Robert Louis Baughan Jr

Date of Birth:                    09/16/1919

Service Number:               100220
Rank/Rating:                    LT (RADM)

Date of enlistment:          
Place of enlistment:          Annapolis, MD

Date on USS Champlin:      09/12/1942
Date off USS Champlin:      02/16/1945

Date Discharged:             

Date of Death:                  01/08/2014

Obituary:

Robert Louis Baughan, Jr., 94, died on January 8, 2014. He was born in Huntington, West Virginia, on September 6, 1919, son of Robert Louis Baughan and Elsie Martin Baughan. He graduated early from the US Naval Academy in 1941 in preparation for World War II. His first assignment was to the U.S.S Lexington which was sunk at the Battle of the Coral Sea. After surviving that battle, he returned to San Francisco where he promptly asked Eleanor Bushnell Yount to be his wife. She flew out from Norristown, PA on a DC3 to marry him on June 26, 1942.

His service in World War II included convoy duty in the Atlantic where his ship, the USS Champlin, sank three German submarines and participated in the Sicilian campaign, the bombardments of the Formia-Anzio area of Italy, and the invasion of southern France.

After WWII, he received a Master of Science degree from MIT. He then served in the Korean War as the Executive Officer of the USS Shelton and CO of the USS Porterfield. After the Korean War, he was the Executive Officer of the USS Salem, Flagship of the Sixth Fleet, operating in the Mediterranean in 1957.

When he attained the rank of Captain, he supervised the construction and assumed command of one of the first guided missile frigates, the USS Leahy. As an Admiral, he assumed command of Cruiser-Destroyer Flotilla Nine and Cruiser-Destroyer Group, Seventh Fleet during the Vietnam War. His shore duties included Deputy Director for Operations in the National Military Command Center, Project Manager of the Major Surface Combatant Ships Project and Vice Chief of Naval Material.

During his military career, Robert Baughan, Jr. was always active in his family's churches and the Officers' Christian Fellowship. After he retired in 1975, he became treasurer and administrative officer of the Central Pennsylvania Synod of the Lutheran Church. At the age of 60, he entered the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, was ordained in 1981, and called to be the pastor of two churches at the same time, St. John and St. Luke Lutheran Churches in GreenVillage and Scotland, PA.

In 1994, he fully retired to travel and enjoy life with Eleanor at Cumberland Crossings, Carlisle, PA. In addition to Eleanor he is survived by his sister Barbara Sharp, sons George and Thomas, grandchildren Daniel, Michael, and Brian, Jesseca, Frank, Edward, Mariah, Jeremie, Bristol, and great-grandchildren, Casey, Madelyn, Lindsey, Dylan, Callie, Ella, and David.

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