USS J. William Ditter (DM-31)

At Norfolk, January 1945, in camouflage Measure 32, Design 3d.
History
United States
Name:	J. William Ditter
Builder:	Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Staten Island, New York
Launched:	4 July 1944
Commissioned:	28 October 1944
Decommissioned:	28 September 1945
Fate:	scrapped in July 1946
General characteristics
Class and type:	Robert H. Smith-class destroyer
Displacement:	2,200 tons
Length:	376 ft 6 in (114.76 m)
Beam:	40 ft 10 in (12.45 m)
Draft:	14 ft 2 in (4.32 m)
Speed:	36.5 knots (67.6 km/h; 42.0 mph)
Complement:	336 officers and enlisted
Armament:	6 x 5 in (127 mm)/38 cal. guns 12 x 40 mm guns 8 x 20 mm cannons 2 x depth charge tracks 4 x depth charge projectors

USS J. William Ditter (DD-751/DM-31) was a Robert H. Smith-class destroyer minelayer in the United States Navy. She was named for Congressman J. William Ditter. J. William Ditter was launched as DD-751 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Staten Island, New York, 4 July 1944; sponsored by Mrs. J. William Ditter, widow of Congressman Ditter. The ship was reclassified DM-31 19 July 1944; and commissioned at New York Navy Yard 28 October 1944, Commander R. R. Sampson in command.

J. William Ditter completed her shakedown off Bermuda in December. She sailed from Norfolk, Virginia 13 January 1945, and after transiting the Panama Canal and touching at San Diego, California arrived Pearl Harbor 10 February.

As the Navy's island-hopping thrust toward Japan reached its climax, J. William Ditter sailed 2 March for Eniwetok and Ulithi, departing the latter base 19 March for Okinawa. She arrived 25 March off the critical island, soon to be the scene of the largest amphibious assault of the Pacific war, and began hazardous minesweeping operations. The next day she dodged a torpedo during an encounter with a Japanese submarine. On 29 March she discovered two suicide boats off Okinawa, and sank one of them with gunfire. By the day of the invasion, 1 April, J. William Ditter and her sister mine-craft had swept the channels and laid marker buoys, contributing importantly to the success of the initial landing. Next day her duties shifted to convoy escort, as the versatile ship protected transports on night retirement away from Okinawa. On the night of 2 April the ship shot down two bombers, and she continued to come under air attack in the days that followed as the' Japanese made an effort to stop the invasion with kamikaze tactics.