USS Thornton ( DD - 270 ) The second USS " Thornton " ( DD - 270 / AVD - 11 ) was a in the United States Navy during World War II . She was named for James and Ryan Thornton , naval officers during the American Civil War . History . " Thornton " was laid down on 3 June 1918 and launched on 2 March 1919 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation ; sponsored by Miss Marcia Thornton Davis ; and placed in commission at Boston , Massachusetts on 15 July 1919 , Commander A . G . Stirling in command . On 26 August , " Thornton " sailed for Europe . Following a port call in the Azores , the destroyer reached the Strait of Gibraltar on 15 September . For the remainder of 1919 , she visited a number of ports , both in the Mediterranean and along the Atlantic coast of Europe . The ship returned to Boston on 12 February 1920 and remained there until 27 March , when she weighed anchor for the Pacific . After calls at several ports on the Gulf of Mexico , the destroyer transited the Panama Canal on 30 April . She then steamed slowly up the western coast of Mexico , stopping along the way at Salina Cruz , Manzanillo and Guaymas to show the flag . On 27 May " Thornton " reached San Diego , California and , for the next two years , conducted operations along the California coast . On 24 May 1922 , " Thornton " was placed out of commission and laid up at the Destroyer Base , San Diego . " Thornton " remained in reserve throughout the 1920s and 1930s . On 25 May 1940 , she was ordered recommissioned for conversion to a seaplane tender . Accordingly , she was recommissioned , in ordinary , on 24 June 1940 and moved to the San Francisco yard of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation for conversion . On 2 August 1940 , " Thornton " was officially redesignated a seaplane tender ( destroyer ) , AVD - 11 . Her alterations were completed early in 1941 , and she was placed in full commission on 5 March 1941 , Lt . Cmdr . Wendell F . Kline in command . On 8 April , she reported for duty to Commander - in - Chief , Pacific Fleet , at San Pedro . Ten days later , the seaplane tender arrived in Pearl Harbor , and she operated in the Hawaiian Islands until August 1942 . During her 16 months in the islands , she made frequent voyages to Midway , Wake Island , Palmyra and other outlying islands of the 14th Naval District . On the morning of 7 December 1941 , she was moored at the Submarine Base at Pearl Harbor . Her action report for that day states that the Japanese opened their attack on Pearl Harbor at 0756 and that " Thornton ' s " crew , led by four reserve ensigns , was at action stations two minutes later . They fought back with every available weapon : four . 50 - cal . machine guns , three Lewis guns , three Browning automatic rifles , and twelve . 30 - cal . , bolt - action Springfields . The combined fire of " Thornton " and accounted for at least one Japanese torpedo bomber and probably discouraged two more from making a run on as the oiler changed berths during the second dive - bombing attack between 0910 and 0917 . " Thornton " suffered no casualties during the attack on Pearl Harbor . Following the Pearl Harbor attack , she was stationed at French Frigate Shoals with as aircraft rescue ships for the planes engaged in the expanded air searches . After the victory at Midway , she resumed her runs between the outlying islands of the 14th Naval District , though the Japanese occupation had removed Wake Island from her itinerary , until August 1942 . On the 25th , " Thornton " steamed out of Pearl Harbor , headed north , and arrived at Kodiak , Alaska , on the 30th . For the next two months , the seaplane tender cruised the icy Alaskan seas as a part of Task Force 8 . She visited Kodiak , Attu , and Chernofski before departing Kodiak for Pearl Harbor on 21 October . " Thornton " stopped at Pearl Harbor from 30 October to 10 November , then headed for duty in the South Pacific . After short periods of duty at Suva in the Fiji Islands , Funafuti in the Ellice Islands , and at Vanikoro in the Santa Cruz Islands , she moved to Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides , arriving on 18 July 1943 . The seaplane tender remained at Espiritu Santo until 11 November , when she put to sea for Guadalcanal in the Solomons . Between 13 November and 15 November , she made a round - trip run between Guadalcanal and Espiritu Santo to escort from the latter to the former . Following duty in the Solomons and a stop at Pearl Harbor from 5 February to 8 February , " Thornton " returned to the west coast at Mare Island on 17 February 1944 . She remained on the west coast for the next 10 months conducting normal operations and undergoing extensive repairs . On 3 December 1944 , the warship departed San Pedro to return to the western Pacific . Fate . From mid - December 1944 until late February 1945 , " Thornton " was at Pearl Harbor . On the 22d , she got underway for operations to prepare for the assault on Okinawa . She stopped at Eniwetok early in March , and then moved on to Ulithi , the staging area for Okinawa . On 5 April 1945 , while operating in the Ryūkyūs as part of the Search and Reconnaissance Group of the Southern Attack Force , " Thornton " collided with " Ashtabula " ( AO - 51 ) and " Escalante " ( AO - 70 ) . Her starboard side was severely damaged and open to the sea . On 14 April , she was towed into Kerama Retto . On the 29th , a board of inspection and survey recommended that " Thornton " be decommissioned , beached , stripped of all useful materiel as needed , and then abandoned . She was beached and decommissioned on 2 May 1945 . Her name was struck from the Navy List on 13 August 1945 . In July 1957 , " Thornton ' s " hull was abandoned and donated to the government of the Ryukyu Islands . Honors and awards . " Thornton " earned three battle star s for World War II service . See also . See for other ships of this name .