USS Welles ( DD - 628 ) USS " Welles " ( DD - 628 ) , a " Gleaves " - class destroyer , was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Gideon Welles . " Welles " was laid down on 27 September 1941 at Seattle , Washington , by the Seattle - Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp . ; launched on 7 September 1942 ; sponsored by Mrs . Suzanne Dudley Welles Brainard ; and commissioned on 16 August 1943 , Lieutenant Commander Doyle M . Coffee in command . Following shakedown training along the west coast of the United States , " Welles " returned to Puget Sound on 26 October . After post - shakedown availability there , she got underway on 15 November in company with two British escort carrier s which she escorted as far as San Diego , California . Continuing on her way , the destroyer transited the Panama Canal on 28 November and set a course for New York . She stopped along the way at Norfolk and , upon her arrival at New York on 4 December , joined Destroyer Division 38 ( DesDiv 38 ) . Ordered farther north , the warship departed New York on 26 December and arrived in Boston harbor the following day . On the 28th , she and her division mates got underway for the western Pacific in the screen of " New Jersey " ( BB - 62 ) . The task unit stopped briefly at Norfolk where " New Jersey " ' s sister battleship , " Iowa " ( BB - 61 ) , joined it for the voyage to the Pacific . The unit transited the Panama Canal during the first week in January 1944 and continued its voyage west on the 8th . Southwest Pacific Area . " Welles " and her traveling companions arrived at Funafuti in the Ellice Islands on 21 January and remained there for a week before getting underway for New Guinea . The destroyer arrived at Milne Bay on 5 February and joined the U . S . 7th Fleet . Later in the month , she escorted a convoy of LST s to Cape Gloucester on the island of New Britain . On 29 February , " Welles " provided gunfire support for elements of the Army ' s 1st Cavalry Division then landing on Los Negros Island in the Admiralties . During that operation , the destroyer came under fire from enemy automatic weapons and at least one field gun but sustained no damage . After completing her portion of the mission , she moved out to the transport area to provide antisubmarine defense . Periodically , she returned close to shore to provide all fire for American troops fighting ashore . In March , she returned south to the area around Buna to prepare for operations to capture the remainder of the northern coast of New Guinea . During the Hollandia assault , the first of five leap frog steps to the Vogelkop , " Welles " was assigned to Task Group 77 . 2 ( TG 77 . 2 ) , the Central Attack Group which mounted its assault at $ 3 on 22 April . About a month later , on 18 May , she supported the landings at Wakde Island and at Sarmi on the New Guinea mainland . From there , the warship continued with General Douglas MacArthur ' s amphibious jump to Biak Island where she provided gunfire support during the landings and consolidation operations from 27 May to 2 June . During that time , she destroyed several Japan ese barges , harassed enemy ground forces , silenced a shore battery or two and helped to repel several air attacks . Leaving Biak on 2 June , the warship screened logistics convoys along the New Guinea coast for about a month before arriving off Noemfoor Island , located just west of Biak , to support the capture of that island . At the end of July , she participated in the last amphibious operation in New Guinea when troops went ashore at Cape Sansapor on the Vogelkop . She returned to Aitape early in August and then moved from there down the coast to Finschhafen whence she departed on 23 August , bound for the Solomon Islands . " Welles " arrived at Florida Island on 6 August and became a unit of the U . S . 3rd Fleet . She immediately plunged into preparations for the impending Palau attack . For the assault on Peleliu and Angaur , the destroyer initially screened the carriers providing air support . After the mid - September landings on the two islands , she was detached from the carriers and moved into the transport area to provide antisubmarine defense and to guard against any attempts to reinforce the two islands . At the conclusion of her participation in the Palau operation , she joined TG 77 . 2 and began preparations for the invasion of the Philippines at Leyte . Western Pacific . She moved into Leyte Gulf on 18 October , two days before the actual landings , to cover preinvasion minesweeping and underwater demolition team operations . Her 5 inch shells also contributed to the preinvasion bombardment of the objective . After the 20 October landings , the warship delivered call fire in support of the troops advancing ashore and defended the invasion fleet against the heavy enemy air attacks launched against it . In the latter role , she claimed one unassisted kill . When the Japanese launched their three - pronged surface attack to break up the Leyte assault , " Welles " joined the screen of Vice Admiral Jesse B . Oldendorf ' s line of old battleships which virtually annihilated the enemy force which attempted to push through the Surigao Strait south of Leyte on the night of 24 / 25 October . Soon thereafter , she concluded her part in the Philippine operation and retired to Ulithi Atoll where she joined the screen of the Fast Carrier Task Force . For the remainder of her participation in the war " Welles " cruised with either the fast carriers or with their logistics unit as the flattops launched air strikes on Japan ' s inner defenses and supported from a distance the invasions at Luzon , Iwo Jima , and Okinawa . In June 1945 , she retired to Leyte for rest and upkeep . On the 21st of that month , she received orders to return to the United States for a major overhaul . Steaming via Eniwetok and Oahu , the destroyer arrived in Bremerton , Washington on 16 July . She remained there through the end of hostilities in August and until late September . On 29 September , she got underway for the east coast . After a stop at San Pedro Harbor , she transited the Panama Canal on 14 October and headed for New York where she arrived on the 20th . In November , the ship moved south to Charleston , South Carolina , where she was place out of commission on 4 February 1946 . " Welles " was berthed with the Charleston Group , Atlantic Reserve Fleet , until 10 February 1968 at which time her name was struck from the Navy list . On 18 July 1969 , she was sold to the Union Minerals and Alloy Co . for scrapping . " Welles " earned eight battle star s during World War II .