USS Porterfield

Following her shakedown, Porterfield joined Task Force 53 (TF 53), getting underway 12 January 1944 and arriving off the Marshalls on the 31st. Porterfield's first job was shore bombardment around the Kwajalein Islands, followed by shelling Roi and Namur.

By 4 February, the situation was well in hand and Porterfield left to convoy several cargo and transport ships to Funafuti. Here she joined three merchantmen and another destroyer, Fletcher, en route to Majuro. On 20 February Porterfield got underway from Majuro in company with a division of battleships for shore bombardment in the Marshalls. The destroyers screened as the battleships’ shelled installations for two days.

She returned to Pearl Harbor, Porterfield then joined the replenishment group for the fast carrier task force, screening the oilers. This duty continued until the end of April, when Porterfield again set course for Pearl Harbor.

Porterfield was tasked to screen escort carriers during the Marianas invasion. The group sortied from Pearl Harbor 30 June, with Porterfield's group of carriers supplying air cover for the advance. The group arrived off Saipan 15 June and enemy air attacks began shortly after. Porterfield stayed with the force, rescuing two pilots, before being sent to Eniwetok 1 July for dry-docking. After her repairs, the ship reached Saipan again on 11 July and operated with the carrier screen until sent to Guam early in August.

On 3 August, Porterfield was detached from the carrier group to join the Fast Carrier Task Force (then 5th Fleet's TF 58). She rendezvoused with Task Group 58.4 (TG 58.4) east of Guam 6 August and operated with that group during the rest of the Guam campaign, returning to Eniwetok 10 August.

The group put to sea again on 29 August and launched raids against Palau and Mindanao in support of the landings in the Palaus. The ships remained in the general area between the Philippines and the Palaus during September.

The carrier force left Ulithi on 6 October, with Okinawa and Formosa as their objectives. Air raids were heavier this time and Porterfield claiming three aircraft shot down, also rescuing the crew of a torpedo bomber from the carrier Hornet. Following the attacks on Okinawa and Formosa, the group was sent to the Philippines, screening for units of the Japanese Fleet.

At dawn 25 October, carrier aircraft from the formation began their strikes against the Japanese forces, crippling the entire group and sending it back to Japan. Porterfield was ordered to join four cruisers to finish off any damaged ships. The group engaged one Japanese cruiser that sank just as the destroyers pressed a torpedo attack.

The group sailed again on 1 November for an operating area east of Samar. On the morning of the 5th, the carriers launched a strike against Luzon, amid poor weather. Porterfield rescued a pilot from Langley using one of her lifeboats

On 22 November, she sailed from Ulithi for raids on Luzon, returning to Ulithi for resupply on 3 December. A week later, she was underway for Luzon and recovered another Langley pilot on the 13th.

On the group's next raid was the South China Sea via the Bashi Channel between Formosa and Luzon.

The group cleared the China Sea on 19 January 1945 and conducted airstrikes against Formosa. Two Kamikaze suicide aircraft crashed into the carrier Ticonderoga and a bomb hit Langley's flight deck. Further strikes were launched against Okinawa before the group returned to Ulithi 27 January.

On 10 February, the ships sailed to support of the Iwo Jima landings. On the second day out, Porterfield rescued two pilots from the carrier Cowpens (CVL-25). The Fast Carrier Task Force penetrated within 60 miles (110 km) of Tokyo without being attacked and then retired toward Iwo Jima to provide naval gunfire support for the landings and claimed another aircraft destroyed.

Early on the morning of 26 February, Porterfield picked up a Japanese picket boat on her radar screen and sank her. One of the Porterfield officers, Ensign Burton James Brown,[1] was awarded the Navy Cross (posthumously) for heroism during this action.[2]

The following day, with the weather improving, the task group refuelled and Porterfield departed for Ulithi, arriving on 1 March. She stayed in Ulithi for three weeks before leaving for Okinawa Jima, where she was to supply fire support for the landings on Kerama Retto and Okinawa.

On 6 April, as the ships were forming for night retirement, kamikaze suicide aircraft appeared over the fleet, diving at any ship which presented a good target. Porterfield claimed one shot down before being tasked to aid the destroyers Leutze and Newcomb, manoeuvring close to the two burning ships to rescue survivors. She screened the damaged ships to Kerama Retto and transferred the wounded to a hospital ship.

Later that day, Porterfield was ordered with Task Force 54, to intercept units of the Japanese fleet, including the battleship Yamato, which were steaming toward Okinawa. Porterfield returned to Okinawa, continuing on screening and bombardment duty during which she claimed two more Japanese aircraft shot down.

On April 12, another heavy air attack materialized. Porterfield, in the leading screen position in her formation, met the attackers, which included about 10 bombers and torpedo planes. With one of her five-inch (127 mm) guns out of commission, she threw up a tremendous amount of fire, claiming four aircraft. Four more were brought down as they proceeded over Porterfield to the main units. Two managed to crash into ships, one hitting a destroyer and another into a battleship. Porterfield continued her fire support, claiming another enemy aircraft before being forced to return to the rear area due to damage to an engine. Upon arriving in Saipan, the she was immediately ordered back to Okinawa as a convoy escort.

Early in May, she was ordered back to Ulithi where she remained until 20 June, when she got underway for Okinawa, only to find that the engine previously damaged was still inoperative. On 4 July Porterfield was ordered back to the Puget Sound Navy Yard. The ship arrived at the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 24 July and was still undergoing repairs at the end of the war. On 27 September she reported to the Pacific Fleet and on 3 October got underway for San Diego for decommissioning.