FFG-20 - Tin Can Sailors

Hull Number: FFG-20

Launch Date: 03/21/1979

Commissioned Date: 09/26/1981

Decommissioned Date: 05/08/1996

Call Sign: NRNA

RICHARD NOTT ANTRIM

Wikipedia (as of 2024)

Richard Nott Antrim (December 17, 1907 – March 7, 1969) was an officer in the United States Navy who received the United States’ highest military decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions as a prisoner of war during World War II. He retired in 1954 as a rear admiral.

Antrim was born in Peru, Indiana and entered Naval Reserve in 1926. He received an appointment to the United States Naval Academy in 1927 and graduated on June 4, 1931. He married Mary Jean Packard shortly before he graduated. He served briefly in the 11th Naval District before reporting to the battleship USS New York as fire control officer. Detached from that battleship in April 1932, he received flight instruction at the Naval Air Station (NAS), Pensacola, Florida, before serving consecutive tours of sea duty on the USS Salinas, USS Nitro and USS Trenton.

Subsequently, ordered to the Bethlehem Steel Corporation in Quincy, Massachusetts, Antrim assisted in fitting out USS Portland and after her commissioning, served as a division officer in that heavy cruiser until the spring of 1936. After that time, he became assistant first lieutenant in USS Crowninshield before undergoing instruction in lighter-than-air (LTA) flight at NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey. Antrim subsequently received his naval aviator (LTA) designation, qualified for duty as an airship, kite, or free-balloon pilot. In the spring of 1938, Antrim arrived on the Asiatic Station and served as executive officer of USS Bittern before joining USS Pope in December 1939, as her executive officer. The outbreak of war in the Pacific Ocean in December 1941 found Antrim still serving in that capacity.

During her brief wartime career, Pope played a significant part in three major engagements fought by the venerable Asiatic Fleet destroyers—the battles of Balikpapan, Badung Strait, and the Java Sea.

In the former, Pope delivered close-range attacks that momentarily helped to delay the Japanese landings at Balikpapan. During the action, Lieutenant Antrim selected targets for his guns and torpedoes, placing his shots accurately in the midst of a large Japanese convoy and thus inflicting damage to several enemy ships. After the Battle of Badung Strait, Pope’s commanding officer, Commander Welford C. Blinn, reported that his executive officer was “highly deserving of commendation for the meritorious performance of his several duties before and throughout the action.” Citing Antrim as a “ready assistant in navigation fire control, and torpedo fire,” Blinn recommended him not only for a destroyer command but for a “decoration deemed appropriate.” Antrim later received a Navy Cross for this service.

The Battle of the Java Sea (27 to February 28, 1942) ended all Allied hope of stemming the Japanese onslaught. In the wake of that action, the smashed Allied fleet attempted to escape the cordon of Japanese warships rapidly tightening the noose around Java. Among the small groups was one composed of the British heavy cruiser HMS Exeter, the destroyer HMS Encounter, and Pope.

The ships slipped out of Surabaya, Java, on the evening of February 28, but were spotted the next day by Japanese aircraft. A surface force of cruisers and destroyers located the fleeing trio, and a fierce action ensued, with Exeter and Encounter after having put up a stiff fight, going down under a deluge of Japanese shells. Pope, however, fought on, managing to make a temporary haven in a passing rain squall.

Unfortunately, the destroyer—an Asiatic Fleet flush decker “old enough to vote”—could not elude her pursuers. Ultimately, damaged by Japanese bombs, from aircraft summoned from the Japanese carrier Ryūjō, and by shells from the Japanese force, Pope began to sink, but not before all but one of her men had reached safety in life rafts and the destroyer’s sole motor whaleboat. Antrim, wounded in the action, helped to gather the life rafts around the boat to facilitate the distribution of what meager supplies were available to the men. His devotion to duty during the ordeal inspired and sustained his shipmates’ morale.

For three days and nights, Pope’s survivors stuck together as a group until picked up by a Japanese warship and handed over to Japanese Army authorities at Makassar, in the Celebes Islands.

During the early part of his imprisonment at Makassar in April 1942, Antrim saw a Japanese guard brutally beating an American prisoner of war, Lt.(jg) Allan Jack Fisher, (SC), and successfully intervened, at great risk to his own life. For his conspicuous act of valor, Antrim later received the Medal of Honor.

Subsequently when the Japanese forced Antrim to take charge of a labor detail assigned the task of constructing slit trenches for protection during air raids, he carefully rearranged the construction work plans approved by the Japanese and gained their approval of his own ideas. Under the eyes of their captors, the POWs dug the slit trenches correctly, but in a curious pattern recognizable from the air as a giant US which clearly and craftily identified the occupants of the trenches. This audacious action possibly saved hundreds of prisoners of war from mistaken bombings by Allied planes. Antrim carried out the plan in spite of the fact that discovery of his trick would have resulted in instant beheading. For this, Antrim received a Bronze Star.^[1]

Ultimately liberated after the war in the Far East ended in August 1945, Antrim returned to the United States and enjoyed rehabilitation leave before attending the Repatriated POW Refresher Course at the Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C. in May 1946. He then brushed up on his pilot training at NAS Lakehurst and later completed a course at the Naval War College. Antrim—who had been listed as missing since the sinking of Pope in March 1942—received the Medal of Honor and Bronze Star Medal from President Harry S. Truman in ceremonies at the White House on January 30, 1947.

