The ship was named for Chief Carpenter John Arnold Austin (1905-1941) who was killed in action on board USS Oklahoma during the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces on 7 December 1941, and was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross.

After 14 months on that destroyer tender, CPO Austin departed on 21 September 1940 bound for duty in Oklahoma and reported on board the battleship on 5 October 1940.

[1] On the morning of 7 December 1941, Austin was on board Oklahoma which was the first ship to be attacked by the Japanese on Battleship Row, it capsized in only 15 minutes due to damage it received from torpedoes and bombs.

OKLAHOMA (BB-37), during the Japanese attack on the United States Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, on 7 December 1941.

The conduct of Chief Carpenter Austin throughout this action reflects great credit upon himself, and was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

Between mid-May and early September, Austin made two round-trip voyages between San Diego and Oahu and then a single, one-way run from the West Coast back to Pearl Harbor.

The warship departed Alaska on 23 September 1944; arrived in San Francisco, California, a week later, and received a regular overhaul which lasted until 17 November.

On 1 April, the destroyer escort reported for duty with forces assigned to the Commander, Forward Areas, and, for a little more than two months, conducted anti-submarine patrols and air-sea rescue missions out of Ulithi Atoll in the Western Caroline Islands.

Following the cessation of hostilities in mid-August, she conducted search missions in the northern Marianas for enemy holdouts and for survivors of downed B-29 Superfortresses.

On 17 November, she reported to the Commander, Western Sea Frontier, to prepare for decommissioning and, on 21 December 1945, was placed out of commission at Terminal Island Naval Shipyard.