William D. Porter was laid down on 7 May 1942 at Orange, Texas, United States, by the Consolidated Steel Corporation; launched on 27 September 1942, sponsored by Miss Mary Elizabeth Reeder; commissioned on 6 July 1943.

[2] William D. Porter was reported to have been involved in a mishap while departing Norfolk when her anchor tore the railing and lifeboat mounts off a docked sister destroyer while maneuvering astern.

[3][4][5] The next day, a depth charge from the deck of William D. Porter fell into the rough sea and exploded, causing Iowa and the other escort ships to take evasive maneuvers under the assumption that the task force had come under torpedo attack by a German U-boat.

[6] Ships logs from William D. Porter and Iowa do not mention a lost depth charge nor a U-boat search on 13 November.

This drill suddenly went awry when a live torpedo discharged from mount #2[9] aboard William D. Porter and headed straight towards Iowa.

[6] In desperation the destroyer finally broke radio silence, using codewords that relayed a warning message to Iowa regarding the incoming torpedo.

Roosevelt, meanwhile, had learned of the incoming torpedo threat and asked his Secret Service attendee to move his wheelchair to the side of the battleship, so he could see.

Chief Torpedoman (CTM(AA)) Lawton Dawson,[12] whose failure to remove the torpedo's primer had enabled it to fire at Iowa, was later sentenced to hard labor, though Roosevelt intervened in his case and pardoned him, as the incident had been an accident.

[14][15] William D. Porter was in Bermuda from 16 to 23 November 1943; no mention was made of awaiting Marines or the entire crew being "arrested" in the ship's logs.

After transiting the canal, the destroyer set a course for San Diego, where she stopped between 19 and 21 December to take on cold weather clothing and other supplies necessary for duty in the Aleutian Islands.

[2] On 29 December, William D. Porter arrived in Dutch Harbor, on the island of Unalaska, and joined Task Force 94 (TF 94).

The warship entered Pearl Harbor on 22 January and remained there until 1 February at which time the destroyer put to sea again to escort USS Black Hawk to Adak.

After 20 minutes, William D. Porter's radar picked up an unidentified surface vessel, closing her port quarter at a speed in excess of 55 knots (100 km/h).

That proved to be the only noteworthy event of the mission, because the following day the bombardment was canceled due to poor weather and the enemy reconnaissance plane.

[2] After a month of antisubmarine patrol, the warship departed the Aleutians for a brief yard period at San Francisco preparatory to reassignment to the western Pacific.

Their bombs missed their targets by a wide margin, but the two Japanese aircraft apparently suffered no damage and made good their escape.

After completing her screening mission to Mindoro, Porter returned to San Pedro Bay on 26 December to begin preparations for the invasion of Luzon.

William D. Porter saw no action during the first stage of those attacks, because the group's combat air patrol (CAP) provided an effective protective blanket.

She departed the Philippines on 21 March, reached the Ryukyu Islands on the morning of the 25th, and began supporting the virtually unopposed occupation of Kerama Retto.

[2] However, by the time the main assault on Okinawa began on the morning of 1 April, she had been reassigned to TF 54, Rear Admiral Morton L. Deyo's Gunfire and Covering Force.

During her association with that task organization, William D. Porter rendered fire support for the troops conquering Okinawa, provided antisubmarine and antiaircraft defenses for the larger warships of TF 54, and protected minesweepers during their operations.

Between 1 April and 5 May, she expended in excess of 8,500 rounds of 5 inch shells—both at shore targets and at enemy aircraft during the almost incessant aerial attacks on the invasion force.

[2] The constant air raids—launched from Kyūshū and Formosa—prompted the Americans to establish a cordon of radar picket ships around Okinawa, and it was to this duty that William D. Porter switched in early May.

Between 5 May and 9 June, she stood picket duty, warned the fleet of the approach of enemy air raids, and vectored interceptors out to meet the attackers.

The crew's efforts were in vain; and, 12 minutes after the order to abandon ship went out, William D. Porter heeled over to starboard and sank by the stern.