carrier , and accompanied it to the south Pacific in July 1942. Early in the next month, she provided bombardment and anti-aircraft services to the invasion force during landings at Guadalcanal and Tulagi. While in that area on 9 August, Wilson engaged Japanese cruisers during the Battle of Savo Island, and later rescued survivors of the sunken cruisers , and . Following a west coast overhaul, Wilson was back off Guadalcanal in January 1943, in time for the last weeks of the fighting there. She subsequently participated in landings on the Russell Islands, bombarded enemy positions on New Georgia and escorted shipping in and around the Solomon Islands. In November 1943, the destroyer screened U.S. aircraft carriers during strikes on Rabaul and Nauru and was similarly employed during attacks on the Marshall and Caroline Islands in January and February 1944. In June and July 1944, Wilson served with the carrier task forces during the Marianas Campaign and the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and also fired her guns at small craft and shore targets at Guam. After overhaul work in August–October 1944, she battled enemy suicide planes in late December while escorting a convoy to Mindoro, in the central Philippines. The next month, Wilson again engaged hostile aircraft and shore positions during the Lingayen Gulf invasion. On 16 April 1945, during the campaign for Okinawa, she was hit by a kamikaze, which cost the lives of five of her crewmen and left an unexploded bomb in her after hull. Soon repaired, she served in the Okinawa area until June and operated out of Saipan until the war ended in August. Wilson was employed on occupation duty until December 1945, when she returned to the U.S. west coast. In May of the next year, she was assigned to Operation Crossroads target duty. Made radioactive by the July atomic bomb tests at Bikini, Wilson was decommissioned in August 1946 and sunk in deep water off Kwajalein on 8 March 1948. Honors Wilson received 11 battle stars for her service during World War II References External links history.navy.mil: USS Wilson photos navsource.org: USS Wilson hazegray.org: USS Wilson Benham-class destroyers World War II destroyers of the United States Ships built in Bremerton, Washington 1939 ships Ships sunk as targets Ships involved in Operation Crossroads Maritime incidents in 1946 Maritime incidents in 1948