USS Steele ( DE - 8 ) USS " Steele " ( BDE - 8 / DE - 8 ) was an " Evarts " - class short - hull destroyer escort in the service of the United States Navy , named for Private John M . Steele , US Marines , killed during the Battle of the Coral Sea on 8 May 1942 . " Steele " was laid down on 27 January 1942 by the Boston Navy Yard ; launched on 9 January 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . John Steele ; and commissioned on 4 May 1943 , Lieutenant Commander Mark E . Dennett in command . Service history . " Steele " sailed from Boston for Bermuda to begin her shakedown cruise on 25 May and returned on 27 June for post - shakedown availability . She stood out of port on 6 July en route to the Pacific war zone . After making port calls at the Society and Tonga islands , " Steele " arrived at Noumea , New Caledonia , on 10 August . She escorted merchant ships and transports among the New Hebrides , Fiji , and Solomon Islands until 13 December 1943 when she got underway for the west coast of the United States to be repaired . " Steele " arrived at Mare Island , California , on 3 January 1944 and headed for Hawaii exactly one month later . She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 9 February and sailed with a convoy to the Marshall Islands on the 14th . They reached Majuro on the 22nd . The DE performed escort and patrol duty in the Marshalls until 7 May , when she sailed for the Gilbert Islands to serve in the destroyer screen at Tarawa . These orders were countermanded the day after her arrival , and she returned to Majuro on 12 May . Two days later , the escort put to sea with two tankers for a fueling rendezvous with aircraft carrier s of Task Force ( TF ) 58 , which was conducting air strikes against Marcus Island and Wake Island . Upon completion of this assignment , the ship was routed to Kwajalein for tender availability . " Steele " sailed on 5 June for Kusaie Island in the eastern Caroline Islands to observe enemy activity and possibly to intercept a Japan ese submarine believed to be due there on the 6th . The submarine did not arrive , so the destroyer bombarded Lele Harbor on the east coast of the island and ascertained that the island was lightly fortified . She returned to the Marshalls and operated there until 23 June . " Steele " escorted to the Mariana Islands and arrived off Saipan the morning of 26 June . She was assigned to the antisubmarine screen and then joined a convoy for the return trip to the Marshall Islands . She made another escort voyage to the Mariana Islands in early August . After a short upkeep period , " Steele " was assigned to a hunter - killer group centered on . The group sortied on 21 August and was designated as one of the eight groups of Admiral William Halsey ' s Western Carolines Forces which supported the fast carriers of TF 38 . " Steele " , with her group , supported the amphibious assault on Peleliu , Palau Islands , by patrolling between there and Mindanao , Philippine Islands . After refueling on 23 September , the group shifted their patrol area to the northeast of the Palaus . On 3 October , made a surface contact which was identified as a Japanese submarine . " Steele " was detached from the screen to assist the escort . The submarine had submerged , but " Samuel S . Miles " made sonar contact and fired two hedgehog patterns . The second pattern produced two underwater explosions which " Steele " s sonar equipment picked up and a third explosion so violent that it damaged some of " Miles " ' sonar and radar . " Steele " made more runs over the area but could not make contact . " Miles " had sunk the Japanese submarine I - 364 . " Steele " made a logistics stop at Manus from 9 to 13 October and sallied with the group for the Philippine Islands . As the fast carriers launched strikes against Leyte , Luzon , and Formosa , the aircraft from " Hoggatt Bay " protected the refueling operations . On the 20th , " Steele " and her group rendezvoused with and , which had been hit off Formosa while serving with the 3rd Fleet . After furnishing protection for the cruisers for two days , the group was detached to rejoin the 3rd Fleet fueling group which was then supporting the liberation of Leyte . The group arrived at Ulithi on 27 October and was dissolved the following day . On 1 November , " Steele " returned to the Palaus and operated from there until 8 January 1945 when she arrived at Ulithi for upkeep . After escorting a convoy to Saipan , the escort headed for Pearl Harbor . " Steele " was there for a month and then escorted ships to Eniwetok , Saipan , Ulithi , and Guam . She arrived at Apra Harbor on 5 May and operated from there until 18 September when she sailed for the west coast . The destroyer escort arrived at San Pedro , California , on 5 October . An inspection team checked the ship on the 23d and recommended that she be scrapped . " Steele " decommissioned on 21 November and was struck from the Navy list on 5 December 1945 .