USS Wileman ( DE - 22 ) USS " Wileman " ( DE - 22 ) was an constructed for the United States Navy during World War II . It was promptly sent off into the Pacific Ocean to protect convoys and other ships from Japanese submarines and fighter aircraft . At the end of the war , she returned to the United States proudly displaying four battle star s . She was laid down on 30 April 1942 at the Mare Island Navy Yard , Vallejo , California , as BDE - 22 , a destroyer escort allocated to the United Kingdom under the Lend - Lease program ; launched on 19 December 1942 ; sponsored by Mrs . Fred Yam ; reallocated to the United States Navy and redesignated DE - 22 on 25 January 1942 ; named " Wileman " on 19 February 1943 ; and commissioned on 11 June 1943 , Lt . Aaron F . Beyer , Jr . , USNR , in command . World War II Pacific Theatre operations . Following shakedown along the U . S . West Coast , " Wileman " departed San Francisco , California , on 20 August in company with and a three - ship convoy . The five ships arrived in Pearl Harbor on 27 August , but " Wileman " departed again a week later to escort on a voyage to the South Pacific . Ports of call during the cruise included Tutuila , Samoa ; Nouméa , New Caledonia ; and Suva in the Fiji Islands . Wharton and " Wileman " parted company at Suva . The transport returned to San Francisco while the destroyer escort reported for a month of patrol and escort duty in the Ellice Islands . On 25 October , she departed the Ellice Islands to return to Oahu . The warship entered Pearl Harbor on 2 November and began preparations for her role in the upcoming Gilbert Islands invasion . Under attack by Japanese bombers . After about two weeks at Hawaii , " Wileman " stood out of Pearl Harbor as part of the screen of a convoy carrying garrison troops to the Gilberts . She reached Makin Island at midday on the 24th . As a greeting , the Japanese launched an air attack on Makin from nearby Jaluit and Mili . Three twin - engine " Betty " bombers picked out the " Wileman " convoy and attempted a torpedo attack . " Wileman " , the other destroyer escort , and the ships of the convoy themselves all went to general quarters and opened fire on the intruders . Their gunfire dissuaded two of the Japanese planes from pressing home their attack , and only the third succeeded in making his drop . Neither side , however , drew any blood during the encounter . The single torpedo passed wide of the entire convoy , and American anti - aircraft gunners brought down no Japanese planes . After seeing her charges safely to Makin , " Wileman " began about a month of convoy escort and patrol duty between the islands of the Gilberts , Phoenix , and Ellice groups as part of the Americans ' effort to consolidate their position in the Gilberts in preparation for the conquest of the Marshalls , the next hop in the Navy ' s leapfrog thrust through the Central Pacific toward Japan . Operation Flintlock support . On 8 January 1944 , the destroyer escort returned to Pearl Harbor to prepare for her role in " Operation Flintlock " , the Marshalls invasion . Twenty days later , she departed Oahu in the screen of a convoy bound for the Central Pacific . As in the case of the Gilberts operation , " Wileman " took no part in the actual assault phase of Operation Flintlock . Instead , she again escorted the ships carrying part of the garrison troops — the 16th Marine Defense Battalion and a Construction Battalion unit — for Kwajalein Atoll . The assault itself went forward just three days after " Wileman " left Pearl Harbor , and Kwajalein had been secured for three days when she reached the atoll on 10 February . The convoy entered the lagoon upon arrival , and " Wileman " began an uneventful 18 days on anti - submarine patrol in and around the atoll and later at Majuro . The warship departed the Marshalls on 28 February and reentered Pearl Harbor on 8 March . After three weeks of gunnery drills and sonar exercises , " Wileman " left the Hawaiian Islands on 30 March in an antisubmarine hunter - killer task group built around . The unit arrived in the eastern Marshalls at the end of the first week in April and began its search for Japanese submarines . The hunting proved less than good . During the voyage from Oahu , a plane from " Altamaha " claimed to have attacked an enemy submarine and took credit for a probable kill . While actually on patrol in the Marshalls , the group ' s only contact with the enemy almost proved to be a disaster . Japanese torpedo misses U . S . carrier . Just after sunset on 15 April , one of the ships in the screen sighted a torpedo heading straight for the carrier . Warned in time by voice radio , " Altamaha " maneuvered out of the torpedo ' s path , and it passed harmlessly ahead . The group failed to make contact with the torpedo ' s launcher — probably a submarine — and continued its patrol . Later in the month , " Wileman " and her colleagues in the screen traded carriers with Task Group ( TG ) 11 . 