USS Lawrence C. Taylor (DE-415) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946.

His Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat (Bureau Number 02084) took off from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal at 14:15 to intercept six Nakajima B5N torpedo bombers that had been launched from the Japanese aircraft carrier Ryūjō.

During December the hunter-killer group searched the seas off Leyte and Luzon relentlessly, despite a violent typhoon which struck the islands.

When Iwo Jima, needed as a stopover base for B-29s, was selected as the next target on the road to Tokyo, the destroyer escort departed Saipan on 12 February to join the fight.

Two days after the initial landings, she assisted the escort carrier USS Bismarck Sea after the ship was hit by a kamikaze.

Her captain made the decision to remain in the area even throughout the night, leaving the search lights on and rescuing survivors, in danger of further attacks.

Under the constant threat of air raids, Lawrence C. Taylor continued operations off Iwo Jima until early March.

Then Lawrence C. Taylor accompanied Admiral John S. McCain's Fast Carrier Task Force as it attacked the Japanese mainland.