USS Gilligan (DE-508) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II.

He enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve on 8 January 1942 and served at Parris Island, South Carolina, and Quantico, Virginia.

Gilligan was mortally wounded in action while serving with the First Marine Raider Battalion at Tulagi, Solomon Islands, on 7 August 1942 and died the next day.

Three days later, on 20 November, fleet oiler Mississinewa (AO-59)—loaded with more than 400,000 gallons of aviation gasoline—was torpedoed inside Ulithi lagoon with a loss of 50 officers and men.

A sailor under fire from the attacking plane leaped from his post onto the main battery director and threw it off target, a mistake which prevented the 5-inch guns from getting off more than 1 round although it was able to fire an additional 13 rounds thirty minutes later at a second plane that dived into the USS Suesens (DE-342).

Gilligan Carl E. Bull wrote to William Stewart wife, Virginia : "You can be very proud of your husband.

He knew he was facing almost certain death and yet remained at his post and continued to direct the fire of his battery until the enemy was destroyed.

Outstanding damage control kept the ship seaworthy; she put in at Leyte 17 January for repairs, subsequently reaching Pearl Harbor 21 February for overhaul.

Gilligan returned to Ulithi 25 June and sailed again 6 July on merchantmen escort duty to Leyte and Hollandia and subsequently closed Manila where she was attached to the Philippine Sea Frontier.

She made two training cruises to Hawaii, and one each to Acapulco, Mexico, the Panama Canal Zone and Alaska.