USS Harrison ( DD - 573 ) USS " Harrison " ( DD - 573 ) was a of the United States Navy . She was second Navy ship of that name , and the first named in honor of Captain Napoleon Harrison ( 1823 – 1870 ) . " Harrison " was launched by Consolidated Steel Corporation , Orange , Tex . , 4 May 1942 , sponsored by Mrs . Harry B . Hird ; and commissioned 25 January 1943 , Commander C . M . Dalton in command . 1943 . Following shakedown training in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean , " Harrison " escorted a merchant ship to the Panama Canal Zone , and sailed for New York . The ship arrived New York 6 April and Charleston 2 days later . She then joined a convoy out of New York for Casablanca , and after touching at several points in the Mediterranean returned 1 June to Charleston . " Harrison " was then assigned to anti - submarine exercises in Caribbean waters with carrier , after which she performed escort duty in the area until 22 July 1943 . " Harrison " was assigned in mid - 1943 to the Pacific Fleet , where the crescendo of amphibious war was beginning . Departing with carrier from Norfolk , Virginia 22 July , the ship arrived Pearl Harbor 9 August and spent the next days training for the important amphibious operations which were to come . Her job was to screen the carriers as their aircraft softened up Japanese - held islands , and the task group got underway 22 August for strikes against Marcus , Wake , and Tarawa , interspersed with short resupply stops at Pearl Harbor . With these vital preliminary operations complete , " Harrison " departed 21 October for duty in the Solomons , long the scene of bitter fighting both on land and sea . She arrived Espiritu Santo , New Hebrides , 4 November and 3 days later steamed to Empress Augusta Bay , Bougainville , to screen transports carrying reinforcements . As she patrolled off the bay , where Marines had landed 1 November , the Japanese launched a fierce night attack with dive bomber s and torpedo plane s 8 – 9 November . " Harrison " ' s gunners accounted for at least one plane during the battle . The destroyer departed 14 November for the Gilberts operation and again screened transports as they put initial assault troops ashore 20 November . " Harrison " remained off " bloody Tarawa " until 29 November , when she took up patrol off Makin . The ship then sailed to Funafuti 7 December and engaged in training exercises before anchoring at Pearl Harbor 1 January 1944 . She remained in Hawaiian waters for most of January taking part in fire support exercises for impending invasion of the Marshall Islands . 1944 . " Harrison " sailed with the Southern Attack Force 22 January , and arrived off Kwajalein 31 January . She screened battleship s and while the larger ships pounded shore installations , and sank a small tanker with her guns as the Japanese ship attempted to escape from the lagoon . As the Marines landed on Kwajalein and advanced over the numerous islands in the atoll , " Harrison " entered the lagoon 4 February and rendered close fire support . She spent the next 4 weeks patrolling offshore and anchored in the lagoon , departing 1 March for Efate , New Hebrides . The destroyer arrived Efate 7 March and after a short rest screened a task group during the strike on Kavieng , New Ireland , 20 March . Returning to Efate 25 March , she joined some 200 ships for the largest operation yet attempted in the southwest Pacific , the occupation of Hollandia . " Harrison " arrived New Guinea 1 April , engaged in patrol and escort operations until 19 April , and then sailed to Humboldt Bay for the assault . Carriers screened by the destroyer and her sisters bombarded enemy airfields and supported the successful landing , after which " Harrison " arrived Port Purvis 11 May for a month of local exercises and patrols . Next on the timetable of conquest in Micronesia were the Marianas , and " Harrison " sailed 4 June for the Marshalls to prepare for that operation . Arriving Kwajalein 8 June , she engaged in patrolling and readiness operations until 17 June , when she sailed for Guam . " Harrison " arrived 21 June and lent fire support to Marines ashore in addition to patrolling the transport areas . This operation not only constituted a break in Japan ' s inner ring of defenses , but dealt a death blow to the Empire ' s naval air arm at the Battle of the Philippine Sea . " Harrison " sailed back to Espiritu Santo via Eniwetok 16 August . " Harrison " departed 22 August for New Guinea , where she supported with gunfire Rear Admiral Barbey ' s landing on Morotai Island 15 September . After helping to establish this important air base , the destroyer joined a larger task force at Humboldt Bay and departed 13 November for one of the largest operations of the war , the invasion of the Philippines . " Harrison " arrived off Leyte 20 October and delivered accurate shore fire for the assault forces during the initial stages . She then assumed escort duties in already crowded Leyte Gulf until returning to Humboldt Bay 23 October . 