USS Wintle (DE-25)

Jack William Wintle, born on 18 April 1908 at Pittsburg, Kansas, was appointed a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy on 14 June 1928, where a classmate wrote that “Jack” (or “Wintly”) exhibited a “sunny disposition and generous ways,” and “all of the qualifications of a good Naval Officer.” Graduating with the Class of 1932 on 2 June, he reported for duty in California (BB-44) on the 30th and served a three-year tour of duty in that battleship before being transferred to the submarine tender Bushnell (AS-2), an assignment that lasted for 17 months. Following that service, he traveled to the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Wash., reporting on 6 August 1936 to help fit out the destroyer Perkins (DD-377), remaining in that ship after she went into commission on 18 September 1936.

In the summer of 1939, Lt. (j.g.) Wintle received postgraduate instruction at the Naval Academy before reporting for duty to prepare Du Pont (DD-152) for recommissioning and service with the Neutrality Patrol that had been instituted following the outbreak of hostilities in Europe. His tour of duty in that destroyer, one of the first in the Atlantic squadrons to be equipped with sonar, ended in August 1940, when he was sent to New Orleans, La., where he instructed Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps midshipmen.

Late in April 1942, Wintle reported to the Bureau of Navigation in Washington, D.C., where he learned of his assignment to be aide and flag lieutenant to the Commander South Pacific Area and South Pacific Force. On 15 June 1942, he received promotion to lieutenant commander, and four days later reported for duty in his new assignment in the South Pacific.

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From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Wintle (DE-25)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.