USS Cassin Young

The USS Cassin Young was built in San Pedro, California, by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. It was named after Commander Cassin Young, who was the Commander of the Vestal during the attack on Pearl Harbor. His ship, the Vestal, was moored next to the Arizona, and during the attack took heavy damage when the Arizona blew up. After being blown overboard, he mustered his fleeing crew and helped put out fires and rescue many of the men at Pearl Harbor prior to beaching his ship across the harbor so it could be salvaged at a later date. Commander Young later died during the battles that raged near Guadalcanal. The USS Cassin Young (DD793) was commissioned in 1943, and was named to honor this great Commander. On October 23 to 27, 1944, the USS Cassin Young participated in the battle for the Leyte Gulf. The USS Princeton was sunk during this battle, and the USS Cassin Young rescued 120 of her crew. there is a picture below showing a plaque that was gratefully given to the crew and ship by those sailors that were rescued. The USS Cassin Young was decommissioned on April 19th, 1960. She now resides at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston.