USS Witter ( DE - 636 ) USS " Witter " ( DE - 636 ) , a of the United States Navy , was named in honor of Ensign Jean C . Witter ( 1921 – 1942 ) , who was killed in action aboard the heavy cruiser during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on the night of 12 to 13 November 1942 . " Witter " was laid down on 28 April 1943 at San Francisco , California , by the Bethlehem Steel Company ; launched on 17 October 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . Jean C . Witter ; and commissioned on 29 December 1943 , Commander Alan C . Davis , USNR , in command . Service history . To the Gilbert and Solomon Islands . " Witter " departed San Francisco on 18 January 1944 and began her shakedown training . During that cruise , she visited San Diego and then underwent post - shakedown repairs at the Mare Island Navy Yard before returning to San Francisco at the end of February . On 8 March , she stood out of San Francisco and steamed , via Pearl Harbor , to the Gilbert Islands , arriving in Majuro lagoon on 22 March . She departed Majuro on 26 March and after side visits to Makin , Tarawa , and Abemama in the Gilberts , she arrived in Espiritu Santo on 3 April . There , she remained for 12 days escorting ships into and out of the harbor at Espiritu Santo . On 15 April , the destroyer escort stood out of Segond Channel to rendezvous at sea with and escort that ship to the southern Solomons . They reached Tulagi on 21 April ; and , while the merchantman put into Tulagi , " Witter " moved on to Purvis Bay at Florida Island . New Guinea . On 25 April , " Witter " departed the southern Solomons in company with Task Unit ( TU ) 34 . 9 . 6 , bound for Cape Gloucester on the island of New Britain in the Bismarck Archipelago . She arrived in Borgen Bay near Cape Gloucester on 28 April and remained until 1 May when she accompanied TU 34 . 9 . 6 to the Russell Islands subgroup of the Solomons . She arrived in the Russells on 3 May but departed that same day for her primary theater of operations for the next 10 weeks , the island of New Guinea . On 5 May , she entered Milne Bay at the southeastern tip of New Guinea . By the time " Witter " reached that port , American forces had already made almost simultaneous landings at Aitape , Tanahmerah Bay , and $ 3 , in actions known collectively as the Hollandia operation . Thus , for the next several weeks , " Witter " drew duty escorting resupply and reinforcement convoys to the three landing areas , making stops at such intermediary places as Cape Cretin and Cape Sudest . After the 17 May assault on the Toem - Wakde - Sarmi area located a little farther up the northern coast of New Guinea , she added that region to her itinerary . At the end of the first week in July , Biak Island , located off the northern coast of New Guinea , opposite the large bay which separates the Vogelkop from the rest of the island , came within " Witter " ' s sphere of operations . The northern Solomons . In mid - month , however , the destroyer escort left New Guinea for a new field of endeavor , the northern Solomons . She departed Humboldt Bay on 15 July and , after a brief stop at Cape Cretin , arrived in the northern Solomons at Empress Augusta Bay , Bougainville , on 18 July . On 20 July , she departed Empress Augusta Bay and , that same afternoon , arrived in the Treasury Islands subgroup . For almost three weeks , she remained in the vicinity of Blanche Harbor in the Treasuries , conducting anti - aircraft and anti - submarine warfare exercises . Between 9 and 12 August , she voyaged back to New Guinea , stopping at Finschhaven and Langemak Bay before returning to Blanche Harbor on the 12th and resuming her exercise schedule in the Treasuries . On 21 August , she began a move farther north in the Solomons , arriving in the Green Islands subgroup that same day . Three days later , she moved on again , this time to Manus in the Admiralty Islands where she stopped overnight on 26 and 27 August . On the latter day , the warship made the brief voyage from Manus to Emirau Island . She remained there for almost a month , putting to sea only once during that period , between 19 and 22 September to rescue the crew of a downed PBJ ( the Navy version of the Army ' s B - 25 Mitchell bomber ) . After returning the rescued aircrewmen to Emirau on the 22nd , she returned to sea that same day on her way back to Manus . From there , she continued her voyage toward Milne Bay on 24 September . On 26 September , she paused near Porlock and Cape Nelson to help , aground on Curtis Reef . While her boats assisted in the transfer of Army troops from the merchantman to the transport , " Witter " patrolled to seaward to protect against possible enemy submarine attack . On 27 September , she resumed her voyage and arrived in Milne Bay that same day . The Philippines . Between 29 September and 6 October , " Witter " made a roundabout voyage from Milne Bay via Treasuries and back to New Guinea at Humboldt Bay . At Humboldt Bay , she reported for duty to TU 77 . 7 . 1 for the Leyte operation . Her task unit , a part of the 7th Fleet Service Force , departed Humboldt Bay on 12 October to take up replenishment station at sea some 180 miles west of the already - invested Palau Islands . At mid - month , the oilers she escorted refueled the Leyte invasion force at sea and , on the 18th , headed for the anchorage at Kossol Passage in the Palaus . After two days in the Palaus , " Witter " and her charges got underway to join the main force in Leyte Gulf . They arrived in the gulf three days after the 20 October assault . The warship ' s visit to Leyte proved to be lively . Air attacks by the Japanese abounded . During one attack in the early evening of the 24th , a Japanese torpedo bomber started a run on " Witter " from almost dead ahead while she was maneuvering to change anchorages just south of Samar Island . Though it appeared to be hit by her 20 - millimeter fire , the plane traversed her entire length to starboard and finally burst into flames some 300 to 400 yards astern . The air attacks continued intermittently the following day , and " Witter " observed many bogeys and picked up others on her radar but contributed no more downed aircraft to the American tally . For the remainder of her stay in Leyte Gulf , " Witter " and the oilers she screened continued underway to avoid numerous air attacks and conduct refueling operations . On the 27th , she escorted the unit out of Leyte Gulf en route to a position about 120 miles east of Leyte . Sporadic air attacks continued but diminished as Leyte receded astern . On the 28th , her charges began refueling TG 77 . 