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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

USS Holton (DE 703)

Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - T - L - E

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
Second Row: European-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - Philippine Liberation Ribbon

Specifications:
Class: Buckley
Type: TE (turbine-electric drive, 3" guns)
Displacement: 1400 tons (light), 1740 tons (full)
Length: 300' (wl), 306' (oa)
Beam: 36' 9" (extreme)
Draft: 10' 6" (draft limit)
Propulsion: 2 "D" Express boilers, G.E. turbines with electric drive, 12000 shp, 2 screws
Speed: 24 kts
Range: 6,000 nm @ 12 knots
Armament: 3 x 3"/50 Mk22 (1x3), 1 twin 40mm Mk1 AA, 8 x 20mm Mk 4 AA, 3 x 21" Mk15 TT (3x1), 1 Hedgehog Projector Mk10 (144 rounds), 8 Mk6 depth charge projectors, 2 Mk9 depth charge tracks
Complement: 15 / 198

Holton (DE 703) Building and Operational Data:

28 September 1943: Keel laid by the Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, Mich.

15 December 1943: Launched and christened, sponsored by Mrs. Edith Holton, mother of Ensign Holton

01 May 1944: Commissioned at New Orleans, Lcdr J. B. Boy, USNR, in command

31 May 1946: Decommissioned at Green Cove Springs, Fla. after 2 years and 1 month of service

01 November 1972: Struck from the NVR

30 May 1974: Sold, scrapped

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Contributed By And/Or Copyright
0670301	60k	Ralph Lee Holton was born 19 September 1918. After leaving home in Kalamazoo, Mich., he graduated from the Naval Academy on 19 December 1941, as part of the Class of 1942. Scheduled to graduate in February 1942, the class's graduation date was moved up because of the war beginning. His first assignment after the Academy was USS *Hammann* (DD 412). He was awarded the Navy Cross for his valiant rescue work aiding survivors of the stricken carrier *Lexington* on 08 May 1942 in the Battle of the Coral Sea. As officer-in-charge of a boat detailed to rescue survivors from the burning carrier, Ensign Holton, under a hail of flaming debris from bombs, ammunition, and gasoline exploding on Lexington, persistently returned to the stricken ship and thus effected a series of daring rescues in which he saved the lives of many members of the ship's crew who otherwise would have been lost. Less than a month later, on 06 June, Ensign Holton was reported missing and presumed dead as his ship, the destroyer USS *Hammann, was sunk during the Battle of Midway. USS Holton* (DE 703) (1944-1946) was the first ship to be named in his honor. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Naval Academy)		Bill Gonyo Downey, Cal. Assoc. Researcher Navsource
0670302	28k	undated wartime image		Jerry Church

Holton History
View the USS Holton (DE 703) DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command web site.
View the official War History of USS Holton as submitted by the ship at war's end.

Holton's Commanding Officers
Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler

Dates of Command	Commanding Officers
1.) 01 May 1944 -	Lcdr. John B. Boy, USNR (Comm. CO)

Crew Contact And Reunion Information

None

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
The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
The Destroyer History Foundation

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