John Joseph Stahl

Water Tender Second Class • U.S. Navy • Serial 04048591

USS Barton (DD-599)

Entered service from New Jersey • Died November 13, 1942

Missing in action or buried at sea — Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines

Awards: Purple Heart

Water Tender Second Class John J. Stahl grew up at 35 Beechwood Avenue in Delaware Township, NJ (now Cherry Hill). He had served in the United States Navy for five years when he was killed in action. He was survived by a brother, Frederick Stahl, of 35 Beechwood Avenue.

Stahl was lost aboard the destroyer USS Barton (DD-599), a Benson-class destroyer, during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. In the early hours of November 13, 1942, Task Force 67 entered Ironbottom Sound. At approximately 1:45 a.m., Barton opened fire on Japanese ships. Seconds later, she had to stop her engines to avoid a collision with another ship. At that moment, a torpedo from the Japanese destroyer Amatsukaze tore into her forward fireroom, followed immediately by a second torpedo into her forward engine room. The two hits broke the Barton in half; she sank within seconds. Forty-two survivors were later rescued. The death of John J. Stahl was reported in the February 24, 1944, edition of the Camden Courier-Post.