USS Pringle ( DD - 477 ) USS " Pringle " ( DD - 477 ) , a , was a ship of the United States Navy named for Vice Admiral Joel R . P . Pringle ( 1873 – 1932 ) . " Pringle " was laid down by the Charleston Navy Yard , on 31 July 1941 ; launched on 2 May 1942 , sponsored by Mrs . John D . H . Kane ; and commissioned on 15 September 1942 , with Lieutenant Commander Harold O . Larson in command . Service history . " Pringle " was one of the three Fletcher - class destroyers to be built ( out of 6 planned ) with a catapult for a float plane . The catapult and an aircraft crane were located just aft of the number 2 smokestack , in place of the after torpedo tube mount , 5 inch mount number 3 , and the 2nd deck of the after deck house which normally carried a twin 40 mm anti - aircraft gun on most ships of the class . ( The twin 40 mm mount was moved to the fantail , just forward of the depth charge racks , where most ships of the class carried 20 mm mounts . ) It was intended that the float plane be used for scouting for the destroyer flotilla to which the ship was attached . It would be launched by the catapult , land on the water next to the ship , and be recovered by the aircraft crane . " Pringle " was the only one of the three ships that eventually received the catapult to use it operationally . It turned out to be not operationally suitable for the intended purpose , and the three ships were ultimately converted to the standard Fletcher - class configuration . Following shakedown , " Pringle " joined Convoy ON - 154 in mid - Atlantic 1 January 1943 to escort the Halifax - bound contingent . While on this duty she was the first U . S . destroyer to use an aircraft with catapult . The float plane was catapulted off to search for enemy submarines . Recovery of the plane in the prevailing weather for a ship the size of the " Pringle " was difficult . On 6 February , she got underway for the Pacific Theater . Arriving off Guadalcanal on 30 May , she took up patrol duties off the Solomons , and , on the night of 17 / 18 July , joined and in attacking three Japanese destroyers off Vanga Point , Kolombangara . Scoring several torpedo hits , she also shot down one Japan ese plane . As the Solomon Islands campaign continued into August , " Pringle " screened advance units of the Vella Lavella assault force , escorted LST s through Gizo strait , and on the 24th covered minelaying operations off Kolombangara under Japanese guns . On the night of 3 / 4 September , " Pringle " with made a sweep of Japanese barges between Gambi Head , Choiseul , and Kolombangara , sinking three . While escorting Task Group 31 . 7 into Empress Augusta Bay , Bougainville , on 11 November , 10 days after the initial landing there , " Pringle " shot down one Japanese plane and damaged another . With the exception of a run to Sydney in late January 1944 , she continued to operate in the Solomons for the next few months . She swept the southwest coast of Bougainville during daylight in early March , bombarding enemy installations and beached barges . The Marianas operation produced another long period of bombardment , screening and anti - submarine missions for " Pringle " . During the assaults on Saipan and Tinian , she conducted fire support operations . She then returned to San Francisco , California , for refit and to rest her crew . After overhaul at Mare Island Naval Shipyard , " Pringle " sailed for Pearl Harbor on 19 October . She departed Pearl Harbor on 10 November for the Philippines to take part in the upcoming invasion . From 27 – 28 November , she bombarded enemy shore positions near Ormoc Bay , Leyte , shooting down a Japanese plane on the same day . On 28 November , she and " Saufley " , " Waller " , and combined to sink . " Pringle " came under her most intense air attack while escorting a re - supply echelon to Mindoro from 27 – 30 December . Several ships in the convoy were sunk , while " Pringle " shot down two planes . On the 30th , a " kamikaze " crashed into her after deckhouse , killing 11 men and injuring 20 , totally destroying one 40 mm mount and damaging two 5 inch mounts . Back in service in February , " Pringle " screened transports to Iwo Jima for the assault there on the 17th , then provided fire support for the Marines ashore . Returning to Ulithi on 4 March , she prepared for the assault on Okinawa . Fate . Operating with Destroyer Division 90 , she screened transport areas , covered minesweeper s , and provided support fire . Assigned to radar picket duty on 15 April , she splashed two " kamikazes " on 16 April 1945 before a third crashed into her bridge , and plowed through the superstructure deck , abaft the base of number one stack . A single 1 , 000 pound bomb , or two 500 - pounders , penetrated the main and superstructure decks and exploded with a violent eruption , buckling the keel and splitting the vessel in two at the forward fire room . Six minutes later , 258 survivors watched " Pringle " slide beneath the surface . Honors . " Pringle " earned 10 battle star s for World War II service .