Richard Antrim

Richard Nott Antrim (December 17, 1907 – March 7, 1969) was an officer in the United States Navy who received the United States' highest military decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions as a prisoner of war during World War II. He retired in 1954 as a rear admiral. Early life and career Antrim was born in Peru, Indiana and entered Naval Reserve in 1926. He received an appointment to the United States Naval Academy in 1927 and graduated on June 4, 1931. He married Mary Jean Packard shortly before he graduated. He served briefly in the 11th Naval District before reporting to the battleship as fire control officer. Detached from that battleship in April 1932, he received flight instruction at the Naval Air Station (NAS), Pensacola, Florida, before serving consecutive tours of sea duty on the , and . Subsequently, ordered to the Bethlehem Steel Corporation in Quincy, Massachusetts, Antrim assisted in fitting out and after her commissioning, served as a division officer in that heavy cruiser until the spring of 1936. After that time, he became assistant first lieutenant in before undergoing instruction in lighter-than-air (LTA) flight at NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey. Antrim subsequently received his naval aviator (LTA) designation, qualified for duty as an airship, kite, or free-balloon pilot. In the spring of 1938, Antrim arrived on the Asiatic Station and served as executive officer of before joining in December 1939, as her executive officer. The outbreak of war in the Pacific Ocean in December 1941 found Antrim still serving in that capacity. World War II During her brief wartime career, Pope played a significant part in three major engagements fought by the venerable Asiatic Fleet destroyers—the battles of Balikpapan, Badung Strait, and the Java Sea.