USS Baker (DE-190)

John Drayton Baker, born in Plainfield, N.J., on 31 May 1915, enlisted in the Naval Reserve as seaman 2d class on 21 January 1941 at Brooklyn, N.Y. After flight instruction at Miami and Jacksonville, he was appointed naval aviator on 26 August 1941 and received a reserve ensign’s commission on 18 September. After serving for two months in the Advanced Carrier Training Group, Atlantic, Baker joined Fighting Squadron (VF) 42 on 8 December 1941. Eight days later, the squadron, embarked in aircraft carrier Yorktown (CV-5), sailed for the Pacific.

On the morning of 7 May 1942, during the early phase of the Battle of the Coral Sea, Baker flew one of the Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat fighters that escorted the planes of Torpedo Squadron (VT) 5 in their attack on the Japanese carrier Shoho . He assisted in the destruction of three fighters from the enemy carrier’s combat air patrol and enabled VT-5 to escape unscathed after its successful attack and to return to Yorktown without loss.

Late that afternoon, planes from the Japanese carriers Zuikaku and Shokaku attempted a dusk attack on Task Force 17, but ran into inclement weather and the combat air patrols from Yorktown and Lexington (CV-2). One of the pilots who scrambled in the waning daylight to intercept the Japanese, Baker helped to break up the attack. Skillfully using his homing gear, Baker guided VF-42’s airborne pilots back to the ship.

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From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Baker (DE-190)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.