USS Walton (DE-361)

USS Walton (DE-361) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort in the United States Navy. It was named after Merrit Cecil Walton, a Marine Corps platoon sergeant with the U.S. 1st Marine Division, who died on Gavutu during the Battle of Guadalcanal and was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for "extraordinary heroism".

Walton was laid down at Consolidated Steel Corporation, in Orange, Texas, on 21 March 1944; launched on 20 May 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Clara Olson, mother of Sgt. Walton; and commissioned on 4 September 1944, with Lieutenant Commander Wilbur S. Wills, Jr., in command.

World War II

After she conducted her shakedown out of Great Sound Bay, Bermuda, Walton underwent post-shakedown availability at the Boston Navy Yard. The new destroyer escort subsequently sailed for Hampton Roads, Virginia, and arrived at Norfolk on 15 November. While in that vicinity, she served as a school ship, training nucleus crews for the other destroyer escorts then entering the fleet.