USS Clemson ( DD - 186 ) USS " Clemson " ( DD - 186 / AVP - 17 / AVD - 4 / DD - 186 / APD - 31 ) was the lead ship of her class of destroyer s which served in the United States Navy during World War II . She was named for Midshipman Henry A . Clemson ( 1820 – 1846 ) , lost at sea when the brig capsized in a sudden squall off Vera Cruz on 8 December 1846 while chasing a blockade runner . She is the only ship in the United States Navy to have received the name " Clemson " . " Clemson " was launched 5 September 1918 by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company , Newport News , Virginia ; sponsored by Miss M . C . Daniels ; and commissioned 29 December 1919 , Lieutenant Commander G . C . Dichman in command . Service history . " Clemson " cruised in east coast and Cuban waters until placed in reserve with 50 % complement at Norfolk Navy Yard 13 June 1920 . She lay there and later at Charleston , South Carolina and Boston Navy Yard s until she sailed to Philadelphia Navy Yard , where she was decommissioned 30 June 1922 . World War II . In the Atlantic . Reclassified AVP - 17 , 15 November 1939 , and converted into a small aircraft tender , " Clemson " was recommissioned 12 July 1940 . On 6 August , she was again reclassified , becoming AVD - 4 , and on 18 August reported to Commander , Aircraft , Scouting Force , Atlantic Fleet at Norfolk , Virginia . From 29 August 1940 to 28 November 1941 she tended patrol planes in the Caribbean and at the Galapagos Islands . " Clemson " then sailed south arriving at Recife , Brazil , 6 December . She remained on the coast of Brazil until 22 January 1942 when she returned to the Galapagos Islands . For the next year the tender shuttled between there and the Caribbean as her services was required . She returned to Norfolk , 2 March 1943 and then moved to Charleston , for reconversion to a destroyer ( although not reclassified DD - 186 until 1 December 1943 ) . On 30 May 1943 , she joined the pioneer American hunter - killer group built around . " Clemson " made eight patrols with the group during which it sank eight German submarine s , a major contribution to victory in the Battle of the Atlantic . " Clemson " shared in the credit for the sinking of on 13 December in 26° 19 ' N . , 29° 58 ' W . After an overhaul at New York early in 1944 , she escorted a convoy to Casablanca and back between 25 January and 9 March . Once more , " Clemson " underwent conversion , this time to a high speed transport at Charleston Navy Yard ( reclassified APD - 31 , 7 March 1944 ) . " Clemson " shared in the Presidential Unit Citation awarded the " Bogue " hunter - killer group . In the Pacific . Clearing Charleston 1 May 1944 , the transport reached Pearl Harbor 24 May and embarked Underwater Demolition Team 6 . She then sailed westward to act as a mother ship for the UDT as it prepared beaches immediately before the invasions of Saipan , Guam , Peleliu , Leyte and of Luzon . While entering Lingayen Gulf 5 January 1945 , she drove off a Japan ese air attack . " Clemson " escorted convoys to Ulithi , Saipan , and Okinawa before returning to San Pedro , California , 6 July . Re - designated DD - 186 , 17 July , she was still undergoing reconversion when World War II ended . She was decommissioned 12 October 1945 and sold 21 November 1946 . The ship ' s bell is privately owned in Clemson , South Carolina . Awards . " Clemson " received nine battle star s for World War II service .