Jack William Wintle


Jack William Wintle was a United States Navy Officer and a posthumous recipient of the Navy Cross, which was awarded for his actions in mid November 1942, during the Battle of Guadalcanal

Military career

Wintle was appointed a midshipman at the Naval Academy on 14 June 1928 and graduated on 2 June 1932. He reported for duty in on the 30th and completed a three-year tour of duty in the battleship before being transferred to submarine tender. That assignment lasted 17 months.
On 7 August 1936, Wintle reported to the Puget Sound Navy Yard to help supervise the fitting out of ; and he remained in the destroyer after she went into commission on 18 September 1936. In the summer of 1939, he received postgraduate instruction at the Naval Academy before reporting for duty at the Philadelphia Navy Yard to help prepare for recommissioning and service on the Neutrality Patrol. His tour of duty in that destroyer, one of the first in the Atlantic Squadrons to be fitted with sonar, ended in August 1940 when he was sent to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he served almost two years instructing NROTC midshipmen.

World War II

Late in April 1942, Wintle reported to the Bureau of Navigation in Washington where he learned that his next assignment was to be aide and flag lieutenant to the Commander, South Pacific Area and South Pacific Force. On 15 June 1942, Wintle received his promotion to lieutenant commander and, four days later, reported for duty in his new assignment in the South Pacific.

Service Aboard the USS San Francisco

Promoted to lieutenant commander, Wintle served under Rear Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan, Chief of Staff to the Commander South Pacific Area and South Pacific Force, through the early months of the struggle for Guadalcanal in late 1942. Late in October 1942, when Callaghan went to sea as the commander of a cruiser-destroyer force, Wintle joined him in his flagship as a member of his staff.

Awarding of the Navy Cross

On the night of 12 and 13 November, Callaghan's force met a Japanese raiding force built around battleships Hiei and Kirishima. During the confused melee off Savo Island, San Francisco suffered a terrific pounding from enemy ships-and briefly lost power completely. At that point, several Japanese salvos scored on her superstructure, obliterating her flag and navigating bridges. All but one member of the admiral's staff were killed, and Wintle was among the casualties. For this sacrifice, he was awarded the Navy Cross, posthumously.

Legacy

The USS Wintle, Destroyer Escort, commissioned 10 July 1943, was named in his honor.