1945 . After her many long months in the Pacific forward areas , " Harrison " departed for the United States 1 November and arrived Mare Island Naval Shipyard , California , via Pearl Harbor , 24 November 1944 . She remained there until departing again for Pearl Harbor 20 January 1945 . Arriving Ulithi 7 February , " Harrison " joined Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher ' s famed Fast Carrier Task Force ( then Task Force 58 , of the 5th Fleet ) , and in company with , , and other carriers sailed three days later to stage the first strike on the mainland of Japan since the Halsey - Doolittle raid of 1942 . Observing the strictest secrecy to insure success , the carriers and their escorts arrived off Japan 16 February and launched a devastating series of strikes against the Tokyo area . After these attacks , the vast force moved south to support the Iwo Jima landings , scheduled for the 19th , and remained east of the island until returning for another raid on Tokyo 25 February . Refueling at sea in a remarkable demonstration of the mobility and striking power of carrier forces , the ships then sailed to Okinawa for photo - reconnaissance missions 1 March . This completed , " Harrison " and the rest of the task force arrived Ulithi 5 March 1945 . The great task force sortied once more from Ulithi 14 March to support the Okinawa operation , last stop on the island road to Japan . In heavy strikes 18 – 19 March the carrier forces inflicted great damage on Okinawa in preparation for the invasion , and " Harrison " shot down another attacking enemy aircraft . Attacks against Japanese airfields in the home islands were also launched , cutting down significantly the air opposition over Okinawa during the initial assault . After the Marines stormed ashore 1 April , the carrier groups and their destroyers turned to direct support of the landing . As a Japanese task force , built around the giant battleship " Yamato " , sortied from the inland sea to attack the beaches at Okinawa , TF 58 aircraft delivered a skillful and effective attack , sinking " Yamato " and five other ships while suffering only small losses . During her operations off Okinawa " Harrison " began to experience increasing kamikaze attacks . " Harrison " ' s gunners accounted for two of the suicide planes 6 April , and protected the carriers during countless attacks in the days following the invasion . She returned to Ulithi 30 April for a brief respite , but was underway again 9 May for tactical support of the American forces on bitterly contested Okinawa . The task force , now part of 3d Fleet , continued this pattern , including periodic strikes against Japan , until after the great June typhoon . " Harrison " rode out the storm 5 June in which lost her bow and the ships put in at Leyte Gulf 11 June to repair damage . After replenishing the great task force moved once more toward Japan 1 July . During the next 2 months , devastating air strikes were carried out against Japan , and retaliatory air attacks were fought off by " Harrison " and the other protecting destroyers . Refueling at sea , the carriers kept up a constant bombardment of the home islands . In addition , " Harrison " with four cruiser s and five other destroyers made an anti - shipping sweep along the northern coast of Honshū ; but , testifying to the thoroughness of American surface and submarine attrition , gained not one contact . Then during the night of 30 – 31 July " Harrison " and the rest of her squadron swept Suruga Wan , near Tokyo , and in the very shadow of Mount Fuji bombarded railroad yards and an aluminum plant . Task Force 38 kept up its relentless attacks against Japan until the surrender 15 August . " Harrison " arrived at Guam 26 August and Pearl Harbor 14 September . There the veteran destroyer got underway with carrier for the Panama Canal Zone and the East Coast , arriving Boston 17 October 1945 . After Navy Day celebrations in Boston the ship arrived Charleston 3 November and decommissioned in reserve 1 April 1946 . " Harrison " was shifted to Philadelphia in 1965 and Orange , TX , in 1968 . " Harrison " received 11 battle star s for World War II service . BAM " Cuauhtemoc " ( E - 01 ) . The ship was sold as - is to Mexico 19 Aug 1970 . She served in the Mexican Navy as BAM " Cuauhtemoc " ( E - 01 ) , named after Cuauhtémoc ( " c . " 1502 – 1525 ) , the last Aztec emperor of the Mexica . She was taken out of service in 1982 .