The second USS Perkins (DD–377) was a Mahan-class destroyer in the United States Navy before and during World War II and named in honour of Commodore George Hamilton Perkins an officer in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. Perkins was laid down on 15 November 1934 at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington. She was launched 31 December 1935, sponsored by Mrs Larz Anderson, commissioned 18 September 1936. Operational history Assigned first to Destroyers, Scouting Force then to Destroyers, Battle Force, Perkins home port was San Diego, California and she operated in the eastern Pacific prior to World War II. At Mare Island Naval Shipyard for overhaul, 7 December 1941, she reported for convoy escort duty on the 15th and on the 17th was en route to Pearl Harbor. By 15 January 1942 she was back at Mare Island for the installation of new radar equipment returning on the 25th to Hawaii. On 2 February she departed Pearl Harbor with , for the southwest Pacific. On the 14th she joined Australian, New Zealand and other U.S. ships in the ANZAC Squadron then charged with protecting the eastern approaches to Australia and New Zealand. Through the spring, she continued operations with that squadron, steaming at times with fast carrier forces around the Coral Sea to strike at any enemy encroachments, escorting refuelling units to rendezvous areas and screening larger ships of her own and combined forces as they shelled enemy positions from New Guinea to the Solomon Islands. On 1–2 May, the squadron joined with Task Force (TF) 11 and 17 and screened the carriers as their aircraft struck at Tulagi to open the Battle of the Coral Sea. Detached on the 7th, the squadron steamed to the Louisiade Archipelago to intercept a Japanese amphibious attack on Port Moresby via the Jomard Passage. That afternoon the ships were attacked by land-based aircraft and in driving them off, diverted the Japanese force accomplishing the mission without engaging the enemy and setting the stage for the final action of the Battle of the Coral Sea. The ANZAC squadron continued to patrol to the southeast of Papua. On the 10th the squadron headed for Australia and for almost two months Perkins escorted convoys and patrolled harbour entrances along the coasts of the Coral and Tasman Seas. Perkins was in Sydney Harbour during the Japanese midget submarine attack of 31 May