Alva Roberts Cowan

Rank/Rate Chief Pharmacist's Mate
Service Number 295 13 19
Birth Date February 19, 1908
From Butlerville, Indiana
Decorations Purple Heart, Prisoner of
War Medal
Ship USS Canopus (AS-9)
Date of Death December 15, 1944
Location Aboard the Hellship Oryoku Maru
Circumstances Died when Oryoku Maru, transporting Allied Prisoners of War from the Philippines to Japan, was sunk by US Navy planes from the USS Hornet

Remarks Alva was born in Newborn,
Tennessee.

Information courtesy of Paul W. Wittmer.

The submarine tender USS Canopus (AS-9) received severe damage when hit by heavy bombers on December 29, 1941. She lost six of her crew in the attack, with another six wounded. She was later scuttled off Manila Bay rather than face capture by the enemy. Her crew was used in the defense of Bataan and Corregidor. A large number of her crew died in the Philippine Islands, during transport to POW camps in Japan, or in the camps themselves.

Alva Roberts Cowan

Rank/Rate Chief Pharmacist's Mate
Service Number 295 13 19
Birth Date February 19, 1908
From Butlerville, Indiana
Decorations Purple Heart, Prisoner of
War Medal
Ship USS Canopus (AS-9)
Date of Death December 15, 1944
Location Aboard the Hellship Oryoku Maru
Circumstances Died when Oryoku Maru, transporting Allied Prisoners of War from the Philippines to Japan, was sunk by US Navy planes from the USS Hornet

Remarks Alva was born in Newborn,
Tennessee.

Information courtesy of Paul W. Wittmer.

The submarine tender USS Canopus (AS-9) received severe damage when hit by heavy bombers on December 29, 1941. She lost six of her crew in the attack, with another six wounded. She was later scuttled off Manila Bay rather than face capture by the enemy. Her crew was used in the defense of Bataan and Corregidor. A large number of her crew died in the Philippine Islands, during transport to POW camps in Japan, or in the camps themselves.