USS William D. Porter

Brief Description

     USS William D. Porter (DD-579), a Fletcher-class destroyer, was a ship of the United States Navy named for Commodore William D. Porter (1808–1864) a faithful and hard-working navy officer who served his country well. William D. Porter was constructed and began to begun being made May 7th 1942, at Orange, Texas, by the Consolidated Steel Corporation. The battleship was going to be used as a destroyer to participate in the future battles that it would encounter in such as World War II, the war in the Philippines, etc. It made its first appearance and was launched on September 27th 1942 and began its work immediately after being commissioned. The ship was sponsored by Miss Mary Elizabeth Reeder (meaning she paid for the construction and she had contributed into helping and serving her nation by sponsering another destroyer ship. USS William D. Porter was commissioned on July 6th 1943, with the Lieutenant Commander Wilfred A. Walter in command of this vessel.


Debut and Mistakes

     USS William D. Porter was first sent to serve its time in the Atlantic Ocean. However, because there was no threat to a war at that time, it served to be a transporter and often a "border-line" watcher for the American eyes. For the beginning of its trip, it made its way up and down the Atlantic Ocean in order to receive repairs and adjustments to its engines and other mechanic mechanisms such as the machine guns and the heavy guns installed on the ship. It also helped transport many U.S diplomats to pass through the Atlantic Ocean. It was officially known to the public when it was under drills with its fellow ship, Iowa. 
While relaying and scanning the oceans for any specific threats, a torpedo was spotted by the destroyer. William D. Porter attempted to signal its adjacent battleship, Iowa about the threatening and incoming torpedo but, obeying and owing to orders to maintain and keep radio silence, the crew members were forced and had no choice but to use a signal lamp for communication. At this time, President Roosevelt was on this vessel. However, the destroyer first sent message of the direction of the torpedo, but relayed the wrong message, informing Iowa that Porter was backing up rather than telling her that that an incoming torpedo was in the water. In desperation and in panic mode, the destroyer finally broke radio silence, breaking the rule of silence and, used codewords to send a warning message to Iowa regarding the urgent information of an incoming torpedo. After confirming the identity of the destroyer, Iowa quickly took action to avoid being hit by the torpedo by starting the engines and completely rerouting its entire position on the sea. After a short while, the torpedo detonated some 3,000 yards away from the Iowa. Iowa was left without any noticeable damage or whatsoever, but trained her main guns on William D. Porter out of concern and suspicion that the Porter's crews may have been involved in some sort of assassination plot to kill the president. Later, the entire crew was arrested for suspicion of assassination attempt. This was the first time that the U.S Navy had ever encountered throughout its history.