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John J. Kirwin (1918–1943) was a United States Navy officer who received the Navy Cross posthumously for his actions in combat during World War II. ==Biography== John Joseph Kirwin was born in Newport, Rhode Island, on 4 July 1918. He enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve on 11 December 1935. He was appointed midshipman on 11 August 1937, and commissioned as an ensign on 7 February 1941, reporting for duty aboard light cruiser USS ''Savannah'' (CL-42). During World War II, Kirwin was appointed Lieutenant, junior grade, on 16 June 1942, and saw action aboard ''Savannah'' in the Battle of the Atlantic and in Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 1 December 1942, and saw further combat aboard ''Savannah'' in Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily. ''Savannah'' then supported Operation Avalanche, the Allied invasion of mainland Italy at Salerno. On 11 September 1943, while bombarding German shore defenses in Salerno Bay, ''Savannah'' was among cruisers which came under heavy German aerial attack. The cruisers and British Supermarine Spitfire fighters drove off nearly 60 German bombers before a Dornier Do 217K-2 bomber hit ''Savannah'' with a Fritz X radio-controlled, armor-piercing guided bomb. It pierced the armored roof of the No. 3 gun turret immediately in front of the ships bridge, passed through three decks into the lower shell-handling room, and exploded there, blowing a gaping hole in the ships bottom, and tearing open a seam in the ships port side. For 30 minutes, secondary explosions in the gun room hampered fire-fighting efforts. Kirwin was at his battle station as turret officer in No. 3 turret when the bomb struck. He remained behind in the turret to supervise the evacuation of as many men as possible, was overcome by heat and toxic smoke, and died at his station. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John J. Kirwin」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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