USS Higbee ( DD - 806 ) USS " Higbee " ( DD / DDR - 806 ) was a in the United States Navy during World War II . She was the first US warship named for a female member of the U . S . Navy , being named for Chief Nurse Lenah S . Higbee ( 1874 – 1941 ) , a pioneering Navy nurse who served as Superintendent of the U . S . Navy Nurse Corps during World War I . " Higbee " was launched 13 November 1944 by the Bath Iron Works , Bath , Maine ; sponsored by Mrs . A . M . Wheaton , sister of the late Mrs . Higbee ; and commissioned on 27 January 1945 , Commander Lindsay Williamson in command . World War II . " Higbee " immediately sailed to Boston , where she was converted to a radar picket destroyer . After shakedown in the Caribbean , she sailed for the $ 3 on 24 May , joining Carrier Task Force 38 less than 400 miles from Tokyo Bay on 19 July . " Leaping Lenah " , as she had been dubbed by her crew , screened the carriers as their planes launched heavy air attacks against the Japanese mainland until the end of hostilities on 15 August . She helped clear Japanese mine fields and supported the occupation forces for the following seven months , finally returning to San Diego on 11 April 1946 . The post - war years saw " Higbee " make two peacetime Western Pacific cruises as well as participate in fleet exercises and tactical training maneuvers during both these cruises and off the West Coast . On her second WestPac cruise , " Higbee " escorted the heavy cruiser as they paid official visits to the recently constituted governments of India and Pakistan in the summer of 1948 . Korean War . When Communist troops plunged into South Korea in June 1950 , " Higbee " , redesignated DDR - 806 on 18 March 1949 , was immediately deployed to the Korean coast with the 7th Fleet . Most of her Korean War duty came in screening the Fast Carrier Task Force 77 as their jets launched raids against Communist positions and supply lines . On 15 September she formed part of the shore bombardment and screening group for the amphibious operation at Inchon . " Higbee " returned to San Diego on 8 February 1951 . In two subsequent stints in Korea , she continued to screen the carrier task force and carry out shore bombardment of enemy positions . In order to protect against the possibility of Communist Chinese invasion of Nationalist China , " Higbee " also participated in patrol of Formosa Straits . Returning to the States on 30 June 1953 , she entered the Long Beach Yard for a six - month modernization which saw major structural alterations made , including an enlarged Combat Information Center , new height - finding radar , and an improved anti - aircraft battery . Peacetime duties . The radar picket destroyer ' s peacetime duty then fell into a pattern of six - month WestPac cruises alternating with upkeep and training out of San Diego . Operating with the 7th Fleet on her WestPac cruises , " Higbee " visited Australian and South Pacific ports frequently as well as engaging in fleet maneuvers with units of SEATO navies . Her home port was changed to Yokosuka , Japan , on 21 May 1960 . From there " Higbee " continued to cruise in the Pacific and along the China coast to strengthen American force in Asia . After two years duty in Japan , " Higbee " returned to her new home port , San Francisco , on 4 September 1962 . On 1 April 1963 the destroyer entered the shipyard there for a fleet rehabilitation and modernization ( FRAM ) overhaul designed to improve her fighting capabilities and lengthen her life span as an active member of the fleet . " Higbee " was redesignated DD - 806 on 1 June 1963 . Vietnam war . Ready for action on 3 January 1964 , " Higbee " trained on the West Coast until departing for Japan on 30 June and reached her new homeport , Yokosuka , on 18 July . During the Gulf of Tonkin Incident in August , the destroyer screened carriers of Task Force 77 ( TF 77 ) in the South China Sea . In February 1965 " Higbee " supported the 9th Marine Brigade at Da Nang , Vietnam . In May she participated in Project Gemini recovery in the Western Pacific . On 1 September " Higbee " helped to rescue the crew from " Arsinoe " after the French tanker had grounded off Scarborough Shoals in the South China Sea . The remainder of September was spent in naval gunfire support off South Vietnam . On the return voyage to home port , the ship saw short duty as Station Ship Hong Kong . While in Hong Kong , Princess Margaret was piped aboard the ship . While operating northeast of Luzon in late January 1966 , " Higbee " sighted Russian hydrographic ship " Gidrifon " . Returning to South Vietnam in April , " Higbee " bombarded enemy positions near Cape St . Jacques and the mouth of the Saigon River . On 17 June she departed Yokosuka for the West Coast , arrived Long Beach , her new home port , on 2 July and operated out of there into 1967 . In November 1966 , " Higbee " and her squadron had R & R in Acapulco , Mexico , where Bob Hope did an unscheduled servicemen ' s show for the crews . The first half of 1967 was spent in the yards at Mare Island for a major refit before returning to the Vietnam theater . On 19 April 1972 the " Higbee " became the first US warship to be bombed during the Vietnam War , when two VPAF ( also known as the NVAF - North Vietnamese Air Force ) MiG - 17 s from the 923rd Fighter Regiment attacked , one of which , piloted by Le Xuan Di , dropped a 250 kilogram ( 500 lb ) bomb onto the " Higbee " s rear 5 - inch gun mount , destroying it . The 5 - inch gun crew had been outside of their turret , due to a misfire within the mount , when the air attack occurred , which resulted in the wounding of four US sailors . The second MiG - 17 flown by Nguyen Van Bay went on to bomb the light cruiser USS " Oklahoma City " ( CLG - 5 ) , causing only minor damage . Although there were no official aircraft losses reported by either side during the aerial attack , witnesses aboard accompanying USN vessel ' s deploying defensive measures , claimed one of the attacking MIGs with a direct hit by a surface to air missile fired from the USS " Sterett " ( DLG - 31 ) . Photos taken by one of the Sterett ' s crew clearly show the MIG being destroyed by a Terrier missile . Eye witnesses saw a MIG aircraft blown to pieces by a direct Terrier missile strike at only a few thousand yards , pieces of the virtually disintegrated MIG fell into the sea in view of the eye witnesses . Post - war fate . " Higbee " ' s first peacetime duty was as a member of Destroyer Squadron 27 homeported in Long Beach , California . Her later years ( after May , 1975 ) were spent as a reserve destroyer homeported in Seattle , WA , as a unit of DesRon 37 . In 1978 Higbee had the highest score for NGFS ( Naval Gunfire Support ) of any ship in the US Navy and was featured in Surface Warfare magazine for this distinction . " Higbee " was decommissioned and struck from the Navy list on 15 July 1979 . " Higbee " was sunk as a target on 24 April 1986 , around west of San Diego at . Honors . " Higbee " earned one battle star for her service in World War II and seven battle stars for her service in the Korean War .