dock sunk just the day before. Seabees cut the ship in two, removed a section of her damaged hull, then joined the two remaining halves together. Escorted by a tug, Hambleton reached Boston 28 June 1943 for permanent repairs. 1944 Normandy invasion After a second shakedown in the Caribbean and training along the East Coast, Hambleton escorted a convoy to Oran in April 1944, and began to prepare for her role in the Normandy invasion. Operating in the Western Mediterranean with seven other destroyers and British scout planes, she sank the on 17 May after an intensive 4-day pursuit of the German marauder. From the Mediterranean Hambleton sailed to Plymouth, England, staging area for the epochal invasion. She escorted a large convoy of LSTs to the landing areas on 7 June, D-Day plus 1, and remained off Omaha Beach for critical shore bombardment and screening duties. In the early morning hours of 9 June, Hambletons radar picked up several contacts, soon determined to be Nazi E-boats. Her guns blazing, Hambleton set out after the enemy. In a 4-hour running gun battle, she sank one and severely damaged another of the five German boats. After returning for provisions at Portland, England, Hambleton was back on the line for the Bombardment of Cherbourg 25 June. Hambleton departed Belfast, Northern Ireland on 4 July, and steamed to the Mediterranean, touching Oran, Algeria, 10 July and reaching Naples, Italy, on 15 July. On 11 August, she participated in the bombardment of shore positions on the southern coast of France prior to Operation Anvil, the invasion of that vital area. Hambleton remained in the Mediterranean for patrol and screening duty until sailing to Boston on 25 October. Conversion to Destroyer/Minesweeper Arriving Boston on 8 November, the battle-training destroyer was converted into a high speed minesweeper and redesignated DMS-20 on 15 November. 1945 Okinawa Hambleton emerged from the yard 13 December and sailed for the Pacific 30 December. Steaming via San Diego, Pearl Harbor, and Eniwetok, she arrived Ulithi 9 March 1945, to prepare for the invasion of Okinawa, the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific. Departing on 19 March, she arrived off Okinawa, the gateway to the heart of the Japanese Empire, 23 March. Prior to the invasion 1 April, she cleared channels and anchorages for the 1,200 ships taking part in the invasion. During the long campaign that followed, she operated off Okinawa to