Two vessels named O'Bannon have served in the navy of the United States this century; both of them were destroyers and the second of them - designated DD450 - dates from the Second World War. Built at the Bath Iron Works in Maine, the second O'Bannon was one of the extensive 'Fletcher' class ordered in 1942, the last of which were not completed until the War was in its final stages. Each displaced 2,924 tons fully loaded and measured 376½ feet in length with a 39½ foot beam. Powered by twin-shaft General Electric turbines fired from four Babcock and Wilcox boilers, they could make 38 knots at full steam and were widely regarded -- by older U.S. Navy men at least - as the most satisfactory of all the American destroyer classes. With a main armament of five-5in. guns, they also mounted extensive anti-aircraft weapons and ten-21in. torpedo tubes, and carried a complement of 273 officers and men.

O'Bannon herself was launched on 14th March 1942 and entered service immediately upon completion. Her first duty was as a convoy escort in the North Atlantic in mid-August 1942 but later that year she transferred to the Pacific where she stayed for the rest of the War. During November 1942, she provided escort for troop convoys bound for Guadalcanal and saw extensive action during the final battle to liberate that island in January and February 1943. Between March and August 1943, she was continually in action during the prolonged operations against Japanese-occupied New Georgia before moving on to the Solomon Islands. Engaged on numerous south-west Pacific offensives in 1944, she remained in action until the very end of hostilities, including the landings at Tarakan (Borneo) in April 1945. Laid up for most of the post-War period, she was eventually broken up in 1970.