Okinawa After overhaul at Seattle, Washington, Stockton completed refresher training at Pearl Harbor on 24 January 1945. Between 10 February and 9 March, she screened escort carriers as they provided air cover for the landings on Iwo Jima. On 21 February, two days after the landings, Stocktons group was attacked by four suicide planes, which sank the escort carrier , and damaged . From 18 March to the end of the war, the destroyer escorted replenishment units of the Logistics Support Group as they provided fuel and supplies to the Fleet during the Okinawa campaign and the concurrent air strikes on the Ryukyus and the Japanese home islands. On 31 March — the day before the Okinawa landings — Stockton and sank the Japanese submarine , after a 3½-hour action. In early April, Stockton directed the salvage of , which had collided with two tankers of Stocktons group. End of World War II and fate Stockton continued her support duties during the first 1½ months of the occupation of Japan. She sailed on 15 October from Japan and proceeded, via Singapore and Cape Town, to New York City. The destroyer was decommissioned on 16 May 1946 and placed in reserve at Charleston, South Carolina. She was struck from the Navy list on 1 July 1971. Stockton received 8 battle stars for her World War II service. Use in fiction Stockton was mentioned in Andy Weir's novel The Martian. References External links navsource.org: USS Stockton hazegray.org: USS Stockton World War II destroyers of the United States Ships built in Kearny, New Jersey 1942 ships Gleaves-class destroyers of the United States Navy