James Francis Amrhein was born August 13, 1920 in Utica, NY to Frank J. Amrhein (1872-1961) and Catherine Donovan (1877-1930). I was unable to find marriage records for his parents. They were both from New York and his dad was a plumber. James was the youngest of their four children which included Francis (1901-1961), Catherine (1903-1991) and William (1906-2003). The family lived on Louisa St. in Utica, NY. James was much younger than his siblings. William was the next in line and he was 15 years older than James. James attended St. Francis de Sales High School and graduated from Utica Free Academy in 1938. He worked for Savage Arms for a time and registered for the draft on February 15, 1942 in Utica, NY. He was 5'-11" tall and weighed 150 pounds with blue eyes and brown hair. He didn't wait to be drafted, enlisting in the Navy on August 13, 1942. Issued service number 6005404, he did his preliminary training at Great Lakes, Illinois and studied radio at Northwestern University before being assigned to the destroyer USS Turner on April 15, 1943.

The USS Turner was put into service in April 1943 and operated in the Atlantic for most of her duties. RM3c Amrhein was part of her inaugural crew. In November 1943 she escorted a convoy of ships across the Atlantic and on her return, off Ambrose Light, late on January 2, 1944 anchored. Early the following morning, the destroyer suffered a series of shattering internal explosions. By 06:50, she took on a 16° starboard list; and explosions, mostly in the ammunition stowage areas, continued to stagger the stricken destroyer. Then, at about 07:50, a singularly violent explosion caused her to capsize and sink. The tip of her bow remained above water until about 08:27 when she disappeared completely taking with her 15 officers and 123 men. RM3c Amrhein was one of the 123 men lost that day.

This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project. This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 421,000+ of the US WWII fallen on Together We Served and Fold3.

(Please see - http://www.storiesbehindthestars.org).

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If you noticed anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute, please contact Jim Greenberg at jim.greenberg@oneonta.edu.

SBTSProject/New York/Oneida

Sources

Ambrose Light, In Wikipedia, Retrieved November 14, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrose_Light.

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/193901945/francis_j-amrhein: accessed November 16, 2025), memorial page for Francis J. “Frank” Amrhein (1872–1961), Find a Grave Memorial ID 193901945, citing Calvary Cemetery, Utica, Oneida County, New York, USA; Maintained by PaPasgirl (contributor 48623246).

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/261764736/james_francis-amrhein: accessed November 16, 2025), memorial page for James Francis Amrhein (13 Aug 1920–3 Jan 1944), Find a Grave Memorial ID 261764736, citing Calvary Cemetery, Utica, Oneida County, New York, USA; Maintained by PaPasgirl (contributor 48623246).

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/193901970/catherine-amrhein: accessed November 16, 2025), memorial page for Catherine Donovan Amrhein (1877–1930), Find a Grave Memorial ID 193901970, citing Calvary Cemetery, Utica, Oneida County, New York, USA; Maintained by PaPasgirl (contributor 48623246).

National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; Wwii Draft Registration Cards For New York State, 10/16/1940 - 03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147

National Archives at College Park, Maryland; Training Center, Great Lakes, IL (Part 21) N-Z, 9/1/42-9/30/42; Record Group 24: Records of the Bureau of Naval Personnel;Series: Muster Rolls of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Other Naval Activities;NAID: 185447656

USS Turner(DD-648), In Wikipedia, Retrieved November 14, 2025, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Turner_(DD-648).

"Utica Sailor Missing After Destroyer Blast", World War II Scrapbooks, Oneida County History Center, Utica, NY.

Year: 1930; Census Place: Utica, Oneida, New York; Roll: 1621; Page: 3B; Enumeration District: 90; Image: 866.0; FHL microfilm: 2341355

Supporting Documents