4 and , just before noon the following day , completed those operations and set course for Kossol Passage . They arrived in the Palaus late on 31 October but , after the oilers refueled that night and the following morning , headed back to Leyte early in the afternoon of 1 November . On the 3rd , however , they reversed course on orders and reentered Kossol Passage the following day . The stay proved brief . She and her charges set sail again that evening and arrived in San Pedro Bay , Leyte , on the 7th . She remained there , harassed by alerts but not by attacks — until the 11th when she departed , escorting her precious oilers . On 14 November , " Witter " and her charges arrived back in Humboldt Bay . She was anchored in Humboldt Bay until 2 December when she got underway in the escort of a convoy bound for Seeadler Harbor at Manus . " Witter " and her charges entered the harbor the following day , and the destroyer escort remained there until mid - month , conducting tactical exercises in the vicinity until her departure . Between the 15th and the 23rd , she made a round - trip voyage from Manus to Ulithi and back . Following an availability and more exercises at Manus during the last week of 1944 and the first week of 1945 , she repeated her voyage to Ulithi and back between 6 and 14 January 1945 . Another such run late in the month was followed by an availability at Manus which included a period in drydock . During February , she made two voyages from Manus , one to Majuro between 5 and 20 February and the other to Humboldt Bay between the 21st and the 23rd . The Mariana Islands and Okinawa . On 28 February , " Witter " stood out of Seeadler Harbor , bound for the Central Pacific . Steaming first to Ulithi , where she joined a convoy headed for the Marianas , the warship arrived at Guam on 7 March . After three days of patrols around Guam and Saipan , she departed the Marianas to return to Ulithi to prepare for the invasion of Okinawa . The destroyer escort entered the lagoon at Ulithi on the 11th and spent the next 10 days patrolling the anchorage and its entrances . On 21 March , she stood out of Ulithi with Task Force ( TF ) 54 , bound for the Ryukyu Islands and the last great amphibious operation of World War II . On the 25th , she rendezvoused with a minesweeping unit about six miles south of Okinawa and began screening it as well as the heavy units of Admiral Oldendorf ' s bombardment group while both performed their preliminary functions . For the next 12 days , " Witter " performed her anti - submarine screening duties for various units of the fleet off Okinawa . Though subjected to intermittent air attack and forced to witness several suicide attacks , she escaped unscathed until 6 April . Her primary duty throughout the period remained anti - submarine patrols at various points around the island of Okinawa . During that time , she made several sonar contacts but made no depth charge attacks . Hit by a Kamikaze . At about 16 : 11 on the afternoon of 6 April , while off the southeastern coast of Okinawa , she sighted two enemy aircraft about eight miles distant approaching her from the south - southwest . The warship went to general quarters , rang up 23 knots , and began radical maneuvers to evade them . Within five minutes , both Japanese planes showed smoke , evidence of hits registered by her guns . One of the intruders splashed into the sea , but his colleague pressed home his own attack and crashed into " Witter " at the waterline on the starboard side at frame number 57 . His bomb exploded in the number 1 fireroom , opening that and several other compartments to the sea . Six crewmembers including Vincent La Selva of Pelham , New York were killed . " Witter " lost control briefly but from the help of Captain George " Tim " Herrmann , it was restored again almost as quickly . Damage control took the situation well in hand , and soon " Witter " was proceeding under her own power at 10 knots . With the assistance of , , , and the tug , the destroyer escort limped toward Kerama Retto . " Morris " left the formation at 17 : 15 , and at 18 : 19 , also suffered a suicide crash . " Richard P . Leary " then also dropped out of the group to assist " Morris " while " Arikara " and " Gregory " continued on with " Witter " . The little flotilla entered the anchorage at Kerama Retto at a little after 21 : 30 , and " Arikara " towed the damaged destroyer escort to a waiting berth . " Witter " remained at Kerama Retto until late June , undergoing temporary repairs and dodging sporadic air attacks by constantly shifting from anchorage to anchorage — a process which slowed repairs considerably . Return to the United States . Finally , on 25 June , she appeared seaworthy enough to attempt the voyage home and departed the Ryukyu Islands . Steaming by way of Saipan , Eniwetok , and Pearl Harbor , she arrived in San Diego , California , on 24 July . Two days later , she resumed her travels and headed , by way of the Panama Canal , for the East Coast of the United States . The warship arrived in the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 16 August , shortly following the cessation of hostilities . She immediately began permanent repairs and conversion to a High speed transport , which she had been so designated the day before her arrival . The end of the war , however , brought a quick halt to her conversion . On 22 August , the work , hardly begun , was ordered stopped . She was assigned to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Philadelphia on 1 September and was decommissioned there on 22 October 1945 . Because of the extent of damage and the excess of ships of her type , she was deemed to be excess to fleet needs . Her name was struck from the Navy List on 16 November 1945 , and almost 13 months later on 2 December 1946 , her hulk was sold to the Northern Metals Company , of Philadelphia . Awards . " Witter " earned two battle star s during World War II .