USS Benham (DD-397)
USS "Benham" (DD-397) was the lead ship of her class of destroyers and the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Andrew Ellicot Kennedy Benham. She missed the Attack on Pearl Harbor, being an escort for the aircraft carrier on her way to Midway Atoll at the time. She also served off Hawaii during the Doolittle raid, rescued survivors from several ships, and operated during the Battle of Midway and the landings on Guadalcanal, among other missions. She was torpedoed and rendered unusable, for which she was sunk at the end of 1942 . Construction. "Benham" was laid down on 1 September 1936 by Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company at their yard in Kearny, New Jersey. The destroyer was launched on 16 April 1938 and sponsored by Mrs. A. I. Dorr, grandniece of Rear Admiral Benham. "Benham" was commissioned on 2 February 1939 with Lieutenant Commander T. F. Darden in command. Service history. Assigned to the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, "Benham" patrolled off Newfoundland during most of 1939 and then shifted to the Gulf of Mexico. Ordered to the Pacific, she arrived at Pearl Harbor 14 April 1940. After alternating between Californian and Hawaiian  waters, the destroyer served as an escort for during the delivery of Marine planes to Midway Atoll on 28 November to 8 December 1941, thus missing the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. "Benham" served with "Enterprise" and task forces off Hawaii and with Task Force 16 during the Doolittle raid on Tokyo, 8 to 25 April 1942. She continued operating with TF 16 through the Battle of Midway, 3 to 6 June, during which she rescued 720 survivors from the aircraft carrier and 188 from the destroyer ; landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi, 7 to 9 August, and the Battle of  the Eastern Solomons, 23 to 25 August. "Benham" joined Task Force 64 on 15 October as a part of the naval covering force off Guadalcanal. During 14–15 November, she took part in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, and at 00:38 on 15 November she took a single torpedo in her bow which severed everything forward of her bridge. "Benham" stayed afloat, making slow headway towards Guadalcanal during the 15th but, by 16:37, further progress was impossible and her crew abandoned ship. picked up the survivors, and sank the hulk at 19:38 by shell-fire. Honors. "Benham" received five battle stars  for her service in World War II.