Capt. Cassin Young

Capt. Cassin Young, US Navy, received the Medal of Honor for his heroic action at Pearl Harbor.

Naval History and Heritage Command, NH 92310

Quick Facts

Significance:

US Navy Captain, Awarded the Medal of Honor, Purple Heart, and Navy Cross

Place of Birth:

Washington, D.C.

Date of Birth:

March 6, 1894

Place of Death:

Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands

Date of Death:

November 13, 1942

Place of Burial:

Mount Pleasant, South Carolina

Cemetery Name:

Mount Pleasant Memorial Gardens

Cassin Young served as an officer in the United States Navy. After Young's heroic action during the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt awarded him with the Medal of Honor. Killed in action at Guadalcanal, Young was honored as the namesake of the destroyer USS Cassin Young.

Born on March 6, 1894, to Casanave Howle and Anna (née Cassin) Young, Cassin Young lived his early years in Washington, D.C.. At age two, Young and his family moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Here, he grew up with his family, while his father worked in a drug store.¹ Sadly, his father died in 1905, leading to Cassin Young, his mother, and his two younger brothers moving back to Washington D.C.

The Cassin family had a long tradition of service in the United States Navy going back to the War of 1812.² On June 2, 1912, Young entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, representing the fifth generation in his family to enter the service. Upon graduation in 1916, Young served on the battleship USS Connecticut during World War I before transferring to submarine service in 1919. Also during that year, Young married Eleanor H. McFadden in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.³ After serving on a number of submarines throughout the 1920s, Young taught at the Naval Academy from 1928 to 1931. By 1930, Cassin and Eleanor Young were living in Annapolis, Maryland with their four children Charles, Eleanor, Mary, and Stephan.⁴

From 1931 to 1933, Young served as a Lieutenant Commander on the armored cruiser USS New York before becoming Commanding Officer of the destroyer USS Evans. Young later served in the 11th Naval District in California from 1935 to 1937. Around this time, Young purchased a ranch in Coronado, California, which became his permanent residence. In September 1937, he commanded Submarine Division Seven, serving in Honolulu, Hawaii. In July 1939, he was appointed as executive officer Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut, where he served until April 1941.

On December 7, 1941, Young served as Commanding Officer on the repair ship USS Vestal, stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. When Japanese planes began their attack, Young personally operated an anti-aircraft gun and organized the defense of USS Vestal, which the Japanese struck several times with aircraft bombs. When the explosion of the battleship USS Arizona threw Young and many sailors overboard, he swam back through oil-filled waters to his ship and returned to command. According to historian Walter Lord:

At this point Commander Young climbed back on the Vestal from his swim in the harbor. He was by no means ready to call it a day. He stood sopping wet at the top of the gangway, shouting down to the swimmers and the men in the boats, "Come back! We're not giving up this ship yet!"⁵

Though the ship was ablaze and under constant attack from Japanese planes, Young remained calm. He got Vestal underway, sailing into open waters and beaching the ship to prevent its destruction.

The US Navy recognized Young's courage under fire, and he was presented with the Medal of Honor by Admiral Chester Nimitz on April 18, 1942.

Now a Captain in command of the heavy cruiser USS San Francisco, Young led his ship into battle off the coast of Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. On November 13, 1942, San Francisco engaged the Japanese battleship Hiei at close range. Young was directing his ship in battle when a Japanese shell struck the bridge, killing him and his commanding officer, Rear Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan. Young was among 77 American sailors on San Francisco killed in this battle, and was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross and the Purple Heart.

His loss was keenly felt by those who knew him at the various postings he served at throughout his career, with a New London, Connecticut newspaper referring to Young as "one of the best liked officers ever stationed at the Submarine Base." The author described Young and his family as having taken "an active part in the civic, church, and fraternal life of the city and acquired a host of friends."⁶ He was 48 years old at the time of his death.

Cassin Young was survived by his wife Eleanor and his four children. His son Charles McFadden Young, then a student at the Naval Academy, went on to serve in the United States Navy and retired at the rank of Commander. In honor of Captain Cassin Young's service and sacrifice, the United States Navy named the destroyer USS Cassin Young after him in 1943. USS Cassin Young is now a museum ship at the Charlestown Navy Yard, where it is stewarded by the National Park Service.

Contributed by: Raphael Pierson-Sante, Digital Content Support Volunteer.

Footnotes

1. "Cassin Young," Year: 1900; Census Place: Milwaukee Ward 1, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Roll: 1800; Page: 12; Enumeration District: 0015. Ancestry.com
2. "CASSIN IN THE WATER," The Times Record (Brunswick, Maine), May 20, 1913, p. 1-5.
3. "IN A SOCIAL WAY," The Philadelphia Enquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), July 26, 1919, p. 3.
4. "Cassin Young," 1930; Census Place: Annapolis, Anne Arundel, Maryland; Page: 31A; Enumeration District: 0032. Ancestry.com.
5. Walter Lord, Day of Infamy (New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1957), 100.
6. "Former Executive Officer at Sub Base Killed in Action in Battle for Solomon Islands," The Day (New London, Connecticut), November 17, 1942, p. 5.

Sources

"Cassin Young." National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, MO, USA; Applications for Headstones and Markers, 7/1/1970-9/30/1985; NAID: 6016127; Record Group Number: 15; Record Group Title: Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773-2007. Ancestry.com.

Congressional Medal of Honor Society. "Cassin Young," n.d. https://www.cmohs.org/recipients/cassin-young.

Jones, Meg. "Milwaukee captains crossed paths at Pearl Harbor". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Dec. 4, 2016.

Lord, Walter. Day of Infamy. New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1957.

Naval History and Heritage Command. "Young, Cassin," n.d. https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/us-people/y/young-cassin.html.

U.S. Naval Academy Virtual Memorial Hall. "CASSIN YOUNG, CAPT, USN," n.d. https://usnamemorialhall.org/index.php/CASSIN_YOUNG,_CAPT,_USN.

"Cassin Young." National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, MO, USA; Applications for Headstones and Markers, 7/1/1970-9/30/1985; NAID: 6016127; Record Group Number: 15; Record Group Title: Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773-2007. Ancestry.com.