April 1945, she was off Okinawa, serving as a radar picket ship. At Okinawa, Japan hurled a storm of suicide planes at the Navy. Particularly hard-hit were the ships on radar picket duty. On 6 April, the Sterett was sent to accompany her companion ship, the , to Okinawa after that destroyer had been hit by a kamikaze. Three days later, the Sterett suffered the same fate. While at picket station No. 4 northeast of Okinawa, five enemy planes swooped on her, and the LCS-36 and LCS-24. The first was driven off and later downed; the second was shot down by the destroyer's main battery; but the third, though battered by her barrage, pressed home its attack and smashed into the Steretts starboard side at her waterline. She lost all electrical power, but her 20 millimeter and 40 millimeter guns still managed to bring down the fourth attacker. The destroyer lost steering control and the power to all guns and directors; her communications were out; and her forward fuel tanks were ruptured. However, with the shipboard fires under control, steering control reestablished aft, and emergency communication lines rigged, she moved off to Kerama Retto with the providing antiaircraft cover. Following emergency repairs at Kerama Retto, she screened TU 53.7.1 to Ulithi; and from there, she and the USS Rail (DE-304) steamed to Pearl Harbor. After spending the period from 1 to 10 May at Pearl Harbor, she moved on to Bremerton, Washington, and more extensive repairs. Through the months of June, July, and August 1945, she remained on the West Coast. Then, from 21 to 28 August, the Sterett steamed to Pearl Harbor again. Upon her arrival, she practiced shore bombardment and antiaircraft gunnery for a month. On 25 September, she steamed away with the , the , and the . DecommissioningSterett transited the Panama Canal on 8 and 9 October and, after a three-day stay in Coco Solo, she proceeded north. She arrived in New York City on 17 October, and she was decommissioned there on 2 November 1945. Her name was stricken from the Navy List on 25 February 1947, and she was sold on 10 August to the Northern Metal Company of Philadelphia for scrapping. The Sterett'' earned 12 battle stars, the United States Presidential Unit Citation for the Battle of Guadalcanal and the Battle of Vella Gulf, and the Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation for her