Title: Navy Watertender 3rd Class, World War II, Killed in Action
Birthdate: January 2, 1920
Death Date: April 7, 1945
Plot Location: Section K, Range 5, Lot 19

Three generations of this Philadelphia clan were named John H. Austin. The first was in the Civil War and belonged to two veterans organizations, the Grand Army of the Republic and the Philadelphia Naval Association. He died just after Christmas, 1918, one year after his son with the same name married Isabelle Armstrong.
The elder Austin lived long enough to meet his son’s first child, Doris, after her birth in August, 1918. Right after that the younger Austin served in the Army for the last few months of World War I. Their second child was the third John H. Austin, who arrived just as the decade of the “Roaring Twenties” had begun. A brother, George, was born 14 months later in 1921. The marriage fell apart after that, with the father moving to Florida.
In 1923 Isabelle married Daniel Simpson, although the exact date is unknown. Their baby, James, arrived that July. He was followed by brothers Charles in 1925 and William in 1926. With two brothers and three half-brothers, Doris was clearly outnumbered.
The family moved to 604 Johnston Street during the early 1930s where the parents lived for the rest of their lives. The neighborhood is still there adjacent to the foot of the Walt Whitman Bridge. They lived within walking distance of the Philadelphia Navy Yard, but none of the boys went into the Navy except John.
By 1940 he and George were truck drivers in their own hauling business, but it was short-lived. When he registered for the draft on July 1, 1941, John was working at the General Electric plant at 69th and Elmwood, not far from Mount Moriah. He enlisted exactly three months later, and after basic training he was assigned to a destroyer, the USS O’Brien (DD-415).
The Japanese had run roughshod over the islands of the Pacific Ocean, so the mission was to push them back. O’Brien set out from Norfolk, Virginia through the Panama Canal in January, 1942, but it was not a good year for this ship. Joining a convoy in the western Pacific, she collided with another destroyer in February and had to have her port side repaired. She returned to patrol and escort duty between Pearl Harbor and American Samoa.
On September 15 the destroyer was escorting a convoy of troop ships to Guadalcanal along with the aircraft carrier USS Wasp and the battleship North Carolina. A Japanese submarine fired a spread of six torpedoes that struck all of them. The aircraft carrier was sunk, seen here on the left as it was burning, while O’Brien, at right, took a torpedo hit. She steamed away under her own power and made it to New Caledonia.
At left is what the damaged bow looked like before it was repaired.
The ship returned to duty and sailed for 2800 more nautical miles, but it became apparent there was serious structural damage and water leakage was getting worse. Fortunately there was no rough weather, but at 6am on October 19, the bottom cracked and the ship began to split in two. The entire crew abandoned ship by 7am and the vessel sunk just before 8am. Remarkably, all 192 men, including Seaman Austin, were saved.
By this time he was probably rated Fireman 2nd Class. Along with many of his shipmates, his next Permanent Change of Station (PCS) was to another destroyer in February of 1943. He served on the newly launched USS Bennett (DD-473) for more than two years. By August his rating changed to Fireman, 1st Class and later progressed to Watertender, 3rd Class.
Watertenders were stationed in a ship’s fire rooms. They ensured that the ship’s boilers operated properly and contained the correct amount of feed water to create steam. Watertenders were also responsible for the operation and maintenance of the ship’s feed and fresh water storage and piping systems.
Bennett performed her missions throughout 1943 and 1944, then moved with her squadron for the invasions of Saipan, Guam, and Palau. In the Battle of Iwo Jima in February, 1945, she protected transports during their landings and patrolled the island, shooting down bombers and fending off submarines.
The same scenario occurred at Okinawa, except it was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater. There were 1300 British and American ships that landed 60,000 men on L-Day (Love Day), April 1. On April 6 two destroyers fell victim to Japanese suicide planes so Bennett steamed to the area to search for survivors.
The next day it was struck by a dive bomber, and while the plane did little damage, the bomb it carried fell to the boiler room where it detonated. Some accounts say three sailors died, others say seven, but John was one of those whose bodies were removed to Okinawa for burial.
Closure came at last for the Simpson family on March 12, 1949 when John’s remains were buried here. His dedication to his country set a good example for his brothers to follow, and they did.
George was an Army vet, a VFW commander, a truck driver for 35 years and a banjo-playing Mummer for 15. James served in the Marine Corps, and Charles was in the Army followed by almost 30 years with the Philadelphia Police.
William was the youngest, and his tour with the Marines lasted less than two years. He was also the only one to be buried with John and their parents here in the family plot. Three of the four brothers also paid a lasting tribute to their fallen brother by naming one of their sons in his honor.

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