USS Higbee (DD-806)

USS Higbee (DD-806)

USS Higbee (DD/DDR-806) was a Gearing-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was the first US warship named for a female member of the U.S. Navy, being named for Chief Nurse Lenah S. Higbee (1874–1941), a pioneering Navy nurse who served as Superintendent of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps during World War I.

Higbee was launched 13 November 1944 by the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine; sponsored by Mrs. A. M. Wheaton, sister of the late Mrs. Higbee; and commissioned on 27 January 1945, Commander Lindsay Williamson in command.