USS Dickerson ( DD - 157 ) USS " Dickerson " ( DD - 157 ) was a " Wickes " - class destroyer in the United States Navy , and was converted to a high - speed transport at Charleston , South Carolina and designated APD - 21 in 1943 . She was named for Mahlon Dickerson ( 1770 – 1853 ) , Secretary of the Navy from 1834 to 1838 . " Dickerson " was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden in New Jersey on 25 May 1918 , launched on 12 March 1919 by Mrs . J . S . Dickerson and commissioned on 3 September 1919 . " Dickerson " was decommissioned on 26 June 1922 and placed in reserve at the New York Navy Yard until recommissioned on 1 May 1930 , served with the Rotating Reserve , was assigned to the Neutrality Patrol at Key West on 25 July 1940 , Service history . " Dickerson " operated along the east coast and in the Caribbean and in 1921 took part in the combined fleet maneuvers off South America , visiting Valparaíso , Callao , and Balboa , Panama , before returning to Hampton Roads where the U . S . Atlantic Fleet was reviewed by President Warren G . Harding . Entering New York Navy Yard in November 1921 , " Dickerson " was decommissioned there 25 June 1922 . Recommissioned 1 May 1930 , " Dickerson " resumed operations along the east coast and in the Caribbean , engaging in tactical exercises with carriers , torpedo firing , and maneuvers with the Fleet . In 1932 and again in 1933 - 34 , she transited the Panama Canal for combined fleet maneuvers on the west coast . Upon her return from the latter cruise , she took part in the Presidential Fleet Review on 31 May 1934 at Brooklyn , New York , then entered Norfolk Navy Yard in August where she was assigned to Rotating Reserve Squadron 19 for overhaul . In 1935 , she was attached to the Training Squadron and served as training ship for members of the Naval Reserve , operating between Charleston and Florida and the Caribbean . Assigned to Destroyer Squadron 10 , Atlantic Squadron , in 1938 , " Dickerson " acted as plane guard for operating off Norfolk , then took part in the fleet landing exercises in the Caribbean in the spring of 1939 . She sailed from Norfolk late that summer to join Squadron 40 - T at Lisbon , Portugal . During the year spent in European waters , she visited Spanish ports ; aided in the evacuation of refugees from Casablanca ; and executed special mission for the State Department . She returned to Norfolk 25 July 1940 . World War II . " Dickerson " was assigned to the Neutrality Patrol at Key West and except for brief duty at New London with Submarine Squadron 2 in October 1940 , remained on patrol in the Caribbean until October 1941 . During this time she searched for and recovered six survivors of in September . After American entry into the war she was sent to NS Argentia , Newfoundland where she continued to patrol and escorted one convoy to Iceland and return ( December 1941 - January 1942 ) . By March 1942 , " Dickerson " was back at Norfolk for coastal patrol and escort duty . On 19 March , while returning to Norfolk , she sighted an unidentified ship which fired on the destroyer and badly damaged the charthouse . Four of " Dickerson " s crew was killed , including her commanding officer , Lieutenant Commander J . K . Reybold . The attacking ship was identified as a nervous merchantman , , and " Dickerson " continued on to Norfolk for repairs . She returned to duty in April and escorted convoys between Norfolk and Key West until August ; between Key West and New York until October ; and between New York and Cuba until January 1943 . In the first half of 1943 , " Dickerson " operated in the Caribbean and escorted tanker convoys to Gibraltar and Algiers . She joined the hunter - killer group at Casablanca in June for offensive operations in the middle Atlantic . Between 17 July and 13 August , she sailed to Derry , Northern Ireland , for exercises with British Fleet units , returning to Charleston , S . C . , for conversion to a high - speed transport . As a high - speed transport . " Dickerson " was reclassified APD - 21 on 21 August 1943 . She sailed from Norfolk 1 November 1943 for the Pacific . She escorted convoys from Espiritu Santo to Guadalcanal , and then remained in the Solomons on patrol and local escort duty . On 30 January 1944 , she landed a reconnaissance group of New Zealanders on Green Island , reembarking them shortly after midnight of 1 February after the boats were strafed by enemy airplanes . On the 15th and 20th , she landed troops on the island to capture and occupy it , and on 20 March landed marines on Emirau Island without opposition . In April 1944 , " Dickerson " arrived at Milne Bay , and during her 2 months in the New Guinea area , supported the landings at Seleo Island and Aitape . After a brief repair period at Pearl Harbor , she arrived at Roi in the Marshalls to embark an underwater demolition team from and carried them into action at Saipan and Guam . She remained in the Marianas as supply , control and fire support ship for her team until the end of July , then returned to the west coast for overhaul the following month . Fate . " Dickerson " returned to action in November 1944 with her arrival at Aitape , New Guinea . After escort duty in New Guinea , she sailed 27 December for the invasion of Lingayen Gulf , Luzon , on 9 January 1945 , again supporting the operations of an underwater demolition team . She reported to Ulithi at the end of January for repairs , and then joined the screen of a logistics support force for the invasion of Iwo Jima 19 February . She returned to Leyte with 58 prisoners of war , then departed again 24 March with an LST - LSM convoy which was assigned to capture the island of Keise Shima , on which heavy artillery would be placed for the bombardment of Okinawa . Her mission complete , " Dickerson " was with the transports southwest of Okinawa on the night of 2 April , when the Japan ese attacked in strength . One of the " kamikaze " planes approached the destroyer in a long , low glide , and slashed off the tops of her two stacks before smashing into the base of her bridge , toppling her mast and starting intense gasoline fires . Almost simultaneously another plane scored a direct hit on the center of her forecastle . The explosion tore a hole in the deck almost the complete width of the ship . Despite immediate fire and damage control measures , " Dickerson " s crew was forced to abandon ship when the raging fires threatened her forward magazine . Fifty - four officers and men , including the commanding officer , were lost . and stood by to rescue survivors , and " Bunch " succeeded in putting out the fires which had virtually demolished " Dickerson " . The smoldering hulk was towed by to a captured Japanese Base , Kerama Retto , the dead and salvageable material was removed , then it was towed out to sea and sunk on 4 April 1945 . Awards . " Dickerson " received six battle star s for World War II service .