USS Kephart ( DE-207 ) Career ( U.S . ) Ordered : 1942 Laid down : Launched : 6 September 1943 Commissioned : 7 January 1944 Decommissioned : 21 June 1946 Struck : 1 May 1967 Fate : transferred to South Korea , 16 May 1967 Career ( ROK ) Commissioned : 1967 Decommissioned : Fate : Struck : 30 April 1985 General characteristics Displacement : 1 , 400 tons Length : 306 ft Beam : 36 ft 10 in Draft : 9 ft 5 in Propulsion : 2 boilers , General Electric Turbo-electric drive 2 solid manganese-bronze 3600 lb 3-bladed propellers , 8.5 ft. diameter , 7 ft. 7 inch pitch 12 , 000 hp ( 8.9 MW ) 2 rudders Speed : 24 knots Range : Complement : 186 officers and enlisted Armament : 3 × 3 '' /50 ( 3 × 1 ) 4 × 1.1 '' ( 1 × 4 ) 8 × 20 mm ( 8 × 1 ) 3 × 21 '' torpedo tubes ( 1 × 3 ) 8 depth charge projectors ( 8 × 1 ) 1 Hedgehog depth charge projector 2 depth charge tracks USS Kephart ( DE-207/APD-61 ) was a Buckley -class destroyer escort in the United States Navy . She was named in honor of Lieutenant William P. Kephart . Launch and initial operations Kephart was launched on 6 September 1943 at the Charleston Navy Yard , Charleston , South Carolina , sponsored by Mrs. A. P. Kephart , Lt. Kephart 's mother , and commissioned on 7 January 1944 , with Lieutenant Commander I. H. Cammarn in command . After shakedown off Bermuda , Kephart departed New York 23 March for convoy escort duty in the Atlantic . During the next 3 months , she made three runs from New York to Gibraltar and Bizerte , Tunisia . Returning to New York 30 June for conversion to a Charles Lawrence -class high speed transport , she was reclassified APD-61 on 5 July . World War II Operations Kephart departed New York 30 September and joined the 7th Fleet at Hollandia , New Guinea , on 10 November . As a unit of TransDiv 103 , she departed in convoy 17 November and arrived at Leyte Gulf , Philippines , 24 November . After a run to the Palaus , she embarked troops of the 77th Infantry Division at Leyte , and steamed 6 December with Task Group 78.3 for amphibious assault at Ormoc Bay . During landing operations on 7 December , Kephart ' s guns splashed two Japanese planes in a fierce raid . Returning to Leyte on 8 December , she embarked soldiers of the 19th Infantry Regiment ; she sailed on 12 December for Mindoro , and landed assault troops at San Jose on 15 December , again under heavy enemy air attack . Returning to Leyte on 17 December , she continued on 20 December to Hollandia to prepare for anti-submarine and amphibious operations . Carrying men of the 158 Regimental Combat Team , Kephart departed Noemfoor , Schouten Islands , on 4 January 1945 to rejoin the fight to liberate the Philippines . Steaming to Luzon , she arrived at San Fabien , Lingayen Gulf , on 11 January , and landed reinforcements , despite constant harassment from enemy planes emerging from the heavy air attack unscathed . Returning to Leyte on 15 January for 3 months of anti-submarine patrol , Kephart took part in scattered landing operations in the Philippines : at Grande Island , Subic Bay ( 30 January ) ; Puerto Princesa , Palawan ( 28 February ) ; Zamboanga , Mindanao ( 10 March ) ; Cebu City , Cebu ( 26 March ) ; and Cotabato , Mindanao ( 17 April ) . Kephart departed Leyte Gulf on 4 May for escort and assault operations in the Dutch East Indies , arriving Morotai on 7 May . After escorting a convoy to Mindanao ( 18 May – 20 May ) , she returned to Morotai on 21 May and embarked troops of the Australian Army for an amphibious assault at Brunei Bay , North Borneo . Sailing on 4 June , she landed troops on 10 June amid dwindling enemy resistance ; then she patrolled the South China Sea , hunting submarines before returning Morotai on 19 June . She sailed on 26 June carrying Australian soldiers to the eastern coast of Borneo , arriving on 1 July for the final major amphibious operation of the war — the landing operations at Balikpapan , Borneo . Continuing escort and anti-submarine duty , Kephart departed Morotai 16 July and reached Leyte Gulf 2 days later . On 4 August she began amphibious training at Albay and Lagonoy Gulfs , Luzon , in preparation for a possible invasion of Japan . After the fighting ended on 15 August , she sailed from Leyte Gulf on 29 August to Okinawa to embark occupation troops for Korea . She reached Jinsen , Korea , on 8 September ; and then shuttled between the Philippines and Korea . She steamed from Jinsen on 29 October via Sasebo , Japan , and Okinawa to Tsingtao , China , arriving there on 14 November to support the Chinese Nationalists ' effort to repel Communist aggression on the Chinese mainland . Post-World War II Operations Returning to Okinawa on 22 November , Kephart embarked 147 homebound veterans and departed 26 November for the United States . Steaming via Pearl Harbor , she reached San Diego , California on 16 December . Two days after unloading her passengers , she sailed for the East Coast , and arrived at New York on New Year 's Day 1946 . Following overhaul , she departed on 8 February for Green Cove Springs , Florida , arriving there on 11 February . Kephart was decommissioned on 21 June , and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Orange , Texas . She was struck from the Navy List on 1 May 1967 and transferred under the Military Assistance Program to the Republic of Korea on 16 May 1967 . Kyong Puk ( PF-82 ) Kephart was renamed Kyong Puk ( PF-82 ) by the Republic of Korea Navy . She was redesignated APD-85 in 1972 , renumbered APD-826 in 1980 , redesignated DE-826 in 1982 . Kyong Puk was purchased outright by the Republic of Korea on 15 November 1974 . Kyong Puk was struck by the ROK Navy on 30 April 1985 . Kephart received five battle stars for World War II service . As of 2004 , no other ship has carried this name . References This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships . External links history.navy.mil : USS Kephart navsource.org : USS Kephart Buckley -class destroyer escort Buckley | Charles Lawrence | Daniel T. Griffin | Donnell | Fogg | Foss | Gantner | George W. Ingram | Ira Jeffery | Lee Fox | Amesbury | Bates | Blessman | Joseph E. Campbell | Reuben James | Sims | Hopping | Reeves | Fechteler | Chase | Laning | Loy | Barber | Lovelace | Manning | Neuendorf | James E. Craig | Eichenberger | Thomason | Jordan | Newman | Liddle | Kephart | Cofer | Lloyd | Otter | Hubbard | Hayter | William T. Powell | Scott | Burke | Enright | Coolbaugh | Darby | J. Douglas Blackwood | Francis M. Robinson | Solar | Fowler | Spangenberg | Ahrens | Barr | Alexander J. Luke | Robert I. Paine | Foreman | Whitehurst | England | Witter | Bowers | Willmarth | Gendreau | Fieberling | William C. Cole | Paul G. Baker | Damon M. Cummings | Vammen | Jenks | Durik | Wiseman | Weber | Schmitt | Frament | Harmon | Greenwood | Loeser | Gillette | Underhill | Henry R. Kenyon | Bull | Bunch | Rich | Spangler | George | Raby | Marsh | Currier | Osmus | Earl V. Johnson | Holton | Cronin | Frybarger | Tatum | Borum | Maloy | Haines | Runels | Hollis | Gunason | Major | Weeden | Varian | Scroggins | Jack W. Wilke List of destroyer escorts of the United States Navy Categories : Buckley class destroyer escorts | Republic of Korea Navy ships 1946 