Alvin Weems Slayden, USN

Born  5 May 1909Waverly, Humphreys County, Tennessee, USA
Died  19 Oct 1979(70)Chevy Chase, Montgomery County, Maryland, USA

Ranks

23 Sep 1939 Lt.
15 Jun 1942 T/Lt.Cdr.
18 Nov 1942 T/Cdr.

Decorations

Warship Commands listed for Alvin Weems Slayden, USN


ShipRankTypeFromTo
USS PC-580 (PC-580)T/Lt.Cdr.Patrol craft26 Sep 1942Early 1943
USS Buckley (DE 51)T/Cdr.Destroyer Escort30 Apr 194312 Aug 1943
USS Greenwood (DE 679)T/Cdr.Destroyer Escort26 Sep 1943Feb 1944
USS George K. Mackenzie (DD 836)T/Cdr.Destroyer13 Jul 1945Jan 1947

Career information

The following is copied from the slaydenbrothers.org website:

During the years leading up to World War II, Lt. Slayden served in various positions on Battleships, Cruisers and Destroyers, including a tour as Communications Officer on the staff of the Commander in Chief, United States Fleet. He also taught engineering at the U.S. Naval Academy for a brief time in the early 1940's. "At the beginning of World War II, Commander Slayden was immediately transferred to the anti-submarine destroyer USS Buckley DE-51 as the Commanding Officer. Operating out of the Brooklyn Naval Base, the USS Buckley provided safe passage to various naval warships and transports in the North Atlantic Ocean to their final destination in Europe. About this time, his daughter Billie Carolyn was born April 12, 1943, at Brooklyn Naval Hospital, New York. During the pinnacle of the German submarine warfare in 1942 and 1943, Capt. Slayden commanded a Division of Destroyer Escorts, which safely escorted convoy after convoy to ports in England, France, and Italy. As a Destroyer Squadron Commander his battle group directly supported the invasion of France in 1944. While performing his duties, Al spearheaded the rescue efforts of an abandoned burning oil tanker and safely guided the ship back to port for this he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal "V" for Valor. "As the war was winding down in Europe, Captain Slayden found himself traveling to the Western Pacific where he took command of a destroyer that was intended to take part in the invasion of mainland Japan.

Events related to this officer

No events found for this officer. This may be due to unknown dates of command (we pull ship events to their respective commander pages).


You can help improve officers Alvin Weems Slayden's page
Click here to Submit events/comments/updates for this officer.
Please use this if you spot mistakes or want to improve his page.

Allied Commanders main page