USS Brush ( DD - 745 ) USS " Brush " ( DD - 745 ) , an " Allen M . Sumner " - class destroyer , is the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Charles Brush , an American inventor and philanthropist . " Brush " ( DD - 745 ) was launched 28 December 1943 by Bethlehem Steel Co . , Staten Island , New York ; sponsored by Miss Virginia Perkins , great - granddaughter of Charles Brush ; and commissioned 17 April 1944 , Commander J . E . Edwards in command . World War II . On 30 August 1944 " Brush " arrived at Pearl Harbor and after training got underway for Eniwetok , Marshall Islands , 28 September . From Eniwetok she escorted convoys to Ulithi and the Palau Islands . Serving with the 5th and 3rd Fleets she took part in the Leyte operation ( 5 November – 16 December 1944 ) ; Luzon - Formosa - China coast - Nansei Shoto strikes ( 3 – 22 January 1945 ) ; invasion of Iwo Jima and the supporting 5th Fleet raids ( 15 February – 5 March ) , and Okinawa operation ( 17 March – 27 April ) , including 21 April bombardment of Minami Daito Shima . She retired to Ulithi , Caroline Islands , where she lay 30 April – 10 May before joining the 5th Fleet for the projected invasion of Kyushu , Japan . Brush lay at anchor in Leyte Gulf from 13 June to 1 July 1945 and then departed for a raid on the Japanese island of Hokkaidō . On 22 July " Brush " and other destroyers of her squadron conducted an anti - shipping sweep near the entrance of Tokyo Bay . She remained in this area on air - sea rescue duty until 14 September when she steamed into Tokyo Bay . On 24 September 1945 she left the Far East for the United States . She arrived at Seattle , Washington , 15 October 1945 and operated along the west coast until early 1946 when she departed for Guam . She remained at Guam until 9 March and then steamed to Tsingtao , China , arriving on the 19th . With the exception of two voyages to the Philippine Islands , she operated in the East China Sea between Tsingtao and Shanghai until January 1947 . " Brush " returned to Guam 18 January 1947 for repairs . Repairs completed 16 February 1947 , she sailed to San Diego , via Saipan , Kwajalein , and Pearl Harbor , arriving 24 March . Until May 1950 " Brush " remained on the west coast participating in local operations , plane guard duties , and type training . Korea . In May 1950 she was ordered to the Far East and entered Formosan waters as a unit of TF 77 on 29 June 1950 . She screened the carrier units during the United Nations air strikes against North Korea and participated in shore bombardment . On 26 September 1950 while shelling the shore off Tanchon , Korea , " Brush " struck a mine , ripping her midships section and breaking her keel . Thirteen men were killed and 31 injured . " Brush " received temporary repairs at Japan and returned under her own power to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard , arriving 22 December 1950 . Almost a year later " Brush " departed on her second Korean cruise . She stopped at Pearl Harbor for one month and then joined TF 77 for anti - submarine and anti - aircraft duties off Korea until 25 February 1952 . In March " Brush " was assigned to the Formosan patrol and then participated in hunter - killer exercises off Okinawa . She returned to Japan 12 April and joined the blockade of Korea ' s west coast with TF ' s 95 and 77 . She returned to San Diego 26 June 1952 . " Brush " operated off the California coast until February 1953 when she commenced her third Korean cruise . She returned to the United States 30 August . " Brush " conducted seven more Western Pacific deployments over the next decade ( 4 May – 5 December 1954 ; 30 June 1955 – 15 February 1956 ; 31 August 1957 – 1 March 1958 ; 25 October 1958 – 22 April 1959 ; 1 January – 28 July 1960 ; 29 July 1961 – 9 March 1962 ; 13 March – 1 October 1964 ) , each involving carrier escort , ASW exercises and the occasional Formosa patrol . During the last 1964 deployment , " Brush " cruised in the Gulf of Tonkin as American intervention in Vietnam escalated . Over the next five years , " Brush " conducted three Vietnam deployments ( 20 November 1965 – 13 May 1966 ; 8 April – 6 October 1967 ; 20 August 1968 – 4 March 1969 ) , each marked by intensive patrol and gunnery operations in the South China Sea . Fate . " Brush " was decommissioned and stricken from the register on 27 October 1969 . She was subsequently sold to Taiwan 9 December 1969 , and renamed " Hsiang Yang " , which was later stricken in 1984 and transferred to Naval Weapons School and then broken up for scrap . " Brush " received five battle stars for World War II service and four battle stars for her Korean operations .