USS Walter X . Young ( APD - 131 ) USS " Walter X . Young " ( DE - 715 / APD - 131 ) was a ship of the United States Navy , named for Lieutenant Walter X . Young ( 1918 – 1942 ) , an officer of the United States Marine Corps who was killed in action during the Battle of Guadalcanal . Originally laid down on 27 May 1944 at the Defoe Shipbuilding Company in Bay City , Michigan as a , DE - 715 , " Young " was reclassified and redesignated as a , APD - 131 on 15 July 1944 . The ship was launched on 30 September 1944 , sponsored by Mrs . John J . McGeeney ; and commissioned on 1 May 1945 , with Lieutenant Commander Nicholas Biddle , USNR , in command . Service history . After conducting shakedown in Guantanamo Bay , " Walter X . Young " interrupted her voyage to Norfolk , Virginia , when she transported an emergency appendectomy patient from to Guantanamo Bay for medical attention . Upon the completion of this mission of mercy , she arrived at Hampton Roads , Virginia , on 10 June . Post - shakedown availability and training exercises preceded her sailing south for Fort Pierce , Florida , for specialized training with Underwater Demolition Team s ( UDTs ) . She departed the east coast on 30 July for San Pedro , California ; transited the Panama Canal on 3 August , and while en route up the Pacific coast of Mexico , received word of the atomic bomb detonation at Hiroshima on the 6th and , three days later , of a nuclear blast at Nagasaki , and of the Soviet Union ' s entry into the Pacific War the same day . Two days after her arrival at San Diego on 12 August , further welcome news arrived , telling that Japan had accepted the unconditional surrender terms of the Potsdam Declaration and had capitulated . As a result of this development , " Walter X . Young " ' s original orders , calling for her embarked UDT personnel to take part in the projected invasion of Japan , were cancelled . Instead , the ship received a different mission . On 16 August , " Walter X . Young " embarked the 93 men of UDT 22 ( Lt . Cdr . J . F . Chace , USNR , in command ) , and after sunset on that date , sailed for the Hawaiian Islands . Arriving at Pearl Harbor on the morning of 22 August , she fueled and provisioned to capacity , loaded UDT explosive s , and got underway on the afternoon of the 23rd for Japan . Her group steamed via the Marshall Islands , arrived in Tokyo Bay on 4 September , and reported to Vice Admiral Theodore S . " Ping " Wilkinson , Commander , 3rd Amphibious Force . With the group now reconstituted as Task Group 32 . 2 ( TG 32 . 2 ) , as two further APDs and their embarked UDTs joined , they awaited their assignments . The dock areas at Yokohama , the scene for one of the major initial occupation landings , were found to be in good condition , suitable for immediate use . Thus , they did not require reconnoitering by the UDTs for possible mines or other obstructions . Midway through her stay in Tokyo Bay , " Walter X . Young " was buffeted about by a typhoon . With high winds and seas , she dragged her anchor and eventually shifted anchorage to the lee side of the bay . During the height of the tempest , the APD received word from the cruiser that one of " Young " s boats , an LCP ( R ) which had been loaned to the cruiser , had broken away and been lost . When the storm cleared however , the " missing " craft was seen riding at a painter astern of the cruiser and later was recovered intact . On 20 September , the ship ' s waiting period ended . In company with , " Walter X . Young " got underway on that date for Aomori , on the northern end of Honshū , to conduct a reconnaissance and beach survey , and to clear any obstacle s that might impede Army landings . The two APDs escorted on this short voyage . While en route on the 21st , the American warships sighted a floating mine and sank it with rifle fire . Upon arrival at Mutsu Kaiwan on the 22nd , " Gantner " proceeded to Ominato to pick up local Japanese officials to assist in the clearance program . Meanwhile , " Young " proceeded to Aomori , where , with the aid of underwater sounding devices , she located the hulks of three sunken ships . Swimmers from UDT 22 then attached buoys to them , while a fourth wreck also located during the survey was found to have been already helpfully buoyed by the Japanese . On 23 September , UDT 22 surveyed the beach and its approaches , as well as the available exits to the main highway which ran parallel to the beach itself , to the eastward of Aomori . They found nothing which required dynamiting , but did attach buoys to some small wrecks at one end of the beach . They reported that the beach was suitable for all types of landing craft ; was capable of supporting vehicles ; and possessed several exits to the main road . Placing beach markers and drawing up maps of the area , " Walter X . Young " s UDT conducted an additional survey the following day , thus preparing the way for the landings at Aomori which followed on the 25th and continued throughout the day . Detached on the evening of the 25th , " Young " reported to Commander , TG 32 . 2 , for orders . Anchoring at Ominato on the evening of 26 September , the ship obtained information concerning Japanese minefields still extant in Tsugaru Strait , and the next day , got underway for Niigata , on the west coast of Honshū . Proceeding independently , the ship rendezvoused with a Japanese tug , the Japanese craft carrying two American Army officers who had travelled overland from Tokyo , several Japanese police , and a local pilot , off the port . In an ensuing conference , it was learned that although the Japanese claimed to have swept a channel into Niigata , the width of the channel was too narrow to provide a margin of safety for an occupation force of transports . However , some 15 miles north of Niigata lay Senami . " Walter X . Young " s embarked UDT soon surveyed the beach and found it in excellent condition . Nevertheless , any landings should be conducted in calm weather or with a prevailing offshore wind due to the beach ' s exposed position on the Sea of Japan . Marking and mapping the beach , UDT 22 reembarked in " Walter X . Young " , and the ship got underway for Tokyo Bay , stopping at Hakodate , Hokkaidō , en route , to pick up an officer from UDT 22 who had served a tour of detached duty there . " Walter X . Young " dropped anchor at Yokohama on 30 September . On 12 October , she got underway for the west coast of the United States , and steamed homeward via Guam and Pearl Harbor . The ship arrived at San Diego on 2 November , and immediately disembarked UDT 22 . Ten days of availability at the Naval Repair Base , San Diego , preceded the ship ' s participation in coastwise transportation of Navy and Marine Corps dischargees within the 11th Naval District . Decommissioning and disposal . The ship was decommissioned on 2 July 1946 , and placed in reserve at Stockton , California . Struck from the Navy List on 1 May 1962 and stripped of all militarily useful items and equipment , " Walter X . Young " was towed from her berth with the Stockton Reserve Group to her final duty station , the Naval Missile Center at Point Mugu , California . Subsequently converted to a test hulk , " Walter X . Young " was sunk in missile - firing tests on 11 April 1967 .