"The first Navy Veterans' Organization created on, and for, the World Wide Web."  Founder Edward C. Reese,  NCCS, USN, Retired      NAVETSUSA
USS Cronin Association	Member, NAVetsUSA  rwdam@juno.com

The date for the 2000 reunion in Charleston, SC will be May 4, 5, 6 & 7,
2000.  The REUNION HEADQUARTERS will be at the HOLIDAY INN CONVENTION
CENTER/AIRPORT.   The Preliminary schedule of events for our TENTH
REUNION is as follows:
Thu May 4, 2000: Arrivals & Registration, Charleston City Tour
Fri , May 5, 2000: Patriots Point & Ft. Sumpter Tour/Cruise  Sat, May 6,
2000: Luncheon, Business Meeting, Charleston City Tour, Photographs &
Banquet
Sun, May 7, 2000: Check-out and departure.

As in the past, participation in the tours is required to make it
happen.  Unless minimums are reached prior to April 1, 2000 the tour or
event will be cancelled.  It is imperative that you get your
reservations and payment in as soon as possible.  Hotel reservations
will be made directly with the hotel using the enclosed card or
reservations phone number.

Charleston "City Tour";  one set up for Thursday at 1:00pm for early
arrivals and another for Saturday at 1:00pm during the business meeting
for wives and guests.  See the grandeur of Charleston's old mansions and
gardens, and many points of interest from the French Quarter to the
Slave Market, with a stop at the famed Battery.

Patriot's Point & Fort Sumter Tour/Cruise (includes a Hot Lunch). 9:30am
- 4:00pm, Friday, May 5, 2000.
Tour Patriot's Point, the world's largest naval and maritime museum.
Visit the Aircraft Carrier YORKTOWN, the famous fighting lady of WW II;
the destroyer LAFFEY, a participant in the WW II D-Day landings at
Normandy; the submarine, CLAMAGORE, one of the Navy's last diesel
poweered submarines; and the Coast Guard Cutter, INGHAM. Which was
inactive service until decommissioned and given to Patriots Point in
1989.
Enjoy a delicious CPO Hot Lunch on the hangar deck of the Yorktown
before boardng the General Beauregard for your Ft. Sumter Tour.  As you
cruise through Charleston's beautiful harbor, you will view the
beautiful homes along the Battery and watch the sea gulls and the
dolphins play in the harbor.  Upon arrival at Fort Sumter, where the
Civil War began, rangers from the National Park Service will give yu an
informative introduction before you tour this famous bastion and its
marvelous museum.  Includes Round Trip Transportation from the Hotel.

Banquet (Saturday PM)
A Dinner Buffet with 3 entrees, 3 salads, 2 vegetables, potato, rice and
dessert:

Send your Hotel reservations directly to the Hotel.   Send the R.W.
Damme, Secretary/Treasurer your reservations and checks for tours,
Banquet, Hospitality directly.  The Newsletter is forthcoming with
additional information.
 

USS CRONIN (DE 704) was named for Chief Gunner Cornelius Cronin, USN, who was born 10 March 1838 in Detroit, Michigan, enlisted in the Navy 17 September 1858, and served almost fifty years. During the Civil War, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor while serving in RICHMOND for his coolness and close attention to duty in looking out for signals and steering the ship in the action in Mobile Bay on the morning and forenoon of August 5, 1864." Following the Civil War, he served in MICHIGAN and a number of other vessels until transferred to the Retired List 16 August 1898. Since this official retirement came during the Spanish-American War, he continued to serve in VERMONT, He later served in COLUMBIA, and at the New York Navy Yard until 3 February 1908, when he was relieved of active duty. He died 18 August 1912 in Brooklyn, New York.

CRONIN was built by the Defoe Shipbuilding Company of Bay City, Michigan, and was launched 5 January 1 944, with Mrs. Elizabeth Bain Cronin, daughter-in-law of her namesake, as sponsor. CRONIN was placed in commission 5 May 1944, with Lieutenant Commander Almon G, Cooke, USNR, as her first commanding officer.

After shakedown and training, and duty as school ship at Norfolk, CRONIN sailed from New York 21 July 1944 as convoy escort, bound for Bizerte, Tunisia. She returned to Norfolk from this voyage 7 September, and sailed again 2 October on convoy escort duty bound for Palermo, Sicily. While outward bound, she rescued 24 survivors from the British MV GEORGE W, KNIGHT, off the Azores. She returned to the United States 18 November to prepare for duty in the Pacific.

CRONIN sailed from New York 16 December 1944 transited the Panama, Canal 24 December, and called in the Galapagos Islands and at Bora Bora before arriving at Manus 22 January 1945. Assigned to the Philippine Sea Frontier, CRONIN operated as convoy escort until 26 May. Her next duty was on antisubmarine patrol around Luzon and Mindoro Islands until the close of the war.

On 30 August 1945, CRONIN took departure from Manila for Okinawa. From her new base, during September, she supported the occupation of the Chinese mainland, escorting transports to Jinsen, Korea. During October, she screened BOUGAWVILE (CVE 100) while the carrier delivered planes to Chinese ports, and then escorted an LST convoy to Jinsen. She cleared Okinawa on 8 November for the United States, calling at San Diego 28-29 November.

Continuing on to Boston, CRONIN entered the Naval Shipyard there 15 December 1945 to begin her pre-inactivation overhaul. She sailed from Boston the next month, and arrived at Green Cove Springs, Florida, 19 January 1946. Here she was decommissioned and placed in the reserve fleet on 31 May 1946:

Reclassified DEC-704 (Escort Vessel, Control) 13 September 1950, CRONIN was once more placed in commission 9 February 1951. She took part in two large-scale exercises with the Atlantic Fleet, then operated out of Norfolk on training duty. CRONIN left her home area only twice during the next two years, once on submarine training exercises at Key West in March 1953, and a visit during the next month to Newport. On 27 June 1953, she entered the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for pre-inactivation overhaul. On 22 September, she cleared for her old reserve home, Green Cove Springs, where she was again placed out of commission 4 December 1953. Her designation reverted to DE-704, 27 December 1957.

On December 16, 1971 the CRONIN was towed out to sea and sunk as an aircraft target. Her final resting place is listed at 31" 43' N., 76"15' W.

CRONIN was awarded the American, European-African-Middle Eastern, and Asiatic-Pacific Area Service Medals for her World War II service. She also received the Navy Occupation Service Medal and the China Service Medal for her operations in the Far East following the close of the war.
 

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