Cassin Young Memorial Post 267

The building that serves as the home of Post 267 was the first schoolhouse in Ormond Beach, circa 1900. It was then moved to another location and served as a dual purpose as a school and chapel. In the 1960's, the building was moved again to its present location on New Britain Avenue, when the Post 267 took over. The Post was named in Honor of Captain Cassin Young, USN. Young was born in Washington, DC, on March 6, 1894. He would move to Wisconsin, which his military records state as his official residence. After graduation from the US Naval Academy on June 3, 1916, he served on the battleship U.S.S. Connecticut (BB-18) into 1919, then spent several years in submarines. During that period, he commanded the submarines U.S.S. R-23 (SS-100) and U.S.S. R-2 (SS79). During the mid and late 1920s, he served in Naval Communications on the staff of Commander Submarine Divisions, Battle Fleet, and at the Naval Academy. During 1931 to 1933, Lieutenant Commander Young served on the battleship U.S.S. New York (BB-34). He was subsequently awarded command of the destroyer U.S.S. Evans (DD-78) and was assigned to the Eleventh Naval District from 1935 to 1937. After promotion to the rank of Commander, he commanded Submarine Division Seven and was stationed at Naval Submarine Base in New London, in Groton, Connecticut. When Japanese attacked Pear Harbor on December 7, 1941, he was commanding officer of the repair ship U.S.S. Vestal (AR-4), which was badly damaged by Japanese bombs and the explosion of the battleship U.S.S. Arizona (BB-39). Commander Young rapidly organized offensive action, personally taking charge of one of Vestal's anti-aircraft guns. When Arizona's forward magazine exploded, the blast blew Young overboard. Although stunned, he was determined to save his ship by getting her away from the blazing Arizona. Swimming through burning oil back to Vestal, which was already damaged and about to be further damaged, Young got her underway and beached her, thus ensuring her later salvage. His heroism was recognized with the Medal of Honor. Promoted to captain in February 1942, he later was given command of the heavy cruiser U.S.S. San Francisco (CA-38). In the Solomon Island campaign, Captain Young commanded San Francisco in the Battle of Cape Esperance and the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal with great distinction. On November 13, 1942, during the latter battle, he guided his ship in action with a superior Japanese force and was killed by enemy shells while closely engaging the battleship Hiei. Captain Young was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his actions during the campaign and the San Francisco received the Presidential Unit Citation. Medal of Honor citation: For distinguished conduct in action, outstanding heroism and utter disregard of his own safety, above and beyond the call of duty, as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. Vestal, during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, by enemy Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. Commander Young proceeded to the bridge and later took personal command of the 3-inch antiaircraft gun. When blown overboard by the blast of the forward magazine explosion of the U.S.S. Arizona, to which the U.S.S. Vestal was moored, he swam back to his ship. The entire forward part of the U.S.S. Arizona was a blazing inferno with oil afire on the water between the two ships; as a result of several bomb hits, the U.S.S. Vestal was afire in several places, was settling and taking on a list. Despite severe enemy bombing and strafing at the time, and his shocking experience of having been blown overboard, Commander Young, with extreme coolness and calmness, moved his ship to an anchorage distant from the U.S.S. Arizona, and subsequently beached the U.S.S. Vestal upon determining that such action was required to save his ship. U.S.S. Cassin Young (DD-793). When destroyer U.S.S. Cassin Young was launched by the United States Navy, her sponsor was none other than the widow of her namesake who was killed during actions off Guadalcanal earlier in the war. She was commissioned into service on the final day of 1943 under the command of Commander Earl Tobias Schrieber. She arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 19 Mar 1944 at the conclusion of her training cruise, then sailed on to Manus, Admiralty Islands to join Task Force 58. Her first sortie was on 28 Apr when the task force was launched attack the Japanese positions at Truk, Woleai, Satawan, and Ponape, with Cassin Young acting as an anti-aircraft picket ship. After brief rest and training at Majuro in the Marshall Islands and then at Pearl Harbor, she arrived at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands on 11 Jun to screen escort carriers for the Mariana Islands invasion; during that campaign, in addition to anti-aircraft picket duties, she also provided naval gunfire support against targets close to shore. She returned to Eniwetok on 13 Aug to replenish. Between 29 Aug and 2 Oct, she screened the carriers of Task Group 38.3 as their aircraft struck Japanese positions at Palau and Philippine Islands (Mindanao and Luzon) as support for the invasion of Palau Islands. On 6 Oct, she set sail again as part of TG 38.3; aircraft of TG 38.3 struck Japanese positions at Okinawa (Japan), Luzon (Philippine Islands), and Taiwan; between 10 and 13 Oct, off Taiwan, five of her crew was wounded by Japanese aircraft machine gun fire, but she succeeded in shooting down several aircraft. On 18 Oct, she screened carriers of Task Force 38 east of Luzon, Philippine Islands as their aircraft struck Japanese airfields in preparation for the invasion of Leyte, Philippine Islands. On 25 Oct, she was among the American warships that rushed northward, lured by Jisaburo Ozawa's decoy fleet; this led to the Battle off Cape Engaño. She remained with TF 38 through Jan 1945 as the aircraft struck land targets at Okinawa, Taiwan, Luzon, and Hong Kong and sea targets in the Camranh Bay, making port call at Ulithi periodically. In Feb 1945, she screened carriers as their aircraft struck Japanese airfields on Honshu and Okinawa, Japan during the Iwo Jima invasion. On 22 Mar, she departed Ulithi for the Okinawa invasion. On 1 Apr, she screened larger warships as they bombarded Okinawa, moved in close to shore to support underwater demolition teams, provided naval gunfire support, and acted as a radar picket ship. On 6 Apr, she rescued survivors from two sunken American destroyers. On 12 Apr, after shooting down five enemy aircraft, a Japanese aircraft crashed into her foremast, exploding in mid-air about 15 meters from her; one man was killed and another was wounded. She sailed to Kerama Retto southwest of Okinawa under her own power, then received temporary repairs at Ulithi, returning to Okinawa on 31 May to resume radar picket duties. On 28 Jul, she shot down two Japanese aircraft during a special attack on ships in her group; she then helped in the rescue of men from a destroyer sunken by a kamikaze aircraft. On 29 Jul, she was struck on the starboard side by a special attack aircraft, killing 22 and injuring 45; her crew was able to bring the fire under control within 20 minutes. This special attack ended her WW2 career. For her service at Okinawa, she received the Navy Unit Commendation. She was decommissioned in 1946, and was recommissioned in 1951. In mid-1953, she conducted anti-submarine exercises off Florida, United States. Between 16 Sep and 30 Nov 1953, she served with the US Navy 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. In early 1954, she conducted exercises in the Caribbean Sea. On 3 May 1954, she departed Newport, Rhode Island, United States for an around-the-world cruise, returning the Newport on 28 Nov. In the late 1950s, she conducted training exercises in the Caribbean Sea and in the Atlantic Ocean, mixed in with several tours of duty in the Mediterranean Sea and a cruise to northern Europe in 1958. On 6 Feb 1960, she arrived at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Virginia, United States and prepared for inactivation. She was decommissioned for the second and final time about three months later. She now serves as a museum ship at the Boston National Historical Park in Charlestown, Massachusetts.