Екінші дүниежүзілік соғысындағы «Остин» эсминец эскорты

Evarts class destroyer escort

USS Austin (DE 15), was an of the United States Navy during World War II. The ship was named for Chief Carpenter John Arnold Austin (1905 1941) who was killed in action on board Oklahoma during the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces on 7 December 1941, and was posthumously awarded the 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.

John Arnold Austin was born in Warrior, Alabama on 30 August 1905. He enlisted in the United States Navy on 20 November 1920 at age 15. Between that time and 26 July 1935, he served four successive enlistments. Serving as a Carpenter's Mate 3rd Class (Petty officer third class), he reported on board the submarine tender Canopus then serving as a unit of the 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). 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.

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 San Francisco, California, a week later, and received a regular overhaul which lasted until 17 November. On 3 December, she once more weighed anchor for Hawaii. Austin operated out of Pearl Harbor as a training ship with the Pacific Fleet Submarine Training Command until 20 March 1945, when she set out for the Central Pacific. On 1 April, the destroyer escort reported for duty with forces assigned to the Commander, Forward Areas, and, for a little more than two months, conducted anti submarine patrols and air sea rescue missions out of Ulithi Atoll in the Western Caroline Islands. She finished that assignment on 10 June when the ship left for the Mariana Islands. For the next four months, Austin operated out of Guam and Saipan. In addition to anti submarine patrols and air/sea rescue missions, she escorted convoys to such places as Iwo Jima, Eniwetok and Okinawa. Following the cessation of hostilities in mid August, she conducted search missions in the northern Marianas for enemy holdouts and for survivors of downed 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 San Pedro, California, and inactivation. On 17 November, she reported to the Commander, Western Sea Frontier, to prepare for decommissioning and, on 21 December 1945, was placed out of commission at Terminal Island Naval Shipyard. Austin was berthed with the 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.