Navy adopted the alphanumeric system of 125 designations . She stopped at ports in Italy and France before entering New York harbor on 22 July . Following overhaul , " Tattnall " put to sea to join the Pacific Fleet . After port calls along the southern coast of the United States and at ports in Cuba , Nicaragua , Mexico , and the Panama Canal Zone , she reached San Diego on 17 December . The warship operated along the California coast until 15 June 1922 , when she was decommissioned and placed in reserve at San Diego . On 1 May 1930 , " Tattnall " was recommissioned , Commander A . M . R . Allen in command . The warship served with the Battle Force along the west coast until 1931 . By 1 July of that year , she had been transferred to the east coast for duty with the Scouting Force Destroyers as a unit of Destroyer Division 7 . A year later , " Tattnall " s activity was curtailed by her assignment to the rotating reserve . On 1 January 1934 , the destroyer resumed a more active role with the Fleet when she began a year of duty with the Scouting Force Training Squadron . Following another period of relative inactivity in rotating reserve , she rejoined the Training Squadron late in 1935 . During the latter part of 1937 , the Training Detachment , United States Fleet , was established ; and " Tattnall " and the other units of the Scouting Force Training Squadron joined the new organization . The destroyer continued her training duties until November 1938 . World War II . On the 17 November 1938 , she and relieved and as units of the Special Service Squadron . " Tattnall " was based in the Canal Zone until the squadron was disbanded on 17 September 1940 . The warship , however , continued to operate in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea out of her home port at Panama . After the United States entered World War II , " Tattnall " began escorting coastwise convoys in her area of operations , frequently through the Windward Passage between Cuba and Hispaniola , a dangerous area during the height of the Caribbean U - boat blitz . Though she made many sonar contacts and depth charge attacks , " Tattnall " registered no confirmed kills . Early in July 1943 , the destroyer escorted her last Caribbean convoy north from the Windward Passage to Charleston , South Carolina . She arrived on the 10th , began conversion to a high - speed transport at the navy yard , and was redesignated APD - 19 on 24 July . On 6 September 1943 , the day following the 25th anniversary of her launching , " Tattnall " completed conversion . She finished her shakedown cruise in mid - September . Following post - shakedown repairs and alterations in late September , the high - speed transport began amphibious training — first , at Cove Point , Maryland , and later , at Fort Pierce , Florida . In April 1944 , " Tattnall " was designated flagship of Transport Division ( TransDiv ) 13 , the only high - speed transport division in the Atlantic theater . On 13 April , she departed the east coast for Oran , Algeria , in company with , , , and . TransDiv 13 joined the 8th Fleet at the end of April , and " Tattnall " moved to Corsica to practice for her first assignment , the capture of Elba and Pianosa Island s in the Tyrrhenian Sea . However , before the invasion and during her training period , " Tattnall " was called upon to feign a landing near Civitavecchia , Italy , north of Rome , to draw off German reinforcements headed south to turn back the American forces breaking through at Monte Cassino and heading for Rome . The ruse apparently worked . The reinforcements never reached Monte Cassino ; and , on the following day , German radio announced an Allied invasion north of Rome . On 17 June , the invasion troops went ashore on Elba and Pianosa . " Tattnall " s boats came under machine gun fire , but suffered no serious damage . After the landings in the Tyrrhenian Sea , the high - speed transport began convoy duty between Italian , Sicilian , and North Africa n ports . Following that duty , she resumed amphibious operations , this time with members of the American - Canadian 1st Special Service Force embarked . Their mission was to capture the heavily fortified Hyeres Islands , located just east of Toulon , and hold them during the main landings in the invasion of southern France . On 15 August , the five ships of TransDiv 13 rapidly put 1 , 600 troops ashore , and the islands were secured within three days . During the next two weeks , " Tattnall " and her sister transports shuttled reinforcements and supplies into southern France and evacuated Allied wounded and German prisoners of war . For the remainder of the year , the high - speed transport escorted convoys between ports in the Mediterranean Sea . " Tattnall " returned to the United States at Norfolk on 21 December and began a month - long availability period before heading for the Pacific . She got underway from Hampton Roads on 31 January 1945 . After transiting the Panama Canal early in February and making stops at San Diego , Pearl Harbor , Eniwetok , and Ulithi , the fast transport reached the Okinawa area on 19 April . The high - speed transport remained in the Ryukyu s through the end of the month . During that time , she stood guard on several of the screen stations which circled Okinawa to protect the units of the fleet from attack by " kamikaze s " . " Tattnall " fired at enemy planes several times in the days preceding the night of 29 April and 30 April . Three red alerts before 0200 failed to materialize into enemy attacks . However , at about 0215 , bogies began closing in from the west . A twin - engined plane crossed " Tattnall " s stern from about 3 , 000 yards , and her 40 mm gun crews opened fire . The attacker retired to her starboard quarter with one engine ablaze , only to renew its attack . This time , her gunners finished the job they had begun on its first pass , and it crashed into the sea . Soon thereafter , a " kamikaze " approached the warship from starboard . " Tattnall " , her engines at full speed , turned hard to port to evade the attacker . It splashed down close to her starboard bow . Debris rained down on " Tattnall " and pierced her above the waterline , but she suffered neither casualties nor serious damage . The following day , " Tattnall " departed Okinawa and headed for the Mariana Islands and convoy escort duty . She arrived at Saipan on 3 May and returned with a convoy to Okinawa on the 20th . The warship resumed picket duty but experienced no more action like that of the night of 29 April and 30 April . To be sure , her crew stood long watches and , on 25 May , was at general quarters for 18 hours straight . On that day , " Barry " and " Roper " were hit by " kamikazes " . " Barry " later sank , and " Roper " was sent to a rear area for repairs . Early in June , " Tattnall " was ordered to report for duty with the Philippine Sea Frontier . She stopped at Saipan on 13 June and reached Leyte on the 17th . Through the end of the war and for almost a month thereafter , she conducted patrols in the Philippines and escorted convoys to Ulithi and Hollandia . On 13 September , " Tattnall " headed back to the United States . After stops at Eniwetok and Pearl Harbor , the fast transport arrived in San Francisco on 30 October . From there , she was routed north to the Puget Sound Navy Yard and disposition by the Commandant , 13th Naval District . " Tattnall " was decommissioned at Puget Sound on 17 December 1945 . Her name was struck from the Navy list on 8 January 1946 . She was sold to the Pacific Metal Salvage Company , of Seattle , Washington , on 17 October 1946 and scrapped . Her hull was towed to Royston , British Columbia and beached as part of a breakwater , parts of her hull are still visible in 2009 . Awards . " Tattnall " received three battle star s for her World War II service .