USS Lyman K . Swenson ( DD - 729 ) USS " Lyman K . Swenson " ( DD - 729 ) , an " Allen M . Sumner " - class destroyer , was laid down 11 September 1943 by Bath Iron Works , Bath , Maine ; launched 12 February 1944 ; sponsored by Miss Cecelia A . Swenson , daughter of Captain Swenson ; and commissioned at Boston Navy Yard 2 May 1944 , Commander Francis T . Williamson in command . " USS Lyman K . Swenson ( DD - 729 ) " is the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Lyman Knute Swenson , who was the captain of the USS " Juneau " ( CL - 52 ) . The " Juneau " was lost during the Battle of Guadalcanal , taking with it 690 men , including Captain Swenson as well as the five Sullivan brothers . Lyman Swenson was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his service . Initial operations . Commissioned after the battle for the Atlantic had been decided , " Lyman K . Swenson " completed a Bermuda ‑ based shakedown cruise 25 June 1944 and prepared for duty in the Pacific . Departing Boston 31 July , the new destroyer transited the Panama Canal 8 August and arrived at Pearl Harbor the 30th . After intensive training and practice in antisubmarine warfare ( ASW ) and antiaircraft warfare ( AAW ) , she departed for the war zone 28 September , dropping anchor at Ulithi — her base for the next six months ‑ on 13 October . World War II . " Lyman K . Swenson " left Ulithi 21 October as part of DesRon 61 , screening a replenishment group of 10 oilers . This group remained off the Philippines , refueling Admiral Halsey ’ s carrier forces while the Japanese Navy suffered its crippling defeat at the Battle for Leyte Gulf , 24 to 26 October . The destroyer then joined TG 38 . 4 for carrier support duties . On 30 October , while supporting operations on Leyte , she saw her first hostile action . Carriers " Franklin " and " Belleau Wood " received hits and the group retired to Ulithi for replenishment and repairs . During much of November and December , " Lyman K . Swenson " screened various carrier groups engaged in the process of softening up the island of Luzon . Mid ‑ December witnessed the rescue of four pilots and three enlisted men while on plane guard duty , and the horrors of a typhoon which generated waves 50 and 60 feet high . Though three destroyers capsized , " Lyman K . Swenson " emerged safely and returned to Ulithi . The new year dawned as she steamed with TG 38 . 1 on a 3 , 800 ‑ mile raid which spewed destruction on Formosa , Luzon , and on Japanese shipping along the Vietnamese and Chinese coasts . Okinawa also received attention from the carriers ’ planes before the return to Ulithi 26 January 1945 . For the next 4 months aircraft and repair centers on Okinawa and the Japanese home island of Kyushu were the main targets for the strike group temporarily redesignated TG 58 . 1 . During the Okinawa campaign the Japanese again attacked with much of their remaining airpower . With air targets plentiful , " Lyman K . Swenson " shot down her first plane , a Francis , on 18 March , and destroyed her second on the 27th . This campaign also provided an opportunity for shore bombardment as she shelled Okino Daita Shima early in March , and Minami Daito Jima in April and again in June . With her sister ships , she then returned to San Pedro Bay , Leyte , to prepare for a mission which would continue until the surrender of Japan 71 days later . Five carriers , three battleships , six cruisers and their destroyer screen steamed forth 1 July to practice screen reorientation and conduct antiaircraft practice before proceeding northward to carry the war to the heart of the Japanese home islands . Air opposition remained minimal ; and , after DesRon 61 ’ s anti - shipping sweep into Sagami Wan , Honshū , on the night of 22 / 23 July , enemy ships also proved difficult to locate . " Lyman K . Swenson " remained in enemy waters until after Japan ’ s formal surrender on board battleship USS " Missouri " ( BB - 63 ) , 2 September . On 20 September came the welcome order to depart Tokyo Bay ; and , after picking up additional passengers in Okinawa , " Lyman K . Swenson " proceeded back to the United States . She reached Seattle 15 October , and then settled down in dry dock at San Francisco on the 29th . " Lyman K . Swenson " returned to the Far East as part of the 7th Fleet from 2 March 1946 to 4 February 1947 . After performing patrol duties along the Chinese , Korean , and Japanese coasts , she steamed home to San Diego via Kwajalein , arriving 22 February . For the next 2 years she trained both her own crew and Naval reservists off the west coast . Korea . In March 1950 she again turned westward . A member of DesRon 9 , she worked with the carrier USS " Boxer " out of Okinawa until the outbreak of the Korean War brought immediate assignment to Korean waters . Reacting with the characteristic speed of seaborn power , her group launched the first carrier based strike against North Korea 3 July . Besides plane guard and patrol duties she also participated in shore bombardment and five support missions along the eastern coast . Missions near Yongdok 22 to 26 July and against Chongjin in the far northeast corner of Korea 20 August were among the more successful ones . On 12 September the " Lyman K . Swenson " sailed as a ship of Task Element 90 . 