Later, following a brief stint at the Fleet Sonar School, San Diego, California, in June and July 1947, Antrim went to sea in command of the destroyer USS Turner. He next underwent further instruction at NAS Lakehurst, before assuming the duties of Assistant for Lighter-than-Air Planning and Programs Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), Washington, D.C., in December 1948.

Following further Washington duty—with the Policy Advisory Staff, Department of State, and the Psychological Strategy Board—Antrim commanded the attack transport USS Montrose during the Korean War before returning to the capital for a brief tour of duty as Head, Amphibious Warfare Matters Section, Office of the CNO, prior to his retirement on April 1, 1954. He was advanced to rear admiral on the retired list on the basis of his combat awards.

Rear Admiral Antrim died in Mountain Home, Arkansas on March 7, 1969. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia.^[2]

Disposition:

Naval Reserve Force ship 1/30/1987. Stricken 9/4/1997.

Ship History

USS ANTRIM FFG-20 Ship History

Wikipedia (as of 2024)

USS Antrim (FFG-20) was the twelfth ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry class of guided-missile frigates. She was named for Rear Admiral Richard Nott Antrim (1907–1969).

Ordered from Todd Pacific Shipyards, Seattle, Washington, on 28 February 1977, as part of the FY77 program, Antrim was laid down on 21 June 1978, launched on 27 March 1979, and commissioned on 26 September 1981.^[4]

On 1 October, Antrim departed Seattle, en route to Mayport, Florida, her home port. She made stops at Mazatlan and Manzanillo, before arriving in the Canal Zone on 25 October. The guided-missile frigate transited the Panama Canal, on Navy Day, 27 October 1981, and continued on to Mayport, where she arrived on 2 November. Antrim conducted independent ship’s exercises out of Mayport, on an intermittent daily basis until 20 November, when she set sail for Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. She carried out shakedown training in the West Indies until 12 December. After a port visit to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, she tested and calibrated her sound equipment in the Bahamas, before returning to Mayport, on 20 December, to commence holiday stand down.^[4]

The holiday leave and upkeep period ended on 11 January 1982, with her return to sea to conduct combat systems qualifications and trials. With that event, the guided-missile frigate resumed a normal schedule of operations out of Mayport, in the local operating area, and in the West Indies, as well. On 26 April, Antrim departed Mayport, bound ultimately for Bath, Maine, and post-shakedown availability at the Bath Iron Works. Along the way, she stopped at Yorktown, Virginia, to unload ordnance, and at Porstmouth, New Hampshire, for a port visit. The warship arrived in Bath, on 7 May and commenced a repair period that lasted 16 weeks. She embarked upon the voyage back to Mayport, on 27 August, made a series of stops en route, and entered Mayport, on 11 September. Antrim stayed in port for almost a month, putting to sea again on 8 October, to carry out post-repair refresher training in the vicinity of Guantanamo Bay. The guided-missile frigate completed that mission at the beginning of November, made a brief call at Key West, Florida, and then executed advanced ASW drills in the Bahamas. She reentered Mayport, on 12 November, and remained there through the end of the year.^[4]

Antrim ended holiday stand down early in January 1983, returning to sea to begin training on 4 January. At the beginning of February, she sailed north to Norfolk, Virginia, where she conducted weapons testing and training. On 10 February, while she was engaged in those evolutions, a target drone skipped off the surface and struck Antrim causing a fire in the wardroom and in her electronics spaces. The accident killed a civilian instructor embarked in the warship. Antrim returned to Mayport, and passed the rest of February, engaged in repairs. The warship completed her weapons training and testing during March, and spent most of April, preparing to deploy to the Mediterranean Sea and the Middle East. On 29 April, the guided-missile frigate stood out of Mayport. on her way to the Strait of Gibraltar.^[4]

She entered the Mediterranean, on 9 May, and joined the 6th Fleet. Antrim carried out normal 6th Fleet training operations until the second week in June. On 11 June, the warship transited the legendary Bosporus Straits and the Dardanelles and entered the Black Sea. For eight days, she conducted operations in the Black Sea, and during that time, also paid a four-day visit to Constanta, Romania. Antrim left the Black Sea, on 19 June, and resumed her operational schedule as a unit of the 6th Fleet. On 1 August, the guided-missile frigate passed through the Suez Canal and set a course for the Persian Gulf. Following a brief stop at Djibouti, on 3 August, she began duty as a radar picket ship on 4 August. Except for a port call at Karachi, Pakistan, from 27 September to 4 October, Antrim, served in the Persian Gulf for almost three months. She carried out turnover formalities with her relief at Djibouti, on 30 October, transited the Suez Canal, on 4 November, and laid in a course for Rota, Spain. After stopping at Rota, briefly on 10 November, Antrim set out across the Atlantic. She arrived in Mayport, on 21 November, and stood down for the last weeks of the year.^[4]

