USS Trathen (DD-530) was a World War II-era Fletcher-class destroyer in the service of the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946 and 1951 to 1965.

Trathen was named after Lieutenant Commander James Trathen, commander of USS Midnight (1861) during the American Civil War. She was laid down on 17 March 1942 at San Francisco, California, by the Bethlehem Steel Co.; launched on 22 October 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Cassin Young, wife of Captain Cassin Young who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his valor as commanding officer of Vestal (AR-4) during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor; and commissioned on 28 May 1943.

Following training operations in the Hawaiian area, Trathen joined Rear Admiral Willis A. Lee's Task Force (TF) 11 to take part in the reoccupation of Baker Island. The target isle, a tiny elliptical speck of land, lay nearer to the Japanese-held northern Gilbert Islands than Funafuti in the Ellice group and presented a valuable staging area for projected aerial search and photo reconnaissance missions against the Japanese mandates. Lee, in Hercules (AK-41), led TF 11's sortie from Pearl Harbor on 25 August 1943, and his ships arrived off Baker on 1 September. While the transports and Ashland (LSD-1) disembarked their troops and disgorged their cargoes shoreward, Trathen stood by and provided fighter-direction services to the Grumman F6F Hellcats from Belleau Wood (CVL-24) and Princeton (CVL-23). During the action, the destroyer directed the F6F's to a radar contact 32 miles away. They soon came upon the snooping Kawanishi H8K (Allied identifier: "Emily") flying boat and dispatched her so fast that no radio report from the Japanese got out over the airwaves. Two days later, Trathen again vectored the Hellcats to another "Emily" which they also splashed into the sea.

With Baker secure and the priceless airfield constructed and ready for use by 11 September, Trathen headed for Hawaii. On 29 September, the ship commenced screening operations for Task Group (TG) 14.5, as it sortied from Pearl Harbor, bound for Wake Island. Under the command of Rear Admiral Alfred E. Montgomery, this fast carrier task force—the largest yet assembled—consisted of Essex (CV-9), Yorktown (CV-10), Lexington (CV-16), Cowpens (CVL-25), Independence (CVL-22), and Belleau Wood. On 5 and 6 October, Montgomery's planes made six strikes, flying 738 combat sorties while battleships and cruisers provided their heavy gunfire for further harassment of the Japanese-held island. Despite a cracked high-pressure turbine casing, Trathen retired with the task force back toward the Hawaiian Islands and arrived at Pearl Harbor on the 11th.

Temporary patching at Pearl Harbor permitted the destroyer to proceed to Bremerton, Washington, and permanent repairs at the Puget Sound Navy Yard. The ship sailed for the Hawaiian Islands on 21 November and reached Pearl Harbor six days later. Following training exercises with land-based aircraft off Oahu, Trathen's commanding officer was designated Commander, Task Unit (TU) 16.15.2, and his ship joined Martin (DE-30) and SS Mormacport. The ships sailed via Canton Island, Funafuti, and Tarawa to Makin Island where they arrived on 18 December. The next day, the destroyer sped 125 miles to the scene of a downed PBY Catalina, rescued the patrol bomber's crew, and returned to Makin on the 20th. On the return leg of the mission, the ship's radar picked up a formation of Japanese medium bombers bound for the Gilberts. Evidently attracted to bigger game, the bombers sped on. However, one which passed over the ship was taken under fire but apparently suffered no damage.

After pressing on to Abemama Island, Trathen and Le Hardy (DE-20) got underway on Christmas Day 1943 to escort SS Mormacport back to Hawaii. One day out, an "Emily" spotted the three-ship convoy but stayed tantalizingly out of reach of the Allied ships' guns. Detaching Le Hardy that evening, Trathen and Mormacport proceeded on to Hawaii and arrived at Pearl Harbor on New Year's Day 1944.

Trathen conducted gunnery exercises in the Hawaiian area before departing Pearl Harbor on 23 January, bound for the Marshall Islands.

Entering Kwajalein lagoon on 2 February, Trathen relieved Schroeder (DD-501) off Kwajalein Island as a fire-support ship and shelled Japanese positions ashore until the fire control party could locate no further targets. On the 5th, Trathen joined McCord (DD-534) and cruisers Minneapolis (CA-36) and San Francisco (CA-38) off Gugegwe delivering support fire for the three battalions of marines, embarked in six LST's, as they swarmed ashore in LVT(A)s and 17 amphtrac vehicles, with 16 M4 Sherman tanks. At 0720, Trathen commenced fire with her main battery, sending 5-inch shells whistling shoreward. The destroyer and her consorts then stood by as the landing craft reached the beach.