USS John C. Butler (DE-339)

USS John C. Butler (DE-339) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort commissioned by the United States Navy in March 1944. Named in honor of Ensign John Clarence Butler, the ship is best known for her heroic role in the Battle off Samar during the larger Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944, where she and other small escorts bravely confronted a vastly superior Japanese force. Throughout World War II, the USS John C. Butler provided vital escort and anti-submarine duties in the Pacific Theater. After the war, she was decommissioned in 1946 and placed in reserve, before being struck from the Naval Vessel Register in 1972.