>From the “Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships,” (1981) Vol. 8, pp.429, 430-431. WINTLE Jack William Wintle-born on 18 April 1908 at Pittsburg, Kan.-was appointed a midshipman at the Naval Academy on 14 June 1928 and graduated on 2 June 1932. He reported for duty in CALIFORNIA (BB-44) on the 30th and completed a three-year tour of duty in the battleship before being transferred to submarine tender BUSHNELL (AS-2). That assignment lasted 17 months. On 7 August 1936, he reported to the Puget Sound Navy Yard to help supervise the fitting out of PERKINS (DD-377); and he remained in the destroyer after she went into commission on 18 September 1936. In the summer of 1939, Lt. (jg.) Wintle received postgraduate instruction at the Naval Academy before reporting for duty at the Philadelphia Navy Yard to help prepare destroyer DU PONT (DD-152) for recommissioning and service on the Neutrality Patrol. His tour of duty in that destroyer-one of the first in the Atlantic Squadrons to be fitted with sonar-ended in August 1940 when he was sent to New Orleans where he served almost two years instructing NROTC midshipmen. Late in April 1942, he reported to the Bureau of Navigation in Washington where he learned that his next assignment was to be aide and flag lieutenant to the Commander, South Pacific Area and South Pacific Force. On 15 June 1942, Wintle received his promotion to lieutenant commander and, four days later, reported for duty in his new assignment in the South Pacific. Lt. Comdr. Wintle served under Rear Admiral Daniel J. Callaghan, Chief of Staff to the Commander, South Pacific Area and South Pacific Force, through the early months of the bitter struggle for Guadalcanal in late 1942. Late in October 1942, when Rear Admiral Callaghan went to sea as the commander of a cruiser-destroyer force, Wintle joined him in his flagship, heavy cruiser SAN FRANCISCO (CA-38), as a member of his staff. On the night of 12 and 13 November, Callaghan's force met a Japanese raiding force built around battleships HIEI and KIRISHIMA. During the confused melee off Savo Island, SAN FRANCISCO suffered a terrific pounding from enemy ships-and briefly lost power completely. At that point, several Japanese salvos scored on her superstructure, obliterating her flag and navigating bridges. All but one member of the admiral's staff were killed, and Lt. Comdr. Wintle was among the casualties. For this sacrifice, Wintle was awarded the Navy Cross, posthumously. DE-266 DE-266--an EVARTS class destroyer escort--was named WINTLE on 23 February 1943; laid down on 11 March 1943; and, sponsored by Mrs. Mary Clyde Wintle, Lt. Comdr. Wintle’s widow, was launched on 22 April 1943. However, on 14 June 1943, the ship was allocated to the United Kingdom, and she was turned over to the Royal Navy on 16 August 1943. Renamed CAPEL (K.470) to honor Admiral Sir Thomas Bladen Capel who commanded frigate PHOEBE at Trafalgar, the ship served the British primarily in the North Atlantic. She was a part of the naval force which supported the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944 and was active in the Atlantic after General Eisenhower’s troops had secured a foot-hold in western Europe. HMS CAPEL was torpedoed by U-486 on 26 December 1944 and sunk in the English Channel. Transcribed by Michael Hansen mhansen2@home.com