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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive
Ship's patch courtesy
of Nick Tiberio

USS Johnnie Hutchins (DE 360)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - H - T - R
Tactical Voice Radio Call: "Smoky Hill"
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive) - Navy Unit Commendation - American Campaign Medal
Second Row: Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 1 star - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal
Specifications:
Class: John C. Butler
Type: WGT (geared-turbine drive, 5" guns)
Displacement: 1350 tons (light), 1745 tons (full)
Length: 300' (wl), 306' (oa)
Beam: 36' 10" (extreme)
Draft: 11' 0" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 2 "D" Express boilers, 2 geared turbine engines, 12,000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 24 kts
Range: 6,000 nm @ 12 knots
Armament: 2 - 5"/38 cal. DP guns (2x1), 4 - 40mm AA (2x2), 10 - 20mm AA, 3 - 21" TT, 1 Mk10 Hedgehog, 8 Mk6 Depth Charge Projectors, 2 Mk9 Depth Charge Stern Racks
Complement: 14 / 201
Johnnie Hutchins (DE 360) Building and Operational Data:
  • 06 March 1944: Keel laid by the Consolidated Steel Corp., Ltd., Orange, Tex.
  • 02 May 1944: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Johnnie M. Hutchins, mother of Seaman First Class Hutchins
  • 28 August 1944: Commissioned, Comdr. H. M. Godsey in command
  • 14 May 1946: Decommissioned at San Diego, Cal. after 1 year and 8˝ months of service
  • 1948 / 1949: While decommissioned, made summer reserve cruises to Hawaii two years in a row
  • 23 June 1950: Placed "in commission, in reserve", assigned to NRT, 1st Naval Disrict at Boston, Mass.
  • 22 November 1950: Recommissioned, Lcdr B. H. Patek in command
  • 25 February 1958: Decommissioned at Bayonne, N.J. after 7 years and 3 months of service
  • 01 July 1972: Struck from the NVR with a total of 8 years and 11˝ months of service
  • 05 February 1974: Sold for scrapping
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Johnnie Hutchins

    Johnnie Hutchins    		 48k Johnnie David Hutchins was born in Weimer, Tex., 04 August 1922 and enlisted in the Naval Reserve at Houston 17 November 1942. He underwent landing craft training and in April 1943 was assigned to USS LST-473. During the assault on Lae, New Guinea, 04 September 1943, the LST's were under heavy air attack. As the ship approached the beach, a torpedo was spotted heading directly for it. Just then a bomb struck the pilot house, dislodging the helmsman before he had a chance to turn away. In the words of his posthumous citation: "... Hutchins, although mortally wounded by the shattering explosion, quickly grasped the wheel and exhausted the last of his strength in maneuvering the vessel clear of the advancing torpedo. Still clinging to the helm, he eventually succumbed to his injuries, his final thoughts concerned only with the safety of his ship...." For his extraordinary gallantry Seaman First Class Hutchins was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

    During WW II, the United States Navy awarded only 57 Medals of Honor. Johnnie’s Medal was presented to his mother at Sam Houston Coliseum in downtown Houston, on 15 September 1944, just a little over a year after Johnnie earned it. His mom, dad, five sisters and brother were all in attendance. Johnnie's body was buried outside Morobe Bay, New Guinea along with the bodies of 7 other crew members. After the war, his body was returned to the United States and he was buried in the family plot at Lakeside Cemetery in Eagle Lake, Texas.

    USS Johnnie Hutchins (DE 360) (1944-1958) was the first ship to be named in his honor.

    (Photo and biography from The USS LST-473 Association Web Site thanks to Mike Guarino)     		Bill Gonyo
    Downey, Cal.
    Johnnie Hutchins 175k 02 May 1944: Orange, Texas - USS Johnnie Hutchins (DE 360) launching at the Consolidated Steel Corporation.

    (U.S. Navy Photo #80-G-268366 from the United States National Archives)     		Mike Green
    Port Angeles, Wash.
    Johnnie Hutchins 13k undated wartime image Robert K. Lamb
    USS Johnnie Hutchins
    1944 - 1946
    Johnnie Hutchins 157k .. December 1945: Pearl Harbor, Hi. - USS Johnnie Hutchins (DE 360) leaving Pearl Harbor for the mainland USA.

    (U.S. Navy Photo #80-G-495929 from the United States National Archives)    		 Mike Green
    Port Angeles, Wash.
    Johnnie Hutchins 101k undated peacetime image Robert K. Lamb
    USS Johnnie Hutchins
    1944 - 1946
    Johnnie Hutchins 43k early 1950's: New York Harbor Carmen J. Costa
    Johnnie Hutchins 171k 1952: Boston, Mass. - USS Johnnie Hutchins (DE 360) docking at the Boston Navy Yard. With a skeleton crew supplemented by Naval Reservists, the destroyer escort made regular training cruises during the next few years, visiting Montreal, Quebec, and many Caribbean ports.

    (Photo from the John Leslie Collection at the Boston Public Library)     		Mike Green
    Port Angeles, Wash.
    Johnnie Hutchins History
    View the USS Johnnie Hutchins (DE 360) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
    View the official War History of USS Johnnie Hutchins as submitted by the ship at war's end.
    Johnnie Hutchins's Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.) 28 Aug. 1944 - .. Dec. 1945Lcdr. Hugh M. Godsey, USNR (Comm. CO) (Gwynn's Island, Va.)
    2.) .. Dec. 1945 - .. Mar. 1946Lt. J. W. Rettig Jr., USNR
    3.) .. Mar. 1946 - 24 Apr. 1946Lt.(jg) Lynn Kippax, USNR (Philadelphia, Pa.)
    4.) 24 Apr. 1946 - 14 May 1946Lt.(jg) Alfred G. Obern, USNR (Decomm. CO)
    5.) 22 Nov. 1950 - Lcdr. B. H. Patek, USNR (Recomm. CO)
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    Contact Name: Bo Keally
    Address: 1853 Outlook Drive
    City/State: Verona PA 15147
    Phone:(412) 798-9334
    E-mail: navy-bo@msn.com
    Note About Contacts

    Contact information is compiled from various sources over a period of time and may, or may not, be correct. Every effort has been
    made to list the newest contact. However, our entry is only as good as the latest information that's been sent to us. We list only
    a contact for the ship if one has been sent to us. We do NOT have crew lists, rosters, or deck logs available. Please see the
    Frequently Asked Questions section on NavSource's Main Page for that information.

    Additional Resources
    Tin Can Sailors
    The U.S. Navy Memorial
    Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
    The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
    The Destroyer History Foundation
    Tin Can Sailors Shipmate Registry - USS Johnnie Hutchins
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    This Page Created And Maintained By Mike Smolinski
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    by Paul R. Yarnall, All Rights Reserved.
    Page Last Updated: 02 June 2020