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Early life and career
Antrim was born in Peru, Indiana and entered the United States Naval Academy
in 1927, graduating on 4 June 1931. 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.
World War II Service
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 28 February 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 flushdecker "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.
Prisoner of War
For three days and nights, Pope's survivors stuck together as a group until
picked up by a Japanese warship and transferred to Japanese Army authorities
at Makassar, in the Celebes Islands.
There, Antrim performed an unforgettable act of personal bravery. During the
early part of his imprisonment at Makassar in April 1942, he saw a Japanese
guard brutally beating a fellow prisoner of war (POW) and boldly intervened,
attempting to quiet and reason with the guard, as others, and some 2,000 POWs
closed in about the scene.
However, the Japanese ignored Antrim's entreaties and continued beating the
prisoner unmercifully. After receiving some 15 blows with a hawser and the
kicks of three other guards, the victim was almost insensible. At that
instant, Antrim stepped forward. The expressions of the Japanese changed to
incredulity as the lieutenant volunteered to take the remainder of the
battered man's punishment. This action threw his captors off balance and drew
a roar of acclaim from the Allied POWs gathered around. Antrim's stand, while
saving the life of the other man also saved his own and won new respect for
the American officers and men. Later, his leadership in serving as a
spokesman for his fellow POWs earned them an improvement in camp living
conditions. For his conspicuous act of valor at Makassar in the spring of
1942, 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 all right, 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 that alteration of construction work
Antrim received a Bronze Star.
Post-War Activities
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, DC in May 1946. He then brushed up on his pilot training at NAS
Lakehurst and later completed a course at the Naval War College. The officer
- who had been listed as missing since the sinking of Pope in March 1942 -
received the Medal of Honor and Bronze Star from President Harry S. Truman in
ceremonies at the White House on 30 January 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, DC, 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 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 1 April 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 7 March, 1969.
Medal of Honor citation:
For conspicuous gallantry
and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty
while interned as a prisoner of war of the enemy Japanese in the city of
Makassar, Celebes, Netherlands East Indies, in April 1942. Acting instantly
on behalf of a naval officer who was subjected to a vicious clubbing by a
frenzied Japanese guard venting his insane wrath upon the helpless prisoner,
Comdr. (then Lt.) Antrim boldly intervened, attempting to quiet the guard and
finally persuading him to discuss the charges against the officer. With the
entire Japanese force assembled and making extraordinary preparations for the
threatened beating, and with the tension heightened by 2,700 Allied prisoners
rapidly closing in, Comdr. Antrim courageously appealed to the fanatic enemy,
risking his own life in a desperate effort to mitigate the punishment. When
the other had been beaten unconscious by 15 blows of a hawser and was
repeatedly kicked by 3 soldiers to a point beyond which he could not survive,
Comdr. Antrim gallantly stepped forward and indicated to the perplexed guards
that he would take the remainder of the punishment, throwing the Japanese
completely off balance in their amazement and eliciting a roar of acclaim
from the suddenly inspired Allied prisoners. By his fearless leadership and
valiant concern for the welfare of another, he not only saved the life of a
fellow officer and stunned the Japanese into sparing his own life but also
brought about a new respect for American officers and men and a great
improvement in camp living conditions. His heroic conduct throughout reflects
the highest credit upon Comdr. Antrim and the U.S. Naval Service.
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The second Antrim (FFG-20) was
laid down on 21 June 1978 at Seattle, Wash., by the Seattle Division of Todd
Shipyards Corp.; launched on 27 March 1979; sponsored by Mrs. Richard N.
Antrim, the widow of the late Rear Admiral Antrim; and commissioned at
Seattle on 26 September 1981, Comdr. William H. Wright, IV, in command.
On 1 October, Antrim departed Seattle en route to Mayport, Fla., her home
port. She made stops at Mazatlan and Manzanillo before arriving in the Canal
Zone on the 25th. 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 Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba. The warship carried out shakedown training in the West Indies
until 12 December. After a port visit to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., she tested and
calibrated her sound equipment in the Bahamas before returning to Mayport on
the 20th to commence holiday standdown.
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, Va., to unload ordnance and atPortsmouth, N.H., 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 again 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, and then executed
advanced ASW drills in the Bahamas. She reentered Mayport on 12 November and
remained there through the end of the year.
Antrim ended holiday standdown early in January 1983, returning to sea to
begin training on the 4th. At the beginning of February, she sailed north to
Norfolk whence 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 in
the Middle East. On 29 April, the guided-missile frigate stood out of Mayport
on her way to the Strait of Gibraltar.
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 Straits of the Bosporus
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 renegotiated the famous Straits of antiquity
again 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 shaped a course for the Persian Gulf. Following a brief stop at Djibouti
on 3 August, she began duty as a radar picket ship on the 4th. 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 the 10th, Antrim set out across the Atlantic. She arrived in
Mayport on 21 November and stood down for the last weeks of the year.
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 the 3d, the warship got underway for the coast of
Central America. After a call at Puerto de Cortez, Honduras, on the 6th and
7th, she transited the Panama Canal on the 10th. 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 the 26th and 27th. On 28 April, Antrim
headed north for port visits at Newport, R.I., and Portsmouth, N.H., followed
by plane guard duty for Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69).
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 whence she
carried out refresher training until the end of July. After visiting
Charleston at the end of the first week in August, Antrim arrived back in Mayport
on the 11th. 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 the 24th 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.
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, Spain, for fuel on St. Valentine's Day 1985 before
passing through the Strait of Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean Sea. The
warship made an expeditious transit of the Mediterranean, stopping only at
Palma de Mallorca and Augusta Bay, Sicily, before negotiating the Suez Canal
on 27 February. Steamingthence 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, 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.
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, 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 (FFG-42)
and Reid (FFG-30) on 5 July and shaped a course via Djibouti and the Red Sea
to the Suez Canal. Through the canal on the 14th, she made a single stop - at
Valencia, Spain - on her voyage across the Mediterranean.
After a short pause at Rota on the 24th 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 standdown 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, South America, 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.
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