USS Austin (DE-15)

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For other ships with the same name, see USS Austin.

USS Austin (DE-15), circa in 1944
History
United States
NameUSS Austin
NamesakeJohn Arnold Austin
Builder
Mare Island Navy Yard
Laid down14 March 1942
Launched25 September 1942
Commissioned13 February 1943
Decommissioned21 December 1945
Stricken8 January 1946
FateScrapped by the Terminal Island Naval Shipyard, 9 January 1947
General characteristics
TypeEvarts-class destroyer escort
Displacement
  • 1,140 long tons (1,158 t) standard
  • 1,430 long tons (1,453 t) full
Length
  • 289 ft 5 in (88.21 m) o/a
  • 283 ft 6 in (86.41 m)
    w/l
Beam35 ft 2 in (10.72 m)
Draft11 ft (3.4 m) (max)
Propulsion
Speed21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range4,150 nmi (7,690 km)
Complement15 officers and 183 enlisted
Armament

USS Austin (DE-15), was an

Navy Cross
.

The second Austin (DE-15) was laid down on 14 March 1942 at the

Mare Island Navy Yard as HMS Blackwood (BDE-15) for the United Kingdom under the terms of the Lend-Lease
Agreement; launched on 25 September 1942: sponsored by Mrs. W. C. Springer; taken over by the United States Navy on 25 January 1943 and redesignated DE-15; and commissioned on 13 February 1943. The destroyer escort was apparently commissioned as simply DE-15 for the name Austin was not assigned to her until 19 February 1943, six days after she went into commission.

Namesake

John Arnold Austin was born in

Asiatic Fleet. He detached from the tender and reported for duty on Augusta. On 4 December 1935, Austin was advanced to Chief Carpenters Mate (Chief Petty Officer). Detached from the heavy cruiser on 13 July 1937 and reported on board Tennessee on 10 September 1937. He served in that battleship until detached on 14 June 1939 to proceed to further assignment to Rigel reporting on 18 July 1939. After 14 months on that destroyer tender, CPO Austin departed on 21 September 1940 bound for duty in Oklahoma and reported on board the battleship on 5 October 1940. In October 1941, Austin he received a commission as a (Chief Warrant Officer, W-2).[1]

On the morning of 7 December 1941, Austin was on board Oklahoma which was the first ship to be attacked by the Japanese on Battleship Row, it capsized in only 15 minutes due to damage it received from torpedoes and bombs. Austin along with many crew members were trapped within the ship as it keeled over. After searching for a means of escape, he found a porthole beneath the surface that offered a way out. He assisted 15 sailors in escaping from the sunken Oklahoma. However Chief Warrant Officer Carpenter Austin failed to get out.[1]

Austin's remains were originally among those buried in the

National Cemetery of the Pacific. New forensic technologies led to the resumption of efforts to identify those remains in 2015. Austin's remains were identified by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency in September 2018.[2][3]

Navy Cross Citation

The citation for his posthumous

Navy Cross
reads:

The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Chief Carpenter John Arnold Austin (NSN: 75565), United States Navy, for exceptional courage, presence of mind, and devotion to duty and disregard for his personal safety while serving on board the Battleship U.S.S. OKLAHOMA (BB-37), during the Japanese attack on the United States Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, on 7 December 1941. When the U.S.S. OKLAHOMA capsized, Chief Carpenter Austin and a number of the crew were entrapped in one of the ship's compartments. By his efforts, a porthole which was under water was located and he assisted fifteen of the crew to escape. The conduct of Chief Carpenter Austin throughout this action reflects great credit upon himself, and was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.[4]

Service history

Assigned to

Escort Division (CortDiv) 14, the ship conducted shakedown training out of San Diego between 23 March and 23 April 1943. On the latter day, she put to sea to escort a convoy to Cold Bay, Alaska. She returned to San Diego on 11 May and began convoy escort missions between the West Coast and the Hawaiian Islands. Between mid-May and early September, Austin made two round-trip voyages between San Diego and Oahu and then a single, one-way run from the West Coast back to Pearl Harbor. On 2 September the ship left Pearl Harbor for the Aleutian Islands; and, on 14 September, joined the Alaskan Sea Frontier. For just over one year, Austin plied the cold waters of the North Pacific escorting ships between Alaskan ports, conducting patrols, performing weather ship duties, and serving as a homing point
for aircraft.

The warship departed Alaska on 23 September 1944; arrived in

B-29 Superfortresses. The warship also patrolled Truk
Atoll briefly before occupation forces arrived there in strength.

On 12 October, she departed Guam in company with the other ships of CortDiv 14, bound for

Pacific Reserve Fleet until scrapped. On 8 January 1946, her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
. The Terminal Island Naval Shipyard completed scrapping her on 9 January 1947.

Awards

American Campaign Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal

References

  1. ^ a b "Austin (DE 15) ii". Public Domain US Navy Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Retrieved 10 February 2021.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. Birmingham News
    . Birmingham, Alabama. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  3. ^ "USS Oklahoma Sailor Accounted For From World War II (Austin, J.)" (Press release). Washington D.C. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  4. ^ "John Arnold Austin". Military Times. Retrieved 17 May 2015.

External links

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