USS Gantner ( DE - 60 ) USS " Gantner " ( DE - 60 / APD - 42 ) , a of the United States Navy , was named in honor of Boatswain ' s Mate Samuel Merritt Gantner ( 1919 - 1941 ) , who was killed in action during the Japan ese attack on the Hawaiian Islands . " Gantner " was launched on 17 April 1943 by the Bethlehem Steel Company , Quincy , Massachusetts , sponsored by Mrs . Samuel M . Gantner , widow of Boatswain ' s Mate Gantner ; commissioned at the Boston Navy Yard on 23 July 1943 , with Lieutenant Commander Barklie M . Henry in command . Service history . World War II , 1943 – 1945 . After shakedown out of Bermuda , " Gantner " escorted SS " George Washington " from Puerto Rico to New York , arriving there on 1 December 1943 . She departed New York on 26 December 1943 as a part of the escort for a convoy which reached Derry , Northern Ireland on 8 January 1944 . She returned to New York on 24 January and by 8 October had made seven more trans - Atlantic escort voyages from that port to Derry . Following repairs in the Boston Naval Shipyard and battle practice in Casco Bay , " Gantner " departed Boston on 3 November 1944 escorting fleet tug and towing concrete repair dock " ARDC - 1 " to Cristóbal , Canal Zone . She then proceeded to Miami , Florida , to serve as floating school ship in waters extending to the Bahamas and Guantanamo Bay , Cuba . She departed Miami on 19 February 1945 for conversion to a " Charles Lawrence " - class high speed transport in the New York Naval Shipyard . She was reclassified APD - 42 on 23 February 1945 . " Gantner " departed New York on 14 May 1945 for amphibious warfare landing exercises in the Chesapeake Bay area until 2 June , then proceeded via the Panama Canal and San Diego to Pearl Harbor where she reported for duty with the 5th Amphibious Force , Pacific Fleet , on 28 June . After training Underwater Demolition Team s in Maalea Bay until 3 August , she embarked UDT - 3 at San Diego and sailed for the Far East via Hawaii and the Marshall Islands to Japan , entering Tokyo Bay on 4 September . Her frogmen reconnoitered beaches and reported on suitability of landing Army occupation force s at Shiogama Wan and Ominato Ko , Honshū , Japan . From 30 September to 7 October 1945 , her swimmers made surveys for the Port Director , Otaru , Hokkaidō with the help of United States Army advance parties ashore . " Gantner " departed Tokyo Bay on 12 October 1945 to embark a returning Marine contingent at Apra Harbor , Guam , and sailed thence via the Marshalls and Hawaii to San Diego where she disembarked military passengers on 1 November 1945 . 1946 – 1949 . For the next three years she was based at San Diego , largely employed as an amphibious warfare training ship for Marines . From 26 January to 6 March 1946 she made a cruise from San Diego with the 1st Marine Division Reconnaissance Detachment for cold weather maneuvers that took her to Kodiak , Juneau , Tolstoi Bay and Clarence Strait , Alaska . Her amphibious schedule on the California coast was again interrupted on 28 October – 18 November 1948 by a cruise northward to act as guard ship on weather and air - sea rescue patrol station for Navy patrol planes scouting north to Seattle , and thence back to San Francisco . " Gantner " resumed her amphibious training out of San Diego until 19 January 1949 when she sailed for Shanghai , China . She reached her destination on 14 February and served on station at the Chinese ports of Shanghai , Nanking and Tsingtao . Departing the last named port on 7 April , she accompanied the escort carrier to Yokosuka , Japan , then sailed via Guam and Pearl Harbor for the west coast , arriving at San Diego on 4 May 1949 . Decommissioning and sale to the Republic of China . " Gantner " was decommissioned on 2 August 1949 , and was assigned to the San Diego Group , Pacific Reserve Fleet . She was struck from the Navy List on 15 January 1966 . On 22 February 1966 , " Gantner " was sold to Nationalist China under the Military Assistance Program . The ex - " Gantner " collided on 17 April 1966 with ex - " Walter B . Cobb " ( former APD - 106 ) , while both were under tow to Taiwan , resulting in the loss of ex - " Walter B . Cobb " . Ex - " Gantner " was commissioned into the Republic of China Navy in May 1966 as frigate " Wen Shan " ( PF - 34 ) . With a different hull number , 834 , " Wen Shan " was scrapped in 1991 .