Almost 39 years ago (7/28/1968) in a land far away, a Navy Corpsman gave his life, so his Marine shipmates could live. IN doing so, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor:

Hospital Corpsman Third Class Wayne M. Caron, United States NavyFor conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 28 July 1968 while serving as Platoon Corpsman with Company K, 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division during combat operations against enemy forces in the Republic of Vietnam. While on a sweep through an open rice field in Quang Nam Province, Petty Officer Caron’s unit started receiving enemy small-arms fire. Upon seeing two Marine casualties fall, he immediately ran forward to render first aid, but found that they were dead. At this time, the platoon was taken under intense small-arms and automatic-weapons fire, sustaining additional casualties. As he moved to the aid of his wounded comrades, Petty Officer Caron was hit in the arm by enemy fire. Although knocked to the ground, he regained his feet and continued to the injured Marines. He rendered medical assistance to the first Marine he reached, who was grievously wounded, and undoubtedly was instrumental in saving the man’s life. Petty Officer Caron then ran toward the second wounded Marine, but was again hit by enemy fire, this time in the leg. Nonetheless, he crawled the remaining distance and provided medical aid for this severely wounded man. Petty Officer Caron started to make his way to yet another injured comrade, when he was again struck by enemy small-arms fire. Courageously and with unbelievable determination, Petty Officer Caron continued his attempt to reach the third Marine until he himself was killed by an enemy rocket round. His inspiring valor, steadfast determination, and selfless dedication in the face of extreme danger, sustain and enhance the finest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

HM3 Caron was outstanding young men who enlisted while America was enganged in a conflict:

Wayne Maurice Caron was born on 2 November 1946 in Middleboro, Massachusetts. He graduated there with multiple honors from Memorial High School in June 1966. On 12 July of that year, he enlisted in the U. S. Navy in Boston, Massachusetts. He advanced to hospital apprentice on 23 September 1966, to hospitalman on 1 April 1967, and to hospital corpsman third class on 16 January 1968.

Hospital Corpsman Third Class Caron underwent recruit training at the Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois, and was the Honorman of his company. He attended Naval Hospital Corps School, also in Great Lakes, and then received further training at Field Marine Service School, Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, California. In July 1968, HM3 Caron joined 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Reinforced), Fleet Marine Force, and served as a platoon hospital corpsman with the 2d Platoon, Company K in the Republic of Vietnam.

On Oct 1st, 1977, USS CARON (DD-970), was commissioned. CARON was in service 24 years, stationed out of Norfolk, VA. Most of her career was spent attached to DESRON TEN.USS CARON (DD-970) saw action in several major operations during her time at sea. She was at Grenada for Urgent Fury, providing Naval Gunfire Support. Present in the Gulf of Sidra, she sailed across Khadiffi’s “Line of Death” in 1986. In 1991, she fired Tomahawks in support of Operation Desert Storm.USS CARON was sunk off Puerto Rico 12/4/2002.

Back to the days of our “beginnings.”

Thomas TruxtunThomas Truxtun had been a privateer in the Revolutionary war, and a captain of merchantmen. He knew the sea. When we began to build our Navy, not from converted commercial vessels, but from the keel up as warships, Thomas was one of the men chosen to supervise the construction of one of the six frigates. His charge was the USS CONSTELLATION.What was significant about Captain Thomas Truxtun and USS CONSTELLATION? He was the first to engage in a fight with foreign naval vessels, in this case it was the French ship L’insurgente> on February 9th, 1799 in the West Indies. The L’insurgente was captured as a prize and Lt John Rodgers was assigned as the prize crew master. The ship eventually became a US Navy warship.

A little more history of the man Thomas Truxtun from “Six Frigates” by Ian Toll: When first sent to Baltimore to begin construction of the CONSTELLATION, Truxtun took charge and selected the area at David Stoddard’s yard, away from Fell’s Point, where the shipbuilding took place in the area. More secluded, but not so far as to prevent laborers from getting there. Truxtun disdained the southern maritime industry, making a point of letting the War Office know the ship could be built for less in Philadelphia. When he found out David Stoddard, the assigned Ship Constructor didn’t like the Joshua Humphery’s design, and intended to alter the plans, Thomas Truxtun confronted Stoddard and ended that idea.

Further of note in this effort to built the CONSTELLATION, as funding got tight, and the authorization of 1794 to build the six frigates was amended in 1796, CONSTELLATION was one of the three vessels which would continue to be worked on and put to sea, along with UNITED STATES and CONSTITUTION, which, most likely is a credit to Thomas Truxtun’s efforts: “Work on the 36 gun Baltimore frigate progressed under the autocratic supervision of Captain Thomas Truxtun” says Ian Toll of those days.

Not only did Captain Truxtun put his energy into building the ship, he also, through self study of available British books, charts and tables, taught himself the “difficult art of ‘lunars’ – a process requiring precise celestial observations and arduous logarithmic calculations.” As resultant output was a book, “Remarks, Instructions and Examples of Latitude and Longitude,” which was sent to the War Office with a suggestion his peers read it.Maybe the much lamented modern day concepts of using a “business model” to run the Navy had it’s roots with Thomas Truxtun. He said to McHenry “If we are to have a navy, we must make officers manage that