USS Fitch ( DD - 462 ) USS " Fitch " ( DD - 462 / DMS - 25 ) , a " Gleaves " - class destroyer , was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Commander LeRoy Fitch , an officer during the American Civil War . " Fitch " was launched on 14 June 1941 by Boston Navy Yard ; sponsored by Mrs . H . W . Thomas , grandniece of Commander Fitch ; and commissioned on 3 February 1942 , Lieutenant Commander Henry Crommelin in command . She was reclassified DMS - 25 on 15 November 1944 , and again classified DD - 462 on 15 July 1955 . Service history . " Fitch " s first mission , from 1 July to 5 August 1942 , was to escort to a point off the Gold Coast , where the carrier flew off Army planes for the base at Accra . The destroyer returned to Norfolk on 5 August for exercises in preparation for the assault on North Africa , for which she sailed from Bermuda 25 October . Screening " Ranger " and two escort carrier s , " Fitch " took part in the landings at Fedhala , French Morocco , on 8 November , and guarded the carriers as they flew Army planes off to the captured airfield at Port Lyautey . Returning to Norfolk 24 November , " Fitch " joined in exercises in Casco and Chesapeake Bays , and performed coastal escort duty , sailing as far south as the Panama Canal Zone , through the remainder of 1942 . On 8 January 1943 , " Fitch " cleared Norfolk with " Ranger " on the first of two voyages to launch aircraft to North Africa n bases . Operations with " Ranger " completed , " Fitch " served on patrol out of NS Argentia , Newfoundland , from 6 April to 12 May , then sailed to Scapa Flow , Orkney Islands , Scotland , to join the British Home Fleet for patrol duty between that base and Iceland . She served on this duty through the summer , protecting northern convoys , then returned to Norfolk on 9 August . Sailing on 2 September 1943 to escort a convoy to Derry , Northern Ireland , " Fitch " continued to Thurso Bay , where on 20 September she embarked Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox and Admiral Harold R . Stark for transportation to Scapa Flow . Operating out of Scapa Flow for the next two months , " Fitch " screened " Ranger " as her planes attacked German forces and installations near Bodø , Norway , on 4 October , and patrolled off Spitzbergen as the men of the weather station there were relieved and resupplied . " Fitch " returned to Boston 3 December 1943 to resume coastal and Caribbean escort duty and to take part in hunter - killer operations in the western Atlantic until 25 April 1944 , when she got underway from Norfolk for Belfast , Northern Ireland . In the great buildup for the Normandy invasion , " Fitch " escorted single ships and convoys between Belfast and Plymouth , England , and took part in training exercises until 6 June , when she sailed from Plymouth for the assault . Arriving off Utah Beach early in the morning of the invasion , " Fitch " followed the minesweepers through the newly swept channels to within 2 , 000 yards of the coast . Her mission was to draw out and silence German batteries prior to the landings . In addition to her effective gunfire , " Fitch " rescued the survivors of , keeping up her fire at the shore batteries as she did so . After two days screening the transport area , she returned to Plymouth for supplies , then continued to give fire support and to patrol off the beachheads until 19 June . Convoy escort duty around the British Isles was her assignment until 4 July , when she sailed from Belfast for Oran , and exercises in the western Mediterranean . " Fitch " sortied from Taranto , Italy , 11 August 1944 for the invasion of Southern France on 15 August , during which she spotted the fire of as well as firing in the prelanding bombardment . Until 25 October , she supported the buildup in southern France by escorting convoys moving between Naples , Palermo , Oran , Gibraltar , and Marseilles . Between her return to Norfolk on 10 November and 3 January 1945 , when she sailed for the Pacific , " Fitch " was converted to a high - speed minesweeper . Arriving at Pearl Harbor on 10 February 1945 , " Fitch " trained in minesweeping exercises there and at Ulithi , where her propellers were badly damaged when she ran afoul of a coral pinnacle . Repairs were made at Pearl Harbor from 10 April to 6 August , when she sailed to join the 3rd Fleet off Japan . " Fitch " began sweeping the entrance to Tokyo Bay on 28 August , and was present for the surrender ceremonies on 2 September . She continued to sweep off Japan and in the East China Sea until returning to San Diego on 23 December . On 9 January 1946 , " Fitch " arrived at Norfolk , where she was immobilized for a month . She voyaged between Norfolk , Charleston , and New York transferring minesweeper crews for several months , and in November , from her home port at Charleston , began regular operations training Mine Force officers , exercising in the Caribbean and along the east coast , and cruising to the Mediterranean in 1949 , 1951 , and 1953 . During 1955 , she conducted tests in the Caribbean for the Operational Development Force . " Fitch " was decommissioned at Charleston 24 February 1956 and placed in reserve . Awards . " Fitch " received five battle star s for her World War II service .