The relative inactivity of the final month of 1983 carried over into and through the first month of 1984. Antrim did not put to sea again until the first week in February. On 3 February, the warship got underway for the coast of Central America. After a call at Puerto Cortés, Honduras, on 6 and 7 February, she transited the Panama Canal, on 10 February. For almost seven weeks, Antrim conducted operations off the western shores of Central America from the base at Rodman, in the Canal Zone. On 28 March, she travelled back through the canal and set her course for Mayport. The guided-missile frigate stood into her home port on 2 April. She passed the bulk of the month engaged in repairs, completing post-repair sea trials on 26 and 27 April. On 28 April, Antrim headed north for port visits at Newport, Rhode Island, and Portsmouth, followed by plane guard duty for Dwight D. Eisenhower.^[4]

The warship returned to Mayport, on 11 May, and resumed local operations 10 days later. At the end of June, she headed for Guantanamo Bay, where she carried out refresher training until the end of July. After visiting Charleston, South Carolina, at the end of the first week in August, Antrim arrived back in Mayport, on 11 August. On 20 August, the guided-missile frigate began a two-month restricted availability at Mayport. She wrapped up the repair period with sea trials on 22 and 23 October, and a stop at Charleston, on 24 October, to load ordnance material. Back in Mayport, on 26 October, Antrim executed training missions in the local operating area until early in December, when she began preparations for overseas movement.^[4]

Holiday routine interrupted those preparations, late in December, but the pace quickened in January 1985, as her February departure date drew near. On 4 February, Antrim stood out of Mayport, on her way across the Atlantic. She made a short call at Rota, for fuel on St. Valentine’s Day before passing through the Strait of Gibraltar, and into the Mediterranean Sea. The warship transited of the Mediterranean, stopping only at Palma de Mallorca and Augusta Bay, Sicily, before negotiating the Suez Canal, on 27 February. Steaming then through the Red Sea and around the Arabian Peninsula, Antrim passed through the Strait of Hormuz on 9 March, and entered the Persian Gulf. While cruising on radar picket station in the Persian Gulf, Antrim received a distress call from the Liberian-flag motor vessel, MV Caribbean Breeze, that had suffered an Iranian missile attack to her bridge. The guided-missile frigate and her embarked helicopter detachment, HSL-36, Del. 1, rendered assistance to the stricken vessel. Antrim, then continued her surveillance patrols of the troubled waters of the Persian Gulf, until the end of the third week in April.^[4]

At that time, she departed the gulf for a little more than a week to make a port call at Karachi, Pakistan. Back on station in the Persian Gulf, at the end of April, Antrim responded to another call for help on 2 May, after the Iranians attacked another motor vessel, MV Nordic Trader, with missiles. Again, the warship and her helicopter detachment evacuated casualties. Her remaining two months of surveillance patrols in the Persian Gulf provided no further untoward incidents. She turned her responsibilities over to Klakring and Reid, on 5 July, and set a course via Djibouti, and the Red Sea, to the Suez Canal. Through the canal on 14 July, she made a single stop, at Valencia, Spain, on her voyage across the Mediterranean.^[4]

After a short pause at Rota, on 24 July, for fuel, the warship embarked upon the Atlantic passage that same day. On 5 August, one month to the day after her relief, Antrim pulled into Mayport. Post-deployment stand down occupied the remainder of August, but she resumed local operations out of Mayport, early in September. During the latter half of November, the warship voyaged to the coast of Colombia, to assist in a multinational operation against drug smugglers. She returned to Mayport, at the beginning of December, and following a short period of local operations, settled into holiday routine. As of the beginning of 1987, Antrim was at Mayport.^[4]

On 30 January 1987, Antrim was assigned to the Naval Reserve Force, Atlantic, at Mayport.^[1]

Decommissioned on 8 May 1996, she was transferred to Turkey, on 27 August 1997. She was stricken from the U.S. Naval Vessel Register on 4 September 1997.^[1]

The ship serves in the Turkish Navy as TCG Giresun (F 491).

On 16 March 2009, Giresun, along with HDMS Absalon successfully prevented a pirate attack on the Vietnamese cargo ship MV Diamond Falcon from succeeding in capturing the target ship.^[5]^[6]

On 6 March 2011, she aided the destroyer Bulkeley in the capture of 4 pirates who had attacked the tanker MV Guanabara. The pirates were later flown to Tokyo for trial.