USS Smalley ( DD - 565 ) USS " Smalley " ( DD - 565 ) , a , was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for Ensign Anthony A . Smalley ( 1836 – 1894 ) . " Smalley " was laid down on 14 February 1943 by the Seattle - Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation , Seattle , Wash . ; launched on 27 October 1943 , sponsored by Miss Lina A . Mayo ; and commissioned on 31 March 1944 , Commander P . H . Horn in command . Following shakedown , the ship and one destroyer got underway on 7 June 1944 to escort three troop transports to Hawaii . The convoy arrived at Pearl Harbor on 11 July 1944 . On the 28th , the ship ' s complement manned the rail for President Franklin D . Roosevelt when he steamed into Pearl Harbor on board the cruiser . On 8 August , " Smalley " sailed for the Aleutians . On 21 November 1944 , the destroyer fired on buildings , tents , machine gun emplacements , and an airstrip on Matsuwa Island in the Japanese Kurils . In the bombardment , she fired 466 rounds . She later made three more similar bombardment missions during her Aleutian tour . On 18 April 1945 , " Smalley " received orders back to Hawaii . On 11 May , she joined and in screening aircraft carrier to Ulithi Atoll . A week later , planes from " Ticonderoga " struck Taroa Island . During this raid , " Smalley " rescued a crewman from a downed torpedo plane . On 4 June 1945 , " Smalley " arrived off Okinawa to help the Allied struggle for that bitterly contested island . " Smalley " was assigned close support radar picket duty . Her duty was twofold : antisubmarine patrolling and air defense of the transport area . Following this mission , she participated in the final assault on the Japanese home islands by offensive surface sweeps , control of Combat Air Patrol , reconnaissance missions , and shore bombardment . Her final shore bombardment occurred on 23 July 1945 when she shelled Chichi - jima . " Smalley " returned to the United States in October 1945 ; and , a little over two years later , in January 1947 , she was decommissioned . The ship was placed in the United States Atlantic Reserve Fleet at the Charleston Naval Shipyard . The Korean War prompted the recommissioning of " Smalley " on 3 July 1951 . After refresher training at Guantanamo Bay , " Smalley " sailed to Newport , R . I . , arriving at her new homeport on 10 December 1951 . " Smalley " spent all of 1952 on additional training coupled with maintenance and calibration of equipment ; and , after a yard period in Boston in the spring of 1953 , she sailed on 19 May for Korea . On 2 July , " Smalley " entered the Korean Combat Zone acting as plane guard for . " Smalley " continued operating with TF 77 as the carriers of the force carried out the famous " Cherokee " strikes until the signing of the armistice on 27 July 1953 . " Smalley " remained in the former combat zone until early November . She performed such diverse tasks as ferrying 110 Marines from Sasebo , Japan , to Pusan , Korea , and assisting a South Korean fishing vessel in distress . In the latter case , she took on board the vessel ' s 29 men . " Smalley " departed the Far East in November 1953 and returned to Newport on 15 January 1954 . Her route homeward included calls at Hong Kong , Singapore , Ceylon , Saudi Arabia , Aden , Port Said , Piraeus , Cannes , and Gibraltar . " Smalley " remained home ported in Newport , Rhode Island , until July 1955 when she got under - way for a northern Europe and a Mediterranean cruise . She visited England , Denmark , Finland , Scotland , Spain , France , and Turkey and worked with units of both the Danish and the British Fleets . " Smalley " sailed for home on 15 November and arrived in Newport on the 28th . The year 1956 saw a cruise in Caribbean waters followed by a yard period . Then , in 1957 , " Smalley " left Newport on what was to be her last operational assignment : a cruise with the Mideast Force showing the flag in ports along the eastern coast of Africa and along the shores of the Persian Gulf . En route to her new assignment , " Smalley " visited Sierra Leone , Cape Town , and Mombasa ( Kenya ) before arriving at Karachi , Pakistan , on 10 February . Following two return trips to Bahrain in the Persian Gulf , she departed the area in April and , after calling once again at Mombasa , Cape Town , Freetown , and Sierra Leone , " Smalley " returned home . On 12 June , " Smalley " went into dry dock at the Charleston Naval Shipyard ; and , on 23 August 1957 , " Smalley " departed her home port for the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard . She was decommissioned there and entered the United States Atlantic Reserve Fleet where she remained until she was struck from the Navy list on 1 April 1965 and sold to the Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation . " Smalley " was awarded three battle star s for her World War II operations and one star for her Korean War service .