The patrol gunboat Asheville (PG-21), commissioned 6 July 1920 spent the larger part of her service as a part of the Asiatic Fleet with extensive service in China and the Philippines. She was part of the Asiatic Fleet at the outbreak of World War II. The ship was on patrol in the Philippines when Pearl Harbor was attacked 8 December 1941 (7 December in Hawaii). Ordered south by CINCAF to the Dutch East Indies (N.E.I.) in December 1941 with most of the rest of the American surface fleet, Asheville escaped early destruction only by making a 12 day, 2,000 mile voyage to the south coast of Java.

The Japanese victory in the Battle of the Java Sea marked the end of the Asiatic Fleet and all remaining Allied ships were ordered to retreat to Australia or Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Hampered by engine troubles and sailing alone, Asheville was sunk south of Java by a Japanese squadron on 3 March 1942. One survivor, Fred Brown from Ft.Wayne, Indiana, was picked up by a Japanese destroyer. Mr. Brown later died in P.O.W. camp in the Celebes, N.E.I., in March 1945.

Asheville was one of the few American surface ships lost with no known survivors at the end of the war.

The USS ASHEVILLE received one battle star for her WWII service.