USS William C . Miller ( DE - 259 ) USS " William C . Miller " ( DE - 259 ) was an constructed for the United States Navy during World War II . She was sent off into the Pacific Ocean to protect convoys and other ships from Japanese submarines and fighter aircraft . She performed escort and anti - submarine operations in dangerous battle areas and returned home with seven battle star s , a very high number for a ship of her type . She was laid down on 10 January 1943 at Boston , Massachusetts , by the Boston Navy Yard ; launched on 22 February 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . Melvin B . Miller , the mother of the late Radioman 3rd Class Miller ; and commissioned on 2 July 1943 , Lt . Comdr . Frederick C . Storey , USNR , in command . World War II Pacific Theater operations . " William C . Miller " got underway on 19 July , bound for Bermuda . There , she conducted her shakedown before returning to Boston for post - shakedown availability and remained in the navy yard until 27 August , when she sailed for Panama . After transiting the Panama Canal between 1 and 3 September , the destroyer escort arrived at San Diego , California , on the 12th and shifted to San Francisco , California , on the 15th , before sailing for Hawaii nine days later in the screen for Convoy 4796 . She returned to the west coast early in the fall but departed San Francisco on 19 October , bound for the Gilbert Islands and " Operation Galvanic " . Battle of Tarawa operations . As a unit of Task Group ( TG ) 54 . 9 , 5th Fleet , " William C . Miller " screened the ships of the Tarawa garrison group and patrolled in area " Longsuit " off the invasion beaches into early December . She then guarded the entrance to the lagoon at Tarawa through the middle of the month before departing the Gilberts on Christmas Eve , bound for the Hawaiian Islands . Participation in major invasions . Reaching Pearl Harbor on 30 December 1943 , " William C . Miller " underwent upkeep alongside the destroyer tender and remained in Hawaiian waters into February 1944 . That year was to prove a busy one for the destroyer escort . She earned the other six of her seven battle stars in the next year and one - half operating on screening , escorting , and hunter - killer duties with convoys for the remainder of 1944 . During that period , " William C . Miller " supported the occupation of Kwajalein and Majuro from 29 January to 8 February 1944 ; the capture of Eniwetok from 17 February to 2 March ; the capture and occupation of Saipan from 26 June to 10 August ; and the capture and occupation of Tinian from 24 July to 10 August . It was during the Saipan screening operations , however , that the ship avenged the loss of her namesake . Japanese submarine sighted and sunk . At 2120 on the evening of 13 July , a patrol plane sighted a Japanese submarine submerging some 78 miles from Rorpgattan Point , Saipan , and reported the enemy ' s position . Accordingly , " William C . Miller " and the other members of a hunter - killer group — carrying the officer in tactical command ( OTC ) — altered course and departed the screen for the transport area to track the submersible . At 0022 on the following day , the destroyer escort and her sisters arrived on the scene and commenced searching . Seven hours later , " William C . Miller " obtained sound contact at a range of . The destroyer escort approached at 15 knots and dropped a 13 - charge pattern at 0726 . Opening the range after observing no damage , the escort vessel attacked for the second time , dropping a second pattern at 0752 , once again , of 13 charges . That pattern appears to have proved devastating to . At 0804 , " William C . Miller " noted pieces of wood popping to the surface about ahead , one point on the starboard bow . One minute later , a " heavy and prolonged underwater explosion " — estimated to be about three times the shock of a depth charge explosion — shook the ship . Shortly thereafter , observers in " William C . Miller " noted a large " boil " in the water some in diameter . At 0806 , the destroyer escort laid a third 13 - charge pattern that apparently landed atop the submarine , completing whatever devastation had been wreaked by the second salvo . " William C . Miller " closed the oil slick and debris and lowered a boat to investigate . The ship soon recovered small pieces of cork insulating material ; fractured wooden decking ; and a fur - lined , Japanese seaman ' s cap . The depth charge barrage had literally torn the submarine apart . A postwar accounting credited " William C . Miller " with the destruction of Japanese submarine " I - 6 " . The Navy , in what seems to be in error gave credit to the William C . Miller for sinking the I - 6 , but due to recent research information presented by " combinedfleet . com " , it seems to have been the I - 55 . I - 6 was sunk in a collision with the freighter TOYOKAWA MARU on 16 June 1944 Continued convoy and anti - submarine operations . After the completion of the Tinian campaign , " William C . Miller " departed that island on 21 August in company with . The destroyer escort paused briefly at Eniwetok , in the Marshalls , on the 24th before she pushed on for the Hawaiian Islands , arriving at Pearl Harbor on 2 September . " William C . Miller " returned to Eniwetok at the end of October and then shifted to Ulithi , in the Carolines , where she picked up Ulithi - to - Eniwetok Convoy Number 19 on 5 November . After bringing that convoy safely into port five days later , " William C . Miller " departed the Marshall Islands on 13 November with Eniwetok - to - Pearl Harbor Convoy Number 21 . Making port at Pearl Harbor on 24 November , the destroyer escort underwent ordnance repairs at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard into the following year . Supporting the invasion of Iwo Jima . " William , C . Miller " sortied from Pearl Harbor on 6 February 1945 , as part of Task Unit ( TU ) 51 . 6 . 2 to participate in the assault and occupation of Iwo Jima between 23 February and 16 March . She returned to Pearl Harbor in early April , via Guam and Eniwetok . The destroyer escort subsequently steamed back to the west coast and remained there , first at San Francisco and then at San Diego , until 13 June when she sailed for the Hawaiian Islands in company with . After arriving at Pearl Harbor on 19 June , " William C . Miller " escorted a convoy to Eniwetok which she reached on 6 July . She soon put to sea to operate in the screen of 3rd Fleet units in their operations against the Japanese home islands . She performed those duties into mid - August when hostilities with Japan ceased . End - of - War activity . " William C . Miller " arrived at Ulithi on 19 August but soon sailed for Tokyo Bay as part of the initial occupation forces . She arrived at Tokyo Bay on 26 August and was there at the time of the formal Japanese surrender on 2 September . Post - War decommissioning . Later that month , the destroyer escort headed home , via Ulithi , Eniwetok , and Pearl Harbor , and reached San Francisco , California , on 17 October . " William C . Miller " was decommissioned at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard on 21 December and stripped of all usable equipment . On 8 January 1946 , " William C . Miller " was struck from the Navy List . Sold to Mr . Fred Perry of New York City on 10 April 1947 , her hulk was subsequently scrapped on 19 November 1947 . Awards . " William C . Miller " received seven battle stars for her World War II service .