The USS Laffey Foundation was created to help preserve one of the most remarkable surviving warships in American history and to ensure that the courage and sacrifice of the sailors who served aboard her are never forgotten.

USS Laffey (DD-724), an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer commissioned in 1944, served in World War II, Korea, and throughout the Cold War. She became known as “The Ship That Would Not Die” after surviving a devastating attack off Okinawa on April 16, 1945, when her crew fought through repeated kamikaze strikes, bombs, fire, casualties, and severe damage to save their ship and one another.

Today, USS Laffey is preserved at Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Preserving an 80-year-old steel warship requires constant care, long-term planning, and continued public support.

The USS Laffey Foundation exists to help meet that challenge.

Become a Plank Owner

In naval tradition, a plank owner is a sailor who is part of a ship’s crew when she is first placed in commission.

As the USS Laffey Foundation begins its inaugural year, we are borrowing that tradition to recognize the people who help launch this new mission of preservation and remembrance.

Every ship begins with a crew. So does this Foundation. We are assembling ours.

A gift of $1,000 during the Foundation’s inaugural year will establish you as a Plank Owner of the USS Laffey Foundation and permanently recognize you as a member of our founding crew.

Our inaugural goal is $100,000 to help build the Foundation’s capacity to support the preservation, interpretation, and legacy of USS Laffey in collaboration with Patriots Point.

Plank Owners will receive permanent recognition as members of the Foundation’s founding crew, and we intend to create a lasting Plank Owner Muster honoring those who stood with us at the beginning.

We will also recognize USS Laffey veterans as Honorary Plank Owners, honoring the men whose service made this Foundation’s mission possible.

The inaugural Plank Owner campaign will conclude on April 16, 2027, the anniversary of USS Laffey’s legendary stand off Okinawa.

Join the founding crew. Become a Plank Owner. Help ensure that The Ship That Would Not Die never does.

Plank Owners - The Founding Crew of the USS Laffey Foundation

Every ship begins with a crew. So does this Foundation. We are assembling ours.