USS Rathburne ( DD - 113 ) USS " Rathburne " ( DD – 113 ) was a " Wickes " - class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War I . She was the first ship named for John Peck Rathbun . " Rathburne " was laid down 12 July 1917 by William Cramp and Sons Company , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania ; launched 27 December 1917 ; sponsored by Miss Malinda B . Mull ; and commissioned 24 June 1918 , Commander Ward R . Wortman in command . Service history . World War I . During the final months of World War I , July to November 1918 , " Rathburne " escorted coastal convoys from the mid - Atlantic seaboard as far north as Halifax , Nova Scotia and oceanic convoys to the Azores . Completing her last convoy at New York 27 November , she remained there until the new year , 1919 , then sailed south to Cuba for winter maneuvers . With the spring , she again crossed the Atlantic , operated from Brest during May and June , and returned to New York in July . In August she was transferred to the Pacific Fleet . West coast operations occupied the remainder of the year , while the first half of 1920 was spent in overhaul at Puget Sound . Designated DD - 113 in July , she cruised the waters off Washington and in the Gulf of Alaska from August 1920 until January 1921 , and then shifted south for operations off California . In July , she headed west and in late August arrived at Cavite to join the Asiatic Fleet . Based there for almost a year , she departed the Philippines on 16 July 1922 , cruised off the China coast into August and on the 30th of that month sailed from Nagasaki en route to Midway , Pear Harbor , and San Francisco . Arriving at the latter 2 October , she soon shifted to San Diego , where she was decommissioned 12 February 1923 and was berthed with the reserve fleet until 1930 . Recommissioned 8 February 1930 , " Rathburne " remained in the eastern Pacific , engaged in exercises including fleet problems involved with strategic scouting , tracking , attacking , and defense of convoys and the defense of the west coast , through 1933 . In the spring of 1934 she departed San Diego for the Panama Canal and the Caribbean for Fleet Problem XV , a three - phased problem involving the attack and defense of the Canal ; the capture of advanced bases ; and fleet action . A cruise along the east coast followed and in the fall she returned to San Diego . World War II . Two years later she was transferred to the West Coast Sound Training Squadron , and , until the spring of 1944 , she was used primarily as a schoolship . On 25 April 1944 , she departed San Diego for Puget Sound and conversion to a high - speed transport . Reclassified APD - 25 on 20 May , she returned to San Diego in June ; underwent amphibious training , and in July steamed for Hawaii . During late July and early August , she trained with underwater demolition teams ( UDT ) . On 10 August , UDT 10 reported aboard , and on the 12th , " Rathburne " continued west . After rehearsals in the Solomons , " Rathburne " sortied from Purvis Bay with TG 32 . 5 on 6 September . Six days later , she arrived off the Palaus to begin her first combat operations , the Peleliu and Angaur preinvasion bombardment and minesweeping operations . On the 14th she offloaded UDT 10 , supported them with gunfire as they cleared the approaches to the Angaur beaches , and reembarked them on the 15th . " Rathburne " resumed covering fire for UDT 8 , after reembarking UDT 10 , then on the 16th took up screening duties . On the 19th , she departed Angaur and headed for Ulithi , where UDT 10 reconnoitered the Falalop and Asor beaches , beginning on the 21st . By the 23d the atoll had been occupied and " Rathburne " moved south , to New Guinea and the Admiralties , to prepare for the invasion of Leyte . On 18 October , the APD entered Leyte Gulf . On the 19th , UDT 10 went ashore on Red Beach in the northern assault area between Palo and San Ricardo . Through the morning , " Rathburne " provided covering fire and shortly after noon pulled the team off the beach . On the 20th , she covered the landings , and then shifted to fire support off the Dulag beaches . Detached , soon after her arrival , she began messenger and passenger runs between the northern and southern transport areas . The next day , she transited Surigao Strait en route to Kossol Roads , the Admiralties , the Solomons , and New Caledonia . At the end of November she steamed west , for New Guinea . In December , she prepared for the Luzon offensive . On the 27th , she sailed for Lingayen Gulf . Assigned to TU 77 . 2 . 1 , the San Fabian fire support group , she acted as part of the antiaircraft screen en route and splashed two enemy planes on 5 January 1945 . On the 6th she was in Lingayen Gulf , screening larger ships bombarding the assault area . On the 7th , she landed UDT 10 on Blue Beach and covered them as they reconnoitered the area to destroy natural and manmade obstacles . On the 8th she resumed bombardment activities . On the 9th , troops went ashore , and from then until the 11th , " Rathburne " alternated fire support duty with patrols in the transport area . On the 11th , she got underway for Leyte , but 14 days later headed back to Luzon to provide support during the push against Manila . UDT 10 , disembarked on the 29th , reported no opposition at San Narciso , but " Rathburne " remained in the area until after the landings . By 3 February , " Rathburne " was back in San Pedro Bay , whence , on the 4th , she sailed for Saipan . From Saipan , she carried mail to Iwo Jima in early March , then at midmonth she returned to the Bonin - Volcano area for antisubmarine patrol duty . On the 22d , she departed the area ; transported POW ' s to Guam ; and prepared for duty off Okinawa . Escorting LST Group 91 en route , " Rathburne " arrived at Kerama Retto on 18 April . On the 19th , she shifted to the Hagushi anchorage and took up screening and escort duty . On the evening of the 27th , she was on patrol off Hagushi . Air alerts had been called throughout the day . At about 2200 , her radar picked up an enemy plane on the port quarter , 3700 yards out but closing fast . Increasing speed , changing course , and antiaircraft fire did not deter the " kamikaze " . He crashed the port bow on the waterline . Three compartments were flooded . Sound gear was put out of commission . Fires broke out on the forecastle . But there were no casualties . Damage control parties soon extinguished the fires and contained the flooding . " Rathburne " , slowed to 5 knots , made for Kerama Retto . By mid - May , temporary repairs had been completed and she was underway for San Diego . Arriving on 18 June , she was reconverted to a destroyer and reclassified DD - 113 on 20 July . Still on the west coast when hostilities ceased in mid - August , " Rathburne " was ordered to the east coast for inactivation . Sailing on 29 September , she arrived at Philadelphia on 16 October and was decommissioned on 2 November 1945 . Struck from the Navy list on the 28th , she was sold for scrapping to the Northern Metals Co . , Philadelphia , in November 1946 . Awards . " Rathburne " earned six battle star s during World War II .