USS Knight ( DD - 633 ) USS " Knight " ( DD - 633 ) , a " Gleaves " - class destroyer , is the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Admiral Austin M . Knight . " Knight " was laid down 18 March 1941 , by Boston Navy Yard ; launched 27 September 1941 Liberty Fleet Day ; sponsored by Miss Elizabeth H . Royal , granddaughter of Admiral Knight , and commissioned 23 June 1942 , Lieutenant Commander Richard B . Levin in command . Service history . After shakedown off New England , " Knight " arrived Norfolk 6 October to prepare for Operation Torch , the invasion of North Africa . She cleared Chesapeake Bay on 23 October , joined her task force on the 27th , and arrived off Safi , French Morocco , 8 November . After serving as landing control ship during the assault , she conducted antisubmarine patrols until she sailed 13 November for the United States , arriving Norfolk on 24 November . From 12 December to 28 April 1943 , " Knight " escorted three convoys between New York and the Moroccan ports of Casablanca and Fedhala . Steaming to Norfolk 29 May , she departed 8 June in convoy for the Mediterranean , where she arrived Oran , Algeria , 22 June to prepare for the invasion of Sicily . Sailing 5 July with Rear Admiral Alan G . Kirk ' s Task Force 86 ( TF 86 ) , she arrived off Scoglitti during first watch on 9 July . As a fire support ship during Central Force landings on the 10th , she silenced enemy shore batteries and screened transports from hostile submarine s and planes . On the 11th she downed an attacking enemy fighter and on the 13th sailed , arriving Oran on 16 July . " Knight " made escort and patrol runs along the Algerian and Tunisian coasts , then returned to Sicily on 31 July to provide effective fire support for General George Patton ' s 7th Army . She operated out of Palermo until 22 August , helping repel several German night - bombing attacks and bombarding targets along the northern coast to Cape d ' Orlando . While on an escort run to Malta on 11 August , she rescued two sailors who were knocked overboard when the salvage repair ship , displaying inadequate recognition signals , was shelled and damaged by friendly gunfire the previous day . After escorting convoys between Palermo and Bizerte , Tunisia , " Knight " returned to Sicily 7 September for the invasion of Italy . As flagship for Task Group 80 . 4 ( TG 80 . 4 ) , " Knight " closed Ventotene Island off Gaeta , Italy on 8 September , and supported the capture of German and Italian troops on the 8th . Arriving Salerno Bay on 10 September with 87 German prisoners embarked , she fought off enemy air attacks the 10th and 11th that damaged . The destroyer then supported the capture of Capri on 13 September . During the next two weeks she operated along the coast of Italy in search of enemy submarines and supply convoys ; and she guarded transports in the Gulf of Salerno from intermittent air attacks . On 27 September she embarked Rear Admiral Richard L . Conolly and sailed for Tunisia , arriving Bizerte the 28th Proceeding along the North African coast , she departed Oran 30 September for the United States , arriving New York 9 October . Between 21 October 1943 and 1 May 1944 , " Knight " engaged in five Atlantic convoy escort runs from New York to ports in the United Kingdom . On 17 May , she again sailed for the Mediterranean from Norfolk , reaching Oran 28 May . For almost ten weeks , she steamed from North Africa to Italy and Gibraltar on antisubmarine patrols and escort missions . Returning New York from Oran 22 August , she resumed convoy escort duty to the British Isles 20 September . After two runs to England , she again took up convoy operations in the Mediterranean , making three runs between Norfolk and Oran from 28 December to 2 June 1945 . From 3 June to 24 July " Knight " was converted to a high - speed minesweeper at Philadelphia Navy Yard . Reclassified DMS - 40 on 23 June , she arrived Norfolk 25 July , received intensive training in minesweeping , and departed 12 August for the Pacific . Steaming via San Diego and Pearl Harbor , she reached Okinawa on 28 September . Assigned to Mine Squadron 21 ( MineRon 21 ) , she departed Okinawa 16 October for the Yellow Sea , where she swept for mines from 19 October to 16 November . Her operations between Okinawa and the Japanese home islands continued until 24 February 1946 , when she departed Kobe for the United States , arriving San Francisco 5 April . Knight steamed to Bremerton , Washington , 27 to 30 November and decommissioned 19 March 1947 . Reclassified DD - 633 on 15 July 1955 , " Knight " was berthed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Stockton , California , until she was struck from the Navy List on 1 December 1966 . She was sunk as a target off San Diego , California on 27 October 1967 . Awards . " Knight " received four battle star s for World War II service .