Chambers County AlArchives Military Records.....McGinty, Franklin Alexander 
ww2 U.S. Navy
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/alfiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Gerald K. McGinty, Sr. http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00021.html#0005198 May 31, 2005, 10:52 am

Awarded Navy Cross
John Franklin McGinty, of Chambers Co., AL, had a grandson (son of John Roy, 
Sr.), Franklin Alexander McGinty, b. November 22, 1911, in Atlanta, GA, d. 
August 5, 1943 (photo).  Frank was a musician and scholar. Music, books and the 
fine arts were his chief interests.  He graduated from the University of 
Georgia in 1941 and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honorary fraternity. He 
taught for one year at Lavonia High School before entering the service. He was 
an accomplished organist and was offered, after his basic training, an 
opportunity to become assistant to the chaplain where he would have arranged 
the music for religious services for the sailors.  He declined, saying that 
he "wanted to be where he could sink a submarine." Frank was a soundman 
(listened to sonar), third class in the U.S. Navy Reserves.  He was killed in 
action aboard the USS Plymouth, which, while on convoy duty, was hit by a 
torpedo as she prepared to depth charge the German submarine, U-566. One 
account says that they were off Cape Charles about ninety miles east of 
Elizabeth City, NJ. An article in the New York Times, August 16, 1943, says 
they were off of the North Carolina coast. According to accounts, as she swung 
left to bear on the target, a violent underwater explosion occurred just abaft 
the bridge.  She took a heavy list to port with her entire port side forward of 
amidships in flames. She sank quickly. Rough seas and sharks hampered rescue 
operations.  An article in the New York Times, October 8, 1943, shows that a 
Coast Guard cutter rescued sixty of the approximately 160 members of the 
crew "from stormy waters."  

Frank was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross on October 21, 1943. His citation 
reads: “ For heroism and outstanding performance of duty during the sinking of 
the USS PLYMOUTH on August 5, 1943.  Soundman McGinty attempted to rescue a man 
who was trapped in the flaming ship’s armory.  He was seen to enter the armory, 
but he also was trapped there, and thus lost his life.  Such action reflects 
great credit upon the Naval Service.” Later in the war, a new destroyer escort, 
DE-365, the USS McGINTY, was named in honor of him (photo). His name is 
included on the monument, Tablets of the Missing, in Battery Park, New York 
City. This ship was built at the Consolidated Steel Corp. shipyard in Orange, 
TX.  On August 5, 1944, the anniversary of his death, it was christened by his 
stepsister, Mrs. Perrillah Malone, who broke the traditional bottle of 
champagne over its bow.  The ship was then launched and glided down the ramp 
into the Sabine River. His mother and father were in attendance at the ceremony 
along with his brother and several other dignitaries. This ship was active in 
WW II, first based at Pearl Harbor.  She performed escort duty between Guam, 
Eniwetok and Ulithi, later making runs to Okinawa and Tokyo Bay.  After the 
war, she returned to San Diego and was made part of the reserve fleet in 1947.  
In March 1951, she was brought back into active service in the Korean War where 
she received three battle stars. From May - July 1956, she participated 
in "Operation Redwing" at the pacific proving grounds. These were a series of 
at least seventeen nuclear detonations, testing various aspects of the weapons. 
The tests were held at the Eniwetok and Bikini atolls. The USS McGinty's role 
was in measuring radiation fall-out, etc.  At this time her homeport was at 
Pearl Harbor. In 1959, she was decommissioned and berthed at Portland, Oregon. 
Then in 1961, when the Berlin Wall went up, she was reactivated and traveled 
the Sea of Japan and South China Sea.  Crewmembers who served on the ship say 
that she could out steam the newer DE's because she had two screws and most of 
them only had one. She was decommissioned the final time in August 1962. In 
September 1968, she was taken off the Navy records and sold to American Ship 
Dismantlers of Portland, OR who cut it up for scrap. I have a U.S.S. McGinty 
Navy shoulder patch from one of the uniforms. (Department of the Navy, Naval 
Historical Center, Washington Navy Yard, DC, and Dictionary of American Naval 
Fighting Ships, vol. IV and V. 


File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/chambers/military/ww2/other/mcginty197mt.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/alfiles/

File size: 4.8 Kb