Thorn/e Family Special Pages

This home page of the USS Thorn (DD 988), maintained by the US Navy. Yes, the Thorn/e family has its very own US Navy Ship. In fact, there have been two! The first, the USS Thorn (DD 647), which saw extensive action during WWII in the Pacific. The newest of "our" fleet was christened on February 3, 1979. After years of valiant service it was decommissioned on August 25, 2004. Clicking on the underlined link or the pictures to the left will take you to the sites dedicated to the USS Thorn. They provide a rich history of the original ship as well as for its namesake, LT. Jonathan Thorn and his heroic naval exploits.

LT. Thorn is my 2d cousin, 6 times removed. While he is one of the more famous Thorns in military history (there have been many others), I'm proud of ALL members of the Thorn/e family and the courage they have demonstrated to protect and defend this Nation we proudly call home. As a 20 year Army retiree, having served 10 years on the Staff and Faculty at the United States Military Academy, West Point, I find it rather ironic that one of my ancestors served with such distinction and honor in the Navy! Still....Go Army, Beat Navy!

Click the image to the left to view the web site which lists all the descendants of William Thorne that we currently have in our database. This is a HUGE site and covers thousands of names. If you believe you might be a descendant and your part of the tree is not listed here, email me at with the particulars and we'll try to get you grafted in!