Ships
- USS Miami (CL-89) Captain from 28 December 1943 · Relieved on 28 January 1945
John Graybill Crawford commissioned the light cruiser Miami (CL-89) on 28 December 1943 and had her until 28 January 1945. That was her whole first year in the Pacific, from the Marianas through Leyte Gulf and the typhoon of December 1944. NavSource lists his final rank as rear admiral. Hall of Valor says the same.
Uboat.net gives his birth as 22 February 1897 at Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pennsylvania, and his death as 13 August 1974, with no place. Nothing fetched names his parents or his schooling before the Naval Academy.
The class year is not settled. NavSource's commanding-officer list for CL-89 puts him in the class of 1919. Hall of Valor says he graduated from the Naval Academy with the class of 1919. Uboat.net heads the same man "USNA 1918." Uboat.net's rank line starts later than a full career: commander on 1 June 1939 and temporary captain on 17 June 1942. It lists one earlier command, the oiler Cuyama (AO-3), from 14 June 1938 to "39 / 40 ?". No other prewar ship was on the pages fetched for him.
DANFS commissions Miami on 28 December 1943 with Captain John G. Crawford in command and does not spell out the middle name. NavSource dates Captain John Greybill Crawford from 28 December 1943 to 28 January 1945. The DANFS table of commanding officers runs him through 31 January 1945. Uboat.net, which spells him John Graybill Crawford, runs the Miami command from 28 December 1943 to 1 February 1945 and calls the rank temporary captain. The command lines follow NavSource.
Under him the ship shook down in the Caribbean, lost Seaman Second Class Leonard S. Dera overboard on the way to Trinidad, went to the Pacific in April 1944, and screened the fast carriers. On 19 June 1944 she fired on at least one Japanese plane off the Marianas. On 24 October she was with Rear Admiral Gerald F. Bogan's carrier group. On 26 October her 6-inch guns helped sink the destroyer Nowaki near San Bernardino Strait. In the typhoon of 18 December 1944 she buckled at frames 21 to 33 and lost both Kingfishers. Hall of Valor says Rear Admiral John Graybill Crawford received the Legion of Merit. The page gives no citation, only a synopsis that the award was for exceptionally meritorious conduct.
NavSource's final-rank column is rear admiral. Hall of Valor says he retired as a rear admiral. Neither page gives the date of retirement or what he did after Miami. Uboat.net's death date is 13 August 1974. The place is blank there.