destroyer then turned back to Kerama Retto for repairs. On 20 May she got underway to return to the Hagushi anchorage where she again joined the antiaircraft screen. On the 26th she shifted to Nakagusuku Wan, then back to Kerama Retto where she rejoined the escort carriers. A month later she steamed to Leyte, then to Saipan. There she resumed convoy escort duty, and for the remainder of World War II plied between the Marianas and the Ryukyus. In August, she was busy in the Philippine Sea conducting rescue operations after USS Indianapolis was sunk in that area. She rescued 24 survivors and four days later returned to Ulithi Atoll to continue her service. On 1 September 1945, Ralph Talbot escorted the USS Portland, sister ship of the Indianapolis and the lead of its class, from Guam to Truk and on the 2nd stood by as the Japanese formally surrendered that island fortress during ceremonies aboard the cruiser. Returning to Guam on the 3rd, the destroyer sailed for Saipan, Okinawa, and Japan on the 5th and, into October, operated off southern Japan and Okinawa, getting underway for the United States on 29 October. Battle Stars (participation in military campaigns) 1. Pearl Harbor-Midway 2. Pacific Raids - 1942 3. Midway - 3/6 June 1942 4. Guadalcanal-Tulagi Landing including First Savo Island 5. East New Guinea Operations 6. Consolidation of Solomon Islands 7. New Georgia Operations 8. Bismarck Archipelago Operations 9. Marianas Operation 10. West Caroline Operation 11. Leyte Operation 12. Luzon Operation 13. Iwo Jima Operation 14. Okinawa Operation Post-war atomic tests Reporting for duty with the Western Sea Frontier on her return 19 November, Ralph Talbot'' was assigned to Joint Task Force 1 the following May 1946, and designated for use as a target in Operation Crossroads, the atomic tests conducted at Bikini in July and August 1946. Contaminated with nuclear fallout during the tests, the destroyer was towed to Kwajalein where she was decommissioned 29 August 1946 and sunk, in deep water off the atoll, 8 March 1948. Her name was struck from the Navy list 5 April 1948. Cultural references During the opening historical sequence of the HBO mini-series The Pacific, the USS Ralph Talbot is shown sailing through rough seas, apparently performing escort duty, based on the ships in the background. On the ship, sailors are seen on deck around the Number 1 and Number 2 gun