USS Fessenden ( DE - 142 ) USS Fessenden ( DE - 142 ) was an Edsall - class destroyer escort built for the U . S . Navy during World War II . She served in the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys . She was named in honor of Reginald Aubrey Fessenden , born in Brome County , Quebec , Canada , 6 October 1866 . He served as head chemist with Thomas Edison ' s East Orange , New Jersey , laboratories . In 1890 he began concentrating on electrical engineering , and through the next years made many important inventions and improvements in existing devices . His great contributions in the field of radio ( particularly the invention of radio - telephony were of marked benefit not only to the Navy but to all seamen . He died 22 July 1932 , at his home on Bermuda . " Fessenden ( DE - 142 ) " was launched 9 March 1943 by Consolidated Steel Corp . , Orange , Texas ; sponsored by Mrs . R . K . Fessenden , daughter - in - law of " Professor Fessenden " ; and commissioned 25 August 1943 , Lieutenant Commander W . A . Dobbs , USNR , in command . She was reclassified DER - 142 on 1 October 1951 . World War II Atlantic Ocean operations . After a period at Norfolk , Virginia , as training ship for crews for escorts soon to be commissioned , " Fessenden " carried out an escort mission to the Panama Canal Zone , returning to Norfolk 5 November 1943 . Between 23 November and 18 March 1944 , she escorted convoys on two voyages to Casablanca , then on 3 April sailed again to guard a convoy to Bizerte . Off Bone 20 April the convoy came under heavy air attack , one guardian destroyer being sunk , and on the homeward bound passage , the convoy screen lost two more destroyers to submarine attack . " Fessenden " returned safely to New York 21 May . She sailed from Norfolk next on 12 June 1944 , and escorted a convoy as far as Gibraltar , where she was detached to escort two captured Italian submarines to Bermuda . One developed engine trouble 2 July and was ordered back to Gibraltar , but " Fessenden " reached Bermuda with the other 16 July . Returning to New York 22 July , she was briefly overhauled , then sailed out of New London , Connecticut , training submarines from 3 August to 2 September . Next came special training off Maine , and her return to Norfolk to join the hunter - killer group formed around USS Mission Bay ( CVE - 59 ) . Sinking of German Submarine U - 1062 . Operating with this group south of the Cape Verde Islands on 30 September 1944 , " Fessenden " and two other ships investigated a contact , making a depth charge attack late in the afternoon , sinking U - 1062 in . The group continued its antisubmarine patrols in the South Atlantic refueling at Dakar , French West Africa , Bahia and Recife , Brazil , and Cape Town , South Africa . " Fessenden " returned to New York 26 November , joined in training exercises in Long Island Sound , then off Guantánamo Bay , until 19 January 1945 when she reported to Miami , Florida , to serve as school ship for the Naval Training Center for a month . She returned to Guantanamo 12 February 1945 to rejoin the Mission Bay group as it provided air cover for a convoy northeast of Bermuda carrying President F . D . Roosevelt home from the Yalta Conference . After brief overhaul at New York , she sailed north to Argentia , Newfoundland , with her hunter - killer group to work with similar task organizations in setting up a barrier patrol in the North Atlantic , to prevent German submarines from approaching the United States during the last days of the European war . Transfer to the Pacific Ocean . " Fessenden " served at New London , Connecticut , and Quonset Point , Rhode Island , in May and June 1945 , aiding in the training of submariners and aviators . On 28 June , she sailed from New York for training at Guantanamo Bay and Pearl Harbor en route to the Marshall Islands . On 17 September , her commanding officer became representative of the Majuro Atoll Commander for the Japanese Naval Garrison at Wotje , and " Fessenden " lay at Wotje to supervise its demilitarization and the evacuation of the Japanese until 4 December . She cleared Eniwetok 4 January 1946 for San Diego , California , New York , and Green Cove Springs , Florida , where she was decommissioned and placed in reserve 24 June 1946 . Converted to Radar Picket Ship . " Fessenden " was converted for radar picket duty at Boston , Massachusetts , where she was recommissioned 4 March 1952 . After antisubmarine training out of Key West , Florida , " Fessenden " returned to her home port , Newport , Rhode Island , 25 September 1952 to begin duty on the radar picket stations of the North Atlantic . She returned from her sea patrols only for necessary maintenance and refresher training . With her division , she sailed from Newport 15 July 1957 for Pearl Harbor , her home port for Pacific early warning radar picket duty from 18 August 1957 until 18 March 1960 when she left the Hawaiians for San Francisco , California . Final Decommissioning . On 30 June 1960 , she was decommissioned and placed in reserve at Stockton , California . On 1 September 1966 she was struck from the Navy list . She was sunk as target off Pearl Harbor , Hawaii , 20 December 1967 . Awards . " Fessenden " received two battle stars for World War II service .