USS The Sullivans (DD-537) was the first American Navy ship ever named after more than one person. The motto for the ship is "We stick together.” When the brothers left their hometown of Waterloo, Iowa, (2 had previously served in the Navy and been discharged) they enlisted in the Navy with the agreement that they would stay together. On the morning of November 13, 1942, they were serving together on the USS Juneau when it was attacked by a Japanese torpedo. All aboard but 10, including all 5 Sullivan brothers, died. As a result of this and other incidents, the US War Department’s “Soul Survivor Policy” was enacted.

Mrs. Thomas Sullivan (Alleta Sullivan), mother of the brothers, was the ship’s sponsor when it was commissioned on September 30, 1943. This Fletcher-class destroyer was an example of the largest class of U.S. destroyer in World War II. It was decommissioned in 1965, stricken from the Navy Vessel Register in 1974 and donated to the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park in 1977. It was part of the display when the park opened in 1979, and is still there today.


More at: https://www.hnsa.org/hnsa-ships/uss-the-sullivans-dd-537/

Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park:
http://www.buffalonavalpark.org/

USS The Sullivans:
http://www.ussthesullivans.net/