2 and " Altamaha " headed back to Pearl Harbor with and while her former screen continued the patrol with . also joined the hunter - killer group just before the conclusion of the operation ; but , despite the additional escort carrier , success eluded the unit . The task group concluded its patrol of the eastern Marshalls on 6 May and headed back to Pearl Harbor . The warships arrived at Oahu on 13 May , and the task group was dissolved . Marianas Campaign operations . Training exercises occupied the two weeks the destroyer escort spent at Pearl Harbor before her 27 May departure for the Central Pacific . " Wileman " entered the lagoon at Eniwetok on 4 June with her convoy of 11 oilers and one tanker . From there , she moved to Majuro , arriving on the 15th . For the opening phase of the Marianas campaign , " Wileman " again drew escort duty rather than participation in the actual assault . On 18 June , she left Majuro lagoon to escort transports to the anchorage off Saipan . Arriving there on 22 June , she departed again on the 26th to screen a task group back to Eniwetok . She reached the atoll on 30 June and remained in the area for three weeks . Late in July , she put to sea with a group of oilers operating as a replenishment group for the Fast Carrier Task Force . For the next two months , she cruised between the Marianas and Eniwetok escorting convoys and replenishment groups in support of the Marianas campaign and the fast carrier sweeps of Japan ' s inner defense line and logistics routes . On 15 September , her duty in the forward area ended when she headed via Pearl Harbor to San Francisco where she arrived on 6 November . Duties at Pearl Harbor . Less than a week later , the destroyer escort put to sea to return to Oahu with a convoy of six LSM ' s and three merchant ships . The warship entered Pearl Harbor on 21 November and soon began intensive sound and gunnery training . During her stay in the Hawaiian Islands , she also served a tour as a school ship for gunnery officers and another as a target and adversary for Pacific Fleet submarines undergoing type training . " Wileman " began 1945 with a round - trip voyage to Majuro , departing Pearl Harbor on 5 January and returning on the 21st . She remained at Oahu only briefly , getting underway again that same day for the west coast and an overhaul . She arrived at Terminal Island , California , on the 29th . She began repairs and modifications on the 31st and completed them in mid - April . On 19 April , the warship shaped a course back to Pearl Harbor , where she arrived on the 25th . There , she resumed duty as a school ship , again training gunnery personnel and acting as target ship and surface opponent for Pacific Fleet submarines . Later , she also served as escort and plane guard for and during air training operations conducted northeast of Oahu in June 1945 . Return to Central Pacific operations . On 22 June , she stood out of Pearl Harbor to return to the Central Pacific . She arrived at Eniwetok on 30 June and began duty as a unit of the Marshalls and Gilberts Escort and Patrol Force ( TG 96 . 3 ) . For just over a month , she escorted convoys between Eniwetok and Ulithi and conducted antisubmarine patrols in the Marshalls . On 2 and 3 August , the destroyer escort voyaged to Kwajalein where she was assigned hunter - killer and air - sea rescue duty . While at Kwajalein , " Wileman " received word of the Japanese capitulation on 14 August . However , the destroyer escort continued to operate with TG 96 . 3 until mid - September . On 14 September , she quit her Eniwetok - Kwajalein - Ulithi circuit and headed for home . She stopped overnight at Pearl Harbor on 20 and 21 September and then continued on to the U . S . West Coast . The warship arrived in San Pedro , California , on 27 September . Post - War decommissioning . The destroyer escort was decommissioned on 16 November 1945 at Terminal Island , California , and her name was struck from the Navy List on 28 November 1945 . In January 1947 , she was sold to the Pacific Bridge Co . and was scrapped by that firm on 23 June 1947 .