USS O ' Brien ( DD - 725 ) USS " O ' Brien " ( DD - 725 ) , an , was the 4th ship of the United States Navy to be named after Captain Jeremiah O ' Brien and his five brothers , Gideon , John , William , Dennis and Joseph , who captured HMS " Margaretta " on 12 June 1775 during the American revolution . The fourth " O ' Brien " ( DD - 725 ) was laid down by Bath Iron Works , Bath , Maine , 12 July 1943 and launched 8 December 1943 ; sponsored by Miss Josephine O ' Brien Campbell greatgreat - great granddaughter of Gideon O ' Brien and commissioned at Boston Naval Shipyard , Commander P . F . Heerbrandt in command 25 February 1944 . World War II . After shakedown out of Bermuda , British West Indies and Norfolk , Virginia " O ' Brien " joined convoy forces 14 May 1944 en route to Scotland and England . Following patrol and escort duty near England , she participated the invasion of Normandy and in - shore Bombardment of Cherbourg . On 25 June while supporting minesweeps well inshore of " Texas " ( BB - 35 ) , which was engaging German shore batteries at Cape Levi , near Cherbourg , " O ' Brien ' s " own gunfire was so accurate that enemy gunnery positions shifted from " Texas " to " O ' Brien " . She received a direct hit just abaft the bridge , but was able to stay on station long enough to lay a smoke screen for " Texas " . Thirteen men were killed and nineteen wounded . Following temporary repairs on the Isle of Portland , England , " O ' Brien " escorted a convoy to the Boston Naval Shipyard where she underwent extensive work . After training in the Boston and Norfolk areas , she escorted " Ticonderoga " ( CV - 14 ) to the Pacific via the Panama Canal and San Diego for carrier operations with the 3rd Fleet east of the Philippines . In early December , she joined 7th Fleet assault forces at Ormoc Bay , Philippines . While under continuous air attack , " O ' Brien " crewmen attempted to extinguish oil fires in " Ward " ( APD - 16 ) , caused by Japanese suicide planes , until ordered to sink the stricken transport by gunfire . " O ' Brien ' s " commanding officer , Commander W . W . Outerbridge , had been in command of " Ward " when she had sunk a Japanese submarine off Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941 . On 15 December 1944 , " O ' Brien " fought fires in LST - 472 caused by suicide planes , and rescued 198 survivors . Following a brief patrol period at Mindoro Strait she proceeded to Lingayen Gulf for the invasion of Luzon . On 6 January 1945 , a Japanese aircraft crashed into the port side of her fantail causing slight damage . After several days of escort duty and shore bombardment during the landing of Army assault troops , she proceeded to Manus Island , for repairs . She joined fleet carrier forces 10 February 1945 for air strikes against Tokyo , Iwo Jima , and the Bonin Islands . Aircraft attacked her off Kerama Retto 27 March while U . S . forces secured an advance logistics base for the attack on the Japanese home islands . One plane crashed into the water as a result of gunfire while another , a " Val " suicide plane carrying a 500 pound bomb , crashed into the port side amidships exploding a magazine . Fifty were killed or missing and seventy - six wounded in the valiant crew . During the summer , the ship underwent repairs at Mare Island Naval Shipyard and training in San Diego . As the war ended in mid - August 1945 , she returned to the 3rd Fleet for patrol duty in Japanese water . " O ' Brien " operated in the eastern Pacific , Hawaii , the Marianas , and Australia through the first half of 1947 . She returned to the west coast in the summer and decommissioned at San Diego , California , 4 October 1947 . Korea . Three years later she recommissioned at San Diego , on 5 October 1950 , Commander Chester W . Nimitz , Jr . in command , and became the flagship of Destroyer Division 132 . During the Korean War she first joined the TF 77 carrier group in early March 1951 . Later that month she joined TF 95 . the United Nations Blockading and Escort Force , and participated in the siege of Songin . On 17 July 1951 , at Wonsan harbor , shore batteries opened on " O ' Brien " , " Blue " and " Cunningham " from three sides in