62 , the Destroyer Element of the Gunfire Support Group of the Inchon Attack Force . The following day at noon the six - ship Destroyer Element stood into Inchon harbor . On the way in they encountered a mine field . Because it was low tide the mines were visible , floating on the surface . " Lyman K . Swenson " destroyed one mine with 40 - mm gunfire . After anchoring in assigned positions , the destroyers conducted a one - hour bombardment against observed and suspected gun positions on the island of Wolmi - do and in the city of Inchon . This reconnaissance - in - force was intended to draw the fire of North Korean batteries . Thus their location would be revealed for neutralization by destroyer or cruiser gunfire , or by air strikes . The bombardment was highly successful . The press , and later on the historians , aptly dubbed the ships of the Destroyer Element as " Sitting Ducks " . Upon retirement from the harbor , some enemy guns that had not been silenced opened up on the narrow channel through which the destroyers must pass . Shell fragments killed one officer and wounded another on board the " Swenson " during channel transit . The next day Lt ( JG ) David H . Swenson was buried at sea . For many years it was reported that Lt ( JG ) Swenson was the nephew of Capt . Lyman K . Swenson . He was , in fact , not related to Capt . Swenson . Captain Lyman Knute Swenson ' s real family name was spelled " Swensen " , with an " e " . When he entered the Academy and his name was placed on the official roster , a yeoman misspelled his name as " Swenson " , with an " o " . Needless to say , in true military fashion , this was unchangeable . Henceforth Lyman K . Swensen was to be identified as Lyman K . Swenson . The media coverage of LTjg David Swenson ' s death at Inchon was misinformation . Captain Robert A . Schelling , C . O . of the Swenson at the time , tried to correct the media version but was unsuccessful in doing so . Descendants of Capt . Lyman K . Swenson also confirm the original spelling of his last name as being with an " e " and that LTjg David Swenson was not related to him . On 15 February 2001 the Department of The Navy , Naval Historical Center , confirmed that Ltjg David Swenson was indeed not related in any manner to Capt . Lyman K . Swenson . The Department of The Navy amended the erroneous information which had been included on the Department of the Navy website page for the USS " Lyman K . Swenson " . On D ‑ Day , 15 September , " Swenson " returned eagerly to cover the landing and shell the enemy . For their gallantry all six ships received the Navy Unit Commendation and the Korean Presidential Unit Citation . On 23 October , " Lyman K . Swenson " retired to Sasebo , Japan , and then on to the United States , arriving San Diego 18 November . After 7 months at home , she again departed for Korea 18 June 1951 . On this 8 ‑ month tour , and the succeeding one which began 15 September 1952 , her main duties remained much the same as they had been during 1950 . She took special pride in her ability to disrupt railroad and highway transportation and twice earned the praise of Vice Adm . H . M . Martin . 1953 - 1965 . In the aftermath of the Korean Armistice , July 1953 , " Lyman K . Swenson " continued to average one six - month deployment annually in the western Pacific until 1960 . To catch up with changing technology she entered the Mare Island Naval Shipyard 27 June 1960 for a FRAM II refit . Antisubmarine warfare capabilities received the greatest emphasis as she received a helicopter flight and hangar deck . Following underway training and exercises , she departed 6 January 1962 with DesDiv 92 for a prolonged stay in the Far East . Yokosuka , Japan , served as her new home port . Periods of patrol duty preceded and followed SEATO operation “ Tulungan ” , the largest peacetime amphibious landing operation ever conducted in the western Pacific . During the next two years , the ship ranged widely over the Far East . After particularly extensive 7th Fleet exercise “ Crazy Horse , ” she paid a three day good will visit to Bangkok , Thailand , and a four day visit to Saigon . On 12 June 1964 , " Lyman K . Swenson " departed Yokosuka for the United States , arriving San Diego 27 July via Australia . Once home , time passed quickly until January 1965 when she entered Puget Sound Navy Yard for overhaul . Following refresher training , she helped host four Japan Self - Defense Forces destroyers in San Diego on a summer cruise . With orders to proceed to the troubled coast of the Republic of Vietnam , " Lyman K . Swenson " departed San Diego 24 August 1965 and commenced fire support operations 4 October . In her first two weeks of action she expended as much ammunition as two months of comparable duty during the Korean War in 1950 . Screen and plane guard duties for carriers " Independence " ( CVL - 22 ) and " Ticonderoga " ( CV - 14 ) normally followed such periods of fire support . 1966 - 1974 . " Lyman K . Swenson " continued on station until departing for home in January 1966 . She arrived in San Diego 26 February and participated in the annual midshipmen training cruise in June . For the remainder of 1966 " Lyman K . Swenson " operated out of her home port of San Diego on various ASW and gunnery exercises . From . 26 January to 1 March 1967 she underwent predeployment repairs in Long Beach Naval Shipyard . 8 April saw the ship once again underway for the western Pacific . After a stop in Yokosuka , Japan , she operated in the northern Tonkin Gulf as a search and rescue unit from May through August . She escorted the carrier " Constellation " ( CV - 64 ) into September , then sailed once again for home . Arriving home 6 October 1967 , after another successful deployment , the veteran destroyer served as an engineering school ship and was assigned availability to the Development and Training Command into 1968 . She remained in the eastern Pacific through most of 1968 , deploying to WestPac again late in the year , to serve there into 1969 . Fate . " Lyman K . Swenson " was decommissioned 12 February 1971 and then later stricken from the register 1 February 1974 . Within months she was sold to Taiwan 6 May 1974 and cannibalized for spare parts . " Lyman K . Swenson " received five battle stars for World War II service and six battle stars for Korean service .