World War II

After shakedown, Lawrence C. Taylor departed New York on 6 August 1944 for the central Pacific, arriving at Pearl Harbor on 29 August. Sailing on 16 October, the destroyer escort joined USS Anzio and her hunter-killer group in the Philippine Sea.

During operations near Leyte, her ASW patrols were rewarded 18 November after a 14-hour search for a Japanese submarine. Joining two planes from Anzio in a coordinated attack, Lawrence C. Taylor sank I-41.

During December the hunter-killer group searched the seas off Leyte and Luzon relentlessly, despite a violent typhoon which struck the islands. She was the only ship in her unit to remain on course and undamaged during the massive storm. On 3 January 1945 Lawrence C. Taylor sortied with ships of the U.S. 3rd Fleet to support the landings in Lingayen Gulf on 9 January. Remaining on patrol, she searched for enemy submarines off Luzon and prevented their closing the shipping lanes to the island.

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. She arrived off the tiny volcanic island on 16 February and for three days guarded a group of escort carriers as they softened up the island prior to the landings. After the Marines landed on 19 February, Lawrence C. Taylor stood by on patrol and support duty. 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.

The victory at Iwo Jima set the stage for the next campaign, Okinawa. Arriving off Okinawa on 26 March, she performed ASW sweeps prior to the Easter Sunday assault. Once again her task was to keep the shipping lanes free of enemy submarines, and she continued this duty through June.

Then Lawrence C. Taylor accompanied Admiral John S. McCain's Fast Carrier Task Force as it attacked the Japanese mainland. The submarine patrol brought results, because Anzio' planes sighted an enemy submarine on the night of 15 July. At 0240 the following morning the destroyer escort registered her second kill when her depth charge attack sank I-13.

Lawrence C. Taylor continued operations with the 3rd Fleet until the Japanese surrendered, then departed Okinawa on 5 September to join the U.S. 7th Fleet as it landed occupation troops in Korea and China. She remained with the occupation units until 26 December when she departed Okinawa for home.