a futile attempt to drive UN vessels from the harbor . The ships went at once into the " War Dance " , an evasive maneuver in which ships steamed in an ellipse at 22 knots firing on batteries in each sector as their guns came to bear . This four and a half hour engagement became known as the Battle of the Buzz - saw . In July and August " O ' Brien " provided covering fire for LSMR bombardment , and coordinated rescue operations which saved three downed Navy pilots and one Air Force pilot . Although both Radio Moscow and Radio Peking reported " O ' Brien " sunk by the North Korean Peoples Army , she returned to San Diego for repairs in late September 1951 . On 23 July 1952 , she returned to Korea as part of TF 95 and participated in shore bombardment , interdiction and patrol duties near Wonsan Harbor . Ordered to the 7th Fleet with " Helena " ( CA - 75 ) , she provided search and rescue protection for carrier aircraft and shore bombardment fire on the east coast of Korea in September . The ship joined Operation " Feint " , a mock invasion of Kojo 12 – 16 October 1952 , in which UN forces attempted to lure the enemy into the open . At the end of the month , she left the Korean area for exercises and repairs in Japan before returning to San Diego in mid January 1953 . Chinese involvement . From the end of the Korean action through 1960 , " O ' Brien " made annual operational cruises to the western Pacific . In late January and early February " 1955 " , she operated with " Wasp " when the 7th Fleet discouraged People ' s Republic of China resistance to the Nationalist Chinese evacuation of the Tachen Islands off mainland China . February to October 1961 was spent in Mare Island Naval Shipyard , Vallejo , California for FRAM II conversion . The ship now specialized in antisubmarine warfare ( ASW ) procedures and periodically deployed to the western Pacific . In May 1965 , operating with Antisubmarine Warfare Group 1 , she was one of the first ships successfully to refuel a helicopter inflight . In June " O ' Brien " successfully refueled a helicopter from " Hornet " off San Francisco while it made a pioneer non - stop helicopter flight from Seattle , Washington to Imperial Beach , California . The ship sailed for 7th Fleet duty in August and was assigned to Taiwan patrol . On 14 November 1965 , while patrolling the Taiwan Straits , the ship was ordered to the aid of a Chinese Nationalist patrol craft under attack by Chinese Communist torpedo boats . Arriving after the vessel had sunk , she rescued all fifteen survivors , and was praised by Commander in Chief , Nationalist Chinese Navy . Vietnam . A week later 22 November 1965 , more than 600 miles from the rescue , " O ' Brien " saw her first action in the Vietnam War . Called to the aid of a surrounded outpost at Thach Ten , Quang Ngai province , the ship ' s accurate fire helped turn back a North Vietnamese regiment . In January arid early February 1966 , she supported carrier operations , conducted search and rescue missions in the Tonkin Gulf , and provided gunfire support for the amphibious landing near Cape Batangan , Operation " Double Eagle . " " O ' Brien " returned to her homeport March 1966 and operated on the west coast for the next eight months . During a port visit to The Dalles , Oregon , in July " O ' Brien " became the largest vessel to use the locks at the Bonneville Dam arid to transit the Columbia River to The Dalles . The destroyer got underway again for the troubled western Pacific 5 November 1966 . Following antisubmarine warfare exercises in Hawaii and the eastern South China Sea , " O ' Brien " became flagship for Operation " Sea Dragon , " the surface action task unit off North Vietnam . With " Maddox " ( DD - 731 ) , she was ordered to interdict enemy coastal traffic . More than twenty vessels carrying enemy war supplies to the Viet Cong were sunk or damaged by " O ' Brien " . On 23 December 1966 , the ship received three direct hits from coastal batteries north of Dong Hoi . Two crewmen were killed and four wounded . After repairs at Subic Bay , Philippines , she provided support for air strikes from Tonkin Gulf while guarding five different carriers in January 1967 . In February and March , she was assigned to Taiwan patrol . The ship returned to the Tonkin Gulf in late March first as a carrier escort and then on " Sea Dragon " operations . Again as flagship for Commander , Destroyer Division 232 , she was instrumental in significantly slowing coastal supply traffic . She was taken under fire by shore batteries seven times during this period . The ship returned to her homeport of Long Beach , California , in May 1967 . In July she made a second trip to The Dalles , Oregon , before entering Long Beach Naval Shipyard for overhaul . Following refresher training at San Diego , she was assigned to destroyer squadron 29 on 1 February 1968 . She returned to the 7th Fleet operations in the spring of 1968 . She put to sea for 7th Fleet operations on 30 April 1968 , arriving in Japan via Pearl Harbor on 29 May . Following an ASW exercise in the Sea of Japan with Japanese warships , the destroyer sailed south for operations in the Gulf of Tonkin , beginning shore bombardment duties upon arrival on 24 June . Over the next four weeks , O ' Brien supported U . S . Army and Marine operations , engaging enemy forces ashore with 5 - inch gunfire . After a short port visit to Singapore in early August , the destroyer returned to Japan for a two - week upkeep period alongside tender Hector ( AR - 7 ) . Returning to the Gulf of Tonkin in late August , O ' Brien escorted carriers at Yankee Station for the next month . On one evening , the destroyer was alerted by America ( CVA - 66 ) that two men from the carrier had fallen overboard . The destroyer quickly retraced the carrier ' s path and rescued one sailor who had stayed afloat for over five hours . After another naval gunfire support period off South Vietnam in mid - October , O ' Brien turned for home . She arrived in Long Beach on 28 November after a long southern cruise that took her to Subic Bay , Philippines ; Brisbane , Australia ; Pago Pago , American Samoa ; and Pearl Harbor . Following a post - deployment stand down , O ' Brien conducted local training operations out of Long Beach through the summer of 1969 , the highlight of which was a major warfare exercise off Hawaii in mid - March . After pre - deployment exercises in July and August , the destroyer got underway for the Far East on 8 October . Like her previous deployment , O ' Brien primarily served in Vietnamese waters , conducting carrier escort duties at Yankee Station and naval gunfire support operations through the end of the year . In January 1970 , however , the destroyer steamed north to Okinawa , there joining a task group built around Ranger ( CVA - 61 ) for winter exercises in the Sea of Japan . Returning to Vietnam in February , the warship spent the next two months supporting the carriers on Yankee Station before returning to Long Beach on 15 April . One home , The destroyer underwent a quick turnaround , with a yard period and refresher training preparing the warship for another deployment starting on 6 November . During what proved to be her last deployment , O ' Brien was plagued by material and equipment problems . Before departing Pearl Harbor for Japan , for example , the destroyer suffered an evaporator failure that required a week of repairs . After arrival on the gun line off Vietnam on 13 January 1971 , the warship conducted gunnery operations until a six - foot crack in her hull forced her into dry dock at Subic Bay on 2 February . Following those repairs , O ' Brien commenced a seven - week period at Yankee Station and on search and rescue duty . She put in at Subic Bay for repairs again on 17 April and sailed for home at the end of the month , arriving home on 29 May after stops at Manus Island ; Brisbane , Australia ; Auckland , New Zealand ; Pago Pago , American Samoa ; and Pearl Harbor . End of career . O ' Brien decommissioned at Long Beach on 18 February 1972 and was struck from the Navy list that same day . The hulk was towed out to sea by tug " Sioux " ( ATF - 75 ) and sunk as a target off California on 13 July 1972 . " O ' Brien " ( DD - 725 ) received 6 battle stars for World War II service , five battle stars for Korean War service , and three battle stars for Vietnam service ( 1967 ) .