This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Matt Adams-Family
to remember
Whittington, Champ Hansen, BM1c.
If you knew or served with this Sailor and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
Contact Info
Home Town Rock Springs, WY
Last Address Sacramento, CA
Date of Passing Nov 11, 1984
Location of Interment East Lawn Memorial Park - Sacramento, California
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Like his first name, Champ served aboard and was also a boxer on the USS Enterprise sometime between March 23, 1942 and September 24, 1945.
Champ was a Petty Officer; stationed during World War 2 on the U.S.S. Enterprise. His last Duty Station I guess was San Francisco. He served from March 12, 1942 to Sempter 24, 1945. I believe he lived and grew up in Sacramento. I appreciate any help- like I said, I'm just looking for a picture anyone might have of him. Many Thanks Again.
Fellow Vet. Matt Adams; Champ's grand-son / July, 2015
Other Comments:
Service number: 6625484
Presidential Unit Citation
For consistently outstanding performance and distinguished achievement during repeated action against enemy Japanese forces in the Pacific war area, 7 December 1941, to 15 November 1942. Participating in nearly every major carrier engagement in the first year of the war, the Enterprise and her air group, exclusive of far-flung destruction of hostile shore installations throughout the battle area, did sink or damage on her own a total of 35 Japanese vessels and shot down a total of 185 Japanese aircraft. Her aggressive spirit and superb combat efficiency are fitting tribute to the officers and men who so gallantly established her as an ahead bulwark in the defense of the American nation.
Description The Battle of Leyte Gulf, also called the Battles for Leyte Gulf, and formerly known as the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea, is generally considered to be the largest naval battle of World War II and, by some criteria, possibly the largest naval battle in history.
It was fought in waters near the Philippine islands of Leyte, Samar and Luzon from 23–26 October 1944, between combined US and Australian forces and the Imperial Japanese Navy. On 20 October, United States troops invaded the island of Leyte as part of a strategy aimed at isolating Japan from the countries it had occupied in Southeast Asia, and in particular depriving its forces and industry of vital oil supplies. The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) mobilized nearly all of its remaining major naval vessels in an attempt to defeat the Allied invasion, but was repulsed by the US Navy's 3rd and 7th Fleets. The IJN failed to achieve its objective, suffered very heavy losses, and never afterwards sailed to battle in comparable force. The majority of its surviving heavy ships, deprived of fuel, remained in their bases for the rest of the Pacific War.
The Battle of Leyte Gulf consisted of four separate engagements between the opposing forces: the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, the Battle of Surigao Strait, the Battle of Cape Engaño and the Battle off Samar, as well as other actions.
It was the first battle in which Japanese aircraft carried out organized kamikaze attacks. By the time of the battle, Japan had fewer aircraft than the Allied forces had sea vessels, demonstrating the difference in power of the two sides at this point of the war.
