USS Wesson ( DE - 184 ) USS " Wesson " ( DE - 184 ) was a built for the United States Navy during World War II . She served in the Pacific Ocean and provided escort service against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys . She returned home at war ' s end with a very respectable seven battle star s to her credit . Shewas laid down on 29 July 1943 at Newark , New Jersey , by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co . ; launched on 17 October 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . Eleanor Wesson ; and commissioned on 11 November 1943 , Comdr . H . Reich in command . World War II Pacific Theatre operations . " Wesson " departed New York on 28 November for shakedown off Bermuda . She returned to New York on 28 December 1943 for post - shakedown availability which lasted until 9 January 1944 when she sailed for the Panama Canal Zone . After transiting the Panama Canal , " Wesson " departed Balboa on the 19th , bound for Hawaii in company with , and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 1 February . Following minor repairs and training exercises , the destroyer escort joined the screen of a westward - bound convoy . On 18 February , the convoy split ; and " Wesson " headed for Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands . Captures Japanese cutter . She arrived at Roi Namur the following day and began patrolling the entrance to the harbor . On 22 February , " Wesson " sighted and fired upon a Japanese cutter , killing six of the enemy and bringing five prisoners on board . She later turned them over to the island commander at Roi . The destroyer escort set course for Majuro , also in the Marshalls , on 4 March 1944 and , in company with , sailed for Oahu three days later , screening . " Wesson " arrived at Pearl Harbor on 13 March and spent a week there undergoing minor repairs and receiving fuel , stores , and provisions . On 20 March , she got underway to escort to the Gilbert Islands and arrived at Tarawa on the 31st . After a one - day stop , " Wesson " again set her course for Hawaii as an escort for . She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 10 April and conducted torpedo and anti - submarine exercises until 29 April when she received orders sending her to Majuro as an escort for . Heavy convoy schedule . " Wesson " returned to Hawaii on 13 May and received repairs and conducted anti - submarine exercises before getting underway on 27 May to escort a convoy to Majuro . Having moored at Majuro harbor on 3 June , " Wesson " departed three days later for a rendezvous with Task Group ( TG ) 58 . 1 to conduct fueling operations . On 12 June , she made rendezvous with and ; and , two days later , the destroyer escort took position in the screen while fueling operations were in progress . She continued to support fueling operations until 16 June when she set her course for Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands . After a brief stop there , the ship received orders to make a round - trip voyage to the Marianas and back , escorting three oilers . She returned to Eniwetok on 11 July and , five days later , put to sea to support several fuelings and mail transfers . On 31 July , " Wesson " arrived off Saipan Island screening . Drydocked at Eniwetok . On 1 August 1944 , " Wesson " steamed for the Marshalls and arrived at Eniwetok on 5 August for upkeep and availability . From 29 to 30 August , the ship was drydocked to repaint her underwater hull . On 2 September , " Wesson " got underway to rendezvous with and and proceed in company with the escort carriers to Manus in the Admiralty Islands . The force arrived at Seeadler Harbor , Manus , on 10 September and , four days later , sortied for a rendezvous off the Palau Islands in the Western Carolines . During flight operations , " Wesson " rescued three airmen who had crashed upon launching . The destroyer escort screened " Sitkoh Bay " as the escort carrier headed back to the Admiralty Islands for repairs to her catapult . On 22 September , she and left Seeadler Harbor , Manus Island , escorting to a fueling area in the Palau Islands ; but , on 29 September , " Wesson " received orders to return to Manus . The first three days of October found " Wesson " anchored in Seeadler Harbor . On the 4th , she got underway as part of a task unit centered around , , , and . During fueling operations in the Philippine Sea , " Wesson " assumed plane guard duty . On 22 October — two days after American forces returned to the Philippine Islands with landings on Leyte — " Wesson " got underway to escort " Sitkoh Bay " to Manus , and they arrived back in Seeadler Harbor on 26 October . " Wesson " remained there undergoing availability for the remainder of the month . On 1 November 1944 , the ship left the Admiralties to escort to Ulithi Atoll , where she arrived on 5 November . After conducting firing practice and fueling exercises , " Wesson " departed Ulithi on the 16th with a group of oilers to rendezvous with the Fast Carrier Task Force ( TF ) 38 for fueling in the western Philippine Sea . Following the successful conclusion of that operation , the destroyer escort returned to Ulithi on 29 November . On 10 December , " Wesson " , as part of a supply group , again made rendezvous with TF 38 for fueling and aircraft replacement . On 20 December , the destroyer escort received orders to escort to Guam and , after completing that task , returned to Ulithi and spent the remainder of 1944 in drydock for repairs to her sonar gear . Supporting Philippine Islands operations . During the first week of January 1945 , " Wesson " underwent repairs and inspections . On the 7th , the ship got underway , with a task unit consisting of five oilers and three escorts , for a rendezvous east of the Philippines . On the 13th , " Wesson " proceeded to Leyte Gulf to procure charts and instructions . The next day , she received orders to escort to the Lingayen Gulf off Luzon . On 15 January , having been detached from the oiler , " Wesson " returned to San Pedro Bay , Leyte . On the 19th , she got underway to escort " Housatonic " to Ulithi . After screening the oiler ' s entrance into Mugai Channel on 26 January , the destroyer proceeded independently to Ulithi Atoll and remained there into February . Supporting Iwo Jima invasion . On the 5th , " Wesson " — as part of Escort Division 44 — set her course for the Marianas and made stops at Apra Harbor , Guam ; Saipan ; and Tanapag . The ship then departed the Marianas for duty supporting the invasion of Iwo Jima . On 16 February , the carriers began air strikes against the island . The destroyer escort served in the screen protecting the carriers for 10 days . She then returned to Ulithi Atoll and , on 21 March , got underway to escort Task Force 54 to Okinawa . The ship arrived off Kerama Retto on 25 March and took station in a circular screen . The next day , " Wesson " and helped to protect , , , , and while they shelled southern Okinawa . Under attack by bombs and torpedoes . On 26 March , " Wichita " sighted a torpedo wake and a periscope . After " Wesson " maneuvered and dropped a 13 depth charge pattern , an anti - submarine patrol plane observed an oil slick . However , no other evidence appeared to confirm that an enemy submarine had been destroyed or damaged . The next day , the formation came under attack by Japanese planes . " Wesson " fired at three of the raiders ; and one plane took several hits in the fuselage just above the wing before bursting into flame and crashing astern of the screen . Enemy air attacks continued for the next two days . On 30 March , " Wesson " proceeded on orders west of Zampa Misaki and destroyed four mines by gunfire en route . She then reported mines in an unswept area north and east of Zampa Misaki . Her formation came under air attack every day until 5 April . The next day at 0307 , the enemy struck with a sizeable formation of planes , and the action continued incessantly until dawn . From 1400 to 1800 , there were so many enemy planes darting in and put of clouds that the ship maneuvered continuously in tight turns of up to 180 degrees . Scattered clouds provided the enemy planes with extremely effective cover . All enemy planes were considered to be suiciders . One plane attacked " Wesson " but was turned back by repeated fire . It then attempted to crash into a destroyer on the port side but missed and splashed into the water . Struck by a kamikaze . On 7 April , " Wesson " relieved north of Ie Shima and the Motobu Peninsula and took station screening and . At 0340 , the destroyer escort fought off a small enemy air attack which lasted until dawn . At 0917 , " Wesson " opened fire on three enemy planes crossing her bow and then engaged a plane diving from the clouds to starboard . The plane crashed into the destroyer escort ' s torpedo tubes amidships . Five men died instantly , one was missing , and 25 were wounded , two of whom died later . " Wesson " lost and regained power several times and suffered a fire on the boat deck , as well as flooding in the engineering spaces . All power was lost aft , propulsion was lost on the port shaft , and the rudder jammed full right . came alongside and transferred a submersible pump and gasoline , then took " Wesson " under tow . The tow line parted at 1133 , and " Wesson " steamed into Kerama Retto under her own power with Lang screening . Emergency repairs Stateside . Despite enemy air attacks , the destroyer escort completed emergency repairs on 10 April . The next day , she got underway en route for the Marianas and arrived at Saipan on 17 April . A week later , " Wesson " sailed for San Francisco , California , where — from 17 May to 25 June — she received an overhaul while her battle damage was being repaired . On 3 July , the ship set course for San Diego , California , and 10 days of refresher training before returning to Pearl Harbor on 21 July . Return to convoy duty . After conducting various exercises in Hawaiian waters through 14 August , the destroyer escort received orders to proceed , via Eniwetok , to the Philippines . She arrived at Eniwetok on 22 August ; then escorted three attack transports to Ulithi and entered the lagoon of that atoll through Mugai Channel on the 28th . That same day , she pressed on for Leyte , escorting a convoy of eight ships . On 1 September , the convoy was dissolved ; and " Wesson " proceeded independently into Leyte Gulf . Four days later , " Wesson " departed San Pedro Bay , Leyte , bound for Okinawa and entered Buckner Bay on 8 September . On 16 September , " Wesson " and sailed to waters west of Okinawa to avoid a typhoon and returned to Buckner Bay the following day . On 20 September , " Wesson " set course for Japan and arrived at Wakayama , Honshū , two days later . On 24 September 1945 , the ship — with and — got underway to screen a unit of TF - 51 built around and . " Wesson " took station in the screen operating in Kii Suido . After supporting two days of flight operations and exploding several mines , the destroyer escort returned to Wakanoura Wan after the task unit had been dissolved . End - of - War activity . October 1945 began with " Wesson " and escorting , , , and to Tokyo Bay . On 7 October , the ship left Tokyo Bay and stopped at Kii Suido , Bungo Suido , and Okino Shima before arriving at Yokosuka , Japan , on 26 October . She returned to Wakanoura Wan before setting her course for Okinawa on 31 October . On 3 November , " Wesson " got underway for Naha Ho , then proceeded to escort two merchant ships and an Army transport to Jinsen , Korea . She returned to Buckner Bay , Okinawa , on 10 November , embarked passengers for Guam and Pearl Harbor , then sailed the next day , escorting the former . " Wesson " took " Stewart " in tow due to an engineering casualty and arrived at Apra Harbor , Guam , on 17 November . Three days later , " Wesson " headed for Hawaii and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 28 November . There , she took on board passengers , pushed on , and arrived at San Diego , California , on 6 December . " Wesson " transited the Panama Canal and reached Charleston , South Carolina , on 23 December where she spent the remaining days of 1945 . Post - War decommissioning . " Wesson " shifted to the inactive fleet berthing area at Green Cove Springs , Florida , to prepare for eventual inactivation . She was decommissioned there on 24 June 1946 and placed in reserve . " Wesson " was transferred to Italy on 10 January 1951 as " Andromeda " ( F - 592 ) and struck from the Navy List on 26 March 1951 . In January 1972 , she was struck from the Italian Naval Register and scrapped . Awards . " Wesson " earned seven battle stars for her World War II service .