Stockham was named for Gunnery Sergeant Fred W. Stockham, Marine, who gave his gas mask to a wounded man at Belleau Wood in 1918 and died of the gas. He received the Medal of Honor. Bethlehem at San Francisco laid her down on 19 December 1942, launched her on 25 June 1943, and commissioned her on 11 February 1944 under Commander E. P. Holmes.
She bombarded Saipan from 14 to 17 June 1944, then steamed west with Task Group 58.7 for the Battle of the Philippine Sea. The fleets never closed. Her part was anti-aircraft fire while the carriers shot down the Japanese strikes. She stayed with the fast carriers through the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, on the kamikaze screen for the raids on Kyushu and the Ryukyus. She came home at the end of October 1945 and decommissioned on 30 August 1946. Eight battle stars.
Korea brought her back on 14 November 1951. She trained from Newport, made a round-the-world cruise in 1954, and decommissioned again on 2 September 1957. Struck in 1974, she was sunk as a target on 17 February 1977. Her anchor is at South Christian High School in Byron Center, Michigan.