Talk:USS Houston (CL-81)

I think you will find that the description above is not for the CL 81 but an earlier Houston the CA 30


 * Oh how embarassing - people have been fixing details and overlooking the giant mistake for months. Fixed now, anyway. Stan 04:35, 20 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Re*Cycling USS Cimarron (AO-22) Lesons Learned
BEHRENS, WILLIAM WOHLSEN

Captain, U.S. Navy ...Commanding Officer, USS Houston (CL-81) Date of Action: October 14, 1944

Citation: The Navy Cross is presented to William Wohlsen Behrens, Captain, U.S. Navy, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy off Formosa while commanding a cruiser during enemy air attacks on the evening of 14 October 1944. When his ship was torpedoed, dead in the water and dangerously stricken, Captain Behrens cooly supervised the evacuation of excess personnel, directed effective damage control measures and supervised the ship's being placed in tow by another cruiser.

Subsequently his ship was again torpedoed in enemy air attacks on 16 October 1944. Again his cool action and unflagging determination were an inspiration to his officers and men, contributing in a large part to his ship's continued retirement to safety.

His courage and skill were at all times in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

2ndCarTaskForPac File P15, Serial 0301 (November 30, 1944) Birth: 6/6/1898 - Lancaster, PA Home Town: Lancaster, Pennsylvania RJBurkhart 13:26, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

Future Thought Leadership
Also see: VADM W.W. Behrens, Jr. ... EarthSea Keeping ... Leadership Legacy RADM William W. Behrens @ http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/wbehrens.htm RJBurkhart 14:05, 13 January 2006 (UTC)


 * Wikipedia's got extraneous redirect rather than disambiguation page:
 * http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/wbehrens.htm
 * 199.167.204.250 (talk) 20:27, 2 July 2017 (UTC)

USS Houston CL-81
Your information provided regarding this ship is not accurate. It says that all personal were evacuated to nearby ships. That is not true. According to my father who was a sailor on the ship. After the second torpedo hit the ship, the captain called to abandon ship. Other than the small skeleton crew that remained, all other personal went overboard and were in the water in life boats for many hours until recovered by other ships in the area. The captain was criticized later on for declaring abandon ship when in fact, it was not necessary and caused injuries and deaths, when in fact the ship never sank. My father who was in a lifeboat, said the only thing that saved them was the darkness of the night. Thanks for listening. Lorenzobarton (talk) 21:57, 2 November 2018 (UTC)
 * Personal anecdotes are useless here. Wiki goes by Reliable Sources. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.111.25.210 (talk) 15:59, 24 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Though you are correct that "personal anecdotes are useless here," it doesn't take much time to find sources specifically mentioning orders to evacuate Houston in the wake of the torpedo attack, e.g. http://www.nww2m.com/2014/10/commemorating-the-70th-anniversary-of-the-torpedoing-of-the-uss-houston-and-remembering-a-father/. I don't know about the veracity of claims that the captain was subsequently criticized, but in any event, this article really needs TLC both in terms of style and citation. Finktron (talk) 14:54, 25 January 2021 (UTC)

A. H. Vedel
Picture description "A. H. Vedel on board the USS Houston 1946", but who was A. H. Vedel? 80.151.9.187 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 10:44, 18 June 2019 (UTC)