USS Ericsson (DD-440), a , was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named after John Ericsson, who is best known for devising and building the Civil War ironclad . Ericsson was launched on 23 November 1940 by Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Kearny, New Jersey; sponsored by Mrs. Ruth E. Wallgren, great-great-grandniece of John Ericsson. The ship was commissioned on 13 March 1941. Service history 1941-1942 After shakedown, Ericsson arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, her home port, on 2 May 1941. Immediately Ericsson began operations along the East Coast and Bermuda, training Naval Reserve midshipmen, exercising with submarines, making tests of her equipment and machinery, and joining in battle practice. In the fall of 1941, she twice voyaged to Newfoundland and Iceland, escorting convoys, continuing this service after the United States entered World War II. Patrolling off NS Argentia, Newfoundland on 15 January 1942, she sighted the life rafts of sunken SS Dayrose, from which she rescued two survivors. Her rescue work also includes patrol service during the rescue of survivors from the torpedoed Coast Guard cutter on 30 January 1942. A little later, on February 13, Ericsson sailed on an Icelandic fishing boat, Græðir, just outside Reykjavik. This happened about 1 a.m. and the Græðir sank instantly. One Icelandic sailor drowned but the crew of the Ericsson managed to rescue six others. Ericsson escorted a convoy to the Panama Canal Zone in May 1942, and another to Ireland and Scotland in June. Through the remainder of the summer, she escorted convoys along the east coast and in the Caribbean and took part in exercises, and also patrolled out of San Juan, Puerto Rico. On 24 October, she sortied from Norfolk for the invasion of North Africa, and took part in the landings on the coast of French Morocco 8 November. For the next week she offered direct fire support to the troops ashore, assisting in knocking out four enemy batteries on a ridge commanding the landing area the first day; she also screened transports lying off the beach. Ericsson returned to Norfolk 26 November. 1943-1944 After a brief overhaul at Charleston, Ericsson returned to patrol and escort duty in the Caribbean and to Recife and Trinidad. In May 1943, she made the first of five convoy escort voyages to Casablanca from east coast ports, between which she joined in training, and patrolled the western Atlantic. On