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Richard Nott
Antrim was born on 17 December 1907 in Peru, Indiana. Following a year of
enlisted Naval Reserve service, he entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1927.
Graduated in June 1931 and receiving a commission in the rank of Ensign, he
briefly served in the Eleventh Naval District offices at San Diego,
California, then reported for sea duty in the battleship New York. In April
1932, he began instruction at Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, after
which he returned to sea in the oiler Salinas, ammunition ship Nitro, and
light cruiser Trenton. Antrim then helped to fit out and subsequently served
on board the heavy cruiser Portland. In June 1934, while assigned to the
latter ship, he was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade. Following a brief
tour on board the destroyer Crowninshield, in July 1936 he was assigned to
Naval Air Station, Lakehurst, New Jersey for training and duty with
lighter-than-air-aircraft (dirigibles and balloons). In May 1938, he became
Executive Officer of the minesweeper Bittern. Antrim was promoted to
Lieutenant in July 1939 and in December transferred to the destroyer Pope as
her the Executive Officer. While serving in that Asiatic Fleet ship in
September 1940, he received his designation as a Naval Aviator (LTA).
During the first months of World War II, Pope participated in the desperate
struggle to defend the Philippines and Netherlands East Indies. On 1 March
1942, following the Battle of the Java Sea, she attempted to escort the
damaged British heavy cruiser Exeter out of the combat zone, but was sunk by
aircraft bombs when the little force was intercepted by the enemy. Though
wounded, Lieutenant Antrim led the ship's survivors as they drifted at sea
for three days, until the enemy picked them up and took them to a prisoner of
war facility at Makassar, Celebes. In April 1942, when a fellow officer was
being viciously beaten and close to death, Antrim bravely stepped forward and
offered to take the rest of the punishment, stunning the Japanese guards,
inspiring the Allied prisoners, and creating among the enemy a new-found
respect for their American captives. For his "conspicuous gallantry and
intrepidity" on this occasion, Antrim was awarded the Medal of Honor.
While a Prisoner of War, he continued his leadership role and devised a
clever method of communicating the identity of the prison camp to Allied
forces. He was temporarily promoted to Commander in November 1942, which rank
was made permanent in 1949. Following liberation in September 1945, Antrim
returned to the United States and attended the Repatriated Prisoner of War
Refresher Course. He then received training at Naval Air Station, Lakehurst,
New Jersey, the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, and the Fleet Sonar
School, San Diego, California. He was commanding officer of the destroyer
Turner in 1947 and 1948, followed by a Lighter Than Air Planning and Programs
assignment at the Office of Chief of Naval Operations in Washington, D.C.
While in this post, he was promoted in July 1950 to Captain. Remaining in the
National Capital during the early 1950s, Antrim served with the Policy
Advisory Staff at the Department of State and on the Psychological Strategy
Board. Beginning in August 1952, he commanded the attack transport Montrose.
Returning to Washington D.C. in June 1953, Captain Antrim became the Head of
the Naval Amphibious Warfare Matters Section in the Office of the Chief of
Naval Operations. Due to health problems, he retired in June 1954 and was
promoted at that time to the rank of Rear Admiral on the retired list.
Richard N. Antrim died on 8 March 1969 and is buried at Arlington National
Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia.
Medal of Honor citation of Commander Richard Nott Antrim, USN
(as printed in the
official publication "Medal of Honor, 1861-1949, The Navy", page
151):
"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, Commander (then Lieutenant) 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, Commander
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 three
soldiers to a point beyond which he could not survive, Commander 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
Commander Antrim and the United States 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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