USS Grayson (DD-435), a Gleaves-class destroyer, was laid down at the Charleston Navy Yard on 17 July 1939, launched on 7 August 1940 and commissioned on 14 February 1941. She patrolled the North Atlantic on neutrality patrol and convoy escort before she was sent to the Pacific. She sailed from San Diego on 2 April 1942 in the escort of the carrier Hornet and joined Enterprise on 13 April, in the task group from which the Doolittle Raid was launched on 18 April.
She sailed from Pearl Harbor on 15 July 1942 to escort Enterprise and Hornet and reached Guadalcanal on 7 August. On 24 August the carriers were maneuvering off the Solomons when Enterprise was hit by Japanese bombs in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. Grayson claimed two Japanese aircraft and damaged a third. The next day she joined Task Force 11 around Saratoga, and on 26 August she sighted a Japanese submarine on the surface and, after five attacks and all 46 of her depth charges, saw bubbles and oil rise. On 18 October she picked up 75 survivors from the destroyer Meredith.
In 1943 and 1944 she fought in the Central Solomons and the New Guinea campaign. In October 1944 she rescued 194 men from the damaged cruiser Houston, and from 3 November she was on radar picket and lifeguard duty from Saipan. She reached Seattle on 9 June 1945.
Sources: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS) as reproduced on Wikipedia, NavSource Online (commanding officer list), and Wikimedia Commons (photograph record).