USS Ellet, a 1500-ton Benham class destroyer, was built at Kearny, New Jersey. Commissioned in February 1939, she served off the U.S. east coast and in the Gulf of Mexico for one year on Neutrality Patrols and other operations, then moved to the Pacific. As tensions grew with Japan, Ellet's base was moved to Pearl Harbor, and she took part in efforts to reinforce U.S. positions in the region and otherwise prepare for the possibility of war.

When Japan began the Pacific conflict with the 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, Ellet was at sea. She spent the next several months escorting convoys and aircraft carriers. In the latter role, she participated in the Doolittle air raid on Japan in April 1942 and the Battle of Midway in early June. Two months later Ellet played escort, anti-aircraft and bombardment roles during the invasion of Guadalcanal and Tulagi. On 9 August 1942, she rescued survivors of the Battle of Savo Island, and helped scuttle the crippled Australian cruiser Canberra. For much of the rest of 1942 and into 1943, she provided escort services in support of the campaign to hold Guadalcanal. Among her activities was particpation in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in late August 1942.

After Guadalcanal was secured in February 1943, Ellet mainly operated in the south Pacific until September 1943. Following an overhaul, she returned to the combat zone in February 1944 as part of the Marshall Islands invasion force. The destroyer supported the northern New Guinea offensive during the spring of 1944 and participated in the Marianas operation and associated aircraft carrier raids during June-August. In September, she took part in the seizure of Ulithi Atoll.

Assigned to the Marianas Patrol and Escort Group in late October 1944, Ellet spent the rest of her World War II active service in the central Pacific, primarily on escort and air-sea rescue work. She also shelled Iwo Jima during raids in December 1944 and January 1945. Undergoing overhaul at the Mare Island Navy Yard when the fighting ended in August 1945, Ellet was decommissioned in late October of that year and sold for scrapping in August 1947.


USS Ellet was named in honor of five members of the Ellet family who distinguished themselves during the Civil War: Colonel Charles Ellet, Jr; Brigadier General Alfred W. Ellet; Colonel Charles Rivers Ellet; Lieutenant Colonel John A. Ellet; and Edward C. Ellet.