USS HOUSTON CA 30

“The galloping Ghost of the Java Coast”

Frank Albert Dethloff

He was born December 27, 1912 in Moss Point, Mississippi. He was the son of Captain Frank Albert Dethloff and Lou Agnes Fry Dethloff. Frank loved family gatherings, picnics, and boxing. He was a Golden Glove Boxer. He was on his way to being a “Fleet Champion” but the war intervened with the fight. Frank dated a girl from Lucedale, MS but he never married. He finished boot camp in Norfolk, VA and was assigned to the USS Houston. On his last trip home, he made the comment that he would not be back. Somehow he knew that he would meet his fate. Frank’s nickname was Swampy. His rank was Water tender 2C. No one knows what happened to him the night the USS Houston was sunk but he never made it off the ship.

Submitted by Julie Roy (Her Uncle Frank)