Ships
- USS Foote (DD-511) Captain, 30 April 1943 – 13 April 1945
Alston Ramsay was born in Salisbury, in Rowan County, North Carolina, on 27 May 1906. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis with the Class of 1927 and made his career in the United States Navy. He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 July 1936 and to lieutenant commander on 1 January 1942.
On 30 April 1943 he became commanding officer of the Fletcher-class destroyer USS Foote (DD-511), relieving Bernard L. Austin, who had commissioned the ship the previous December. Foote was then on an escort voyage to Casablanca that ended in early May. She next fitted out for the Pacific and on 28 June 1943 arrived at Nouméa, New Caledonia, to join Destroyer Squadron 23.
For the next three months Ramsay's ship escorted convoys from Nouméa to Guadalcanal, Efate, Espiritu Santo, Vella Lavella, and Rendova. From 27 to 29 September she hunted Japanese barges carrying troops away from Kolombangara. On the last of those nights she attacked one group and is believed to have sunk two barges. That same night she drove off a lone Japanese aircraft. When McCalla, busy with a steering fault, collided with Patterson, Foote stayed with both ships until a tug arrived. On 1 October she put into Vella Lavella with a convoy of tank landing ships and helped beat off an air raid in which at least one enemy plane was shot down.
At the end of the month Foote sailed from Purvis Bay to strike Japanese airfields ahead of the Bougainville landings. Under fire from shore batteries, Ramsay fought the ship through the opening bombardment of Buka and Bonis and the first daylight shelling of the Shortland area. In the early hours of 2 November 1943 Foote gained radar contact with an approaching Japanese force, and the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay followed. An enemy torpedo blew off her stern and left her dead in the water. The other ships of her division carried on the torpedo attack. Task Force 39, of which Foote was one unit, sank five Japanese warships and damaged four. Ramsay kept his own ship afloat and brought her back to port.
The Silver Star was awarded for his conduct from 31 October to 2 November 1943. He remained in command through the long repair of Foote and her return to the western Pacific. In January 1945 the destroyer supported the landings in Lingayen Gulf. On 20 March 1945 he received the temporary rank of captain. His tour ended on 13 April 1945, after nearly two years as commanding officer. Ramsay retired from the Navy as a rear admiral. He died in Salisbury on 5 June 1974.