Years of service 1940–1942 Name Seymour Ruchamkin | Awards Navy Cross Rank Lieutenant (junior grade) | |
Born February 7, 1918
New York, New York ( 1918-02-07 ) Allegiance United States of America Battles/wars World War II
*Naval Battle of Guadalcanal Died November 13, 1942, Ironbottom Sound, Solomon Islands Place of burial Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Taguig, Philippines Service/branch United States Navy Reserve Education Northwestern University, University of California, Berkeley | ||
Seymour D. Ruchamkin (1918–1942) was a United States Navy officer who received the Navy Cross posthumously for his actions in combat during World War II.
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Biography
Seymour David Ruchamkin was born March 8, 1912 in New York City. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1940 and shortly thereafter, on July 13, 1940, enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve. Appointed midshipman on September 16, 1940, he attended the United States Naval Reserve Midshipman School at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and reported to the destroyer USS Cushing (DD-376) on January 24, 1941.
On November 13, 1942, Lieutenant, junior grade, Ruchamkin was killed in action against Japanese forces in Ironbottom Sound off Savo Island in the Solomon Islands during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.
Awards
Ruchamkin was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously for " ...extraordinary heroism as first lieutenant aboard the USS Cushing...While under vigorous bombardment by hostile naval units... Ruchamkin...efficiently directed the fighting of fires and the efforts to control damage. Leading his party to an area below decks to extinguish flames which were raging there, he never returned."
Namesake
The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Ruchamkin (DE-228), was named for Ruchamkin. She was converted during construction into the high-speed transport USS Ruchamkin (APD-89, later LPR-89), and was in commission as such from 1945 to 1946, from 1951 to 1957, and from 1961 to 1969.