Seaman 1st Class Phillip Andrew Ackerman
Record NO: (1)
Rank / Rate
Seaman 1st Class
War of Service
WWII
Date of birth
Jun 16, 1923
Place of birth / home town
LaFayette, OH- Allen, CO. Born in Paulding County, OH
Family Members
Father, Emmet F. Akerman. Mother, Telitha R. (Holman) Akerman. Sisters, Cynthia R, Mary M. and Irma L. Akerman. Brothers, James E, David W, and Emmet J. Akerman.
High School
Enlistment Date
Branch
Navy
Service Number
2797784
Unit / Ship / duty Station
USS Hoel (DD-533)
Date of Casuality
Oct 25, 1944
Cause of Death or Status
KIA
Place of Incident
Battle of Leyte Gulf, Philippines Campaign (1944–45), Pacific War (World War II)
Place of Burial or Memorial
Lost at sea Memorialized at Lafayette Cemetery, Lafayette, OH and Memorialized Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines [ https://www.abmc.gov/decedent-search/ackerman%3Dphilip ]
Awards
Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, WWII Victory, Phillipines Presidential Citation.
Phillip Akerman was born in Paulding County, Ohio.,,,,, USS Hoel (DD-533) was a Fletcher-class destroyer built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was named after Lieutenant Commander William R. Hoel. Commissioned in 1943, she was sunk in the Battle off Samar during the Battle of Leyte Gulf on October 25, 1944. USS Hoel (DD-533) took a hit to her forward engine room from an eight-inch shell that disabled her starboard engine. By 0840, USS Hoel (DD-533) was dead in the water with a heavy 20° list to port, the sea lapping at her fantail. Kintberger passed the word to abandon ship. Battered from having absorbed, in Kintberger’s estimation, more than 40 direct hits from five-, eight-, and sixteen-inch shells, USS Hoel (DD-533) finally surrendered to the sea at 0855. USS Hoel (DD-533) was stricken from the Navy Register on 27 November 1944. For a complete history of USS Hoel (DD-533) please see its DANFS page. Only 86 of Hoel’s complement survived while 253 officers and men died with their ship. Commander Kinterberger described the incomparably courageous devotion to duty of the men of the Hoel in a seaman’s epitaph to the action: “Fully cognizant of the inevitable result of engaging such vastly superior forces, these men performed their assigned duties coolly and efficiently until their ship was shot from under them.” In addition to the Presidential Unit Citation, Hoel received the Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation Badge and five battle stars for World War II service. Learn more about this ship at NavSource History https://www.navsource.org/archives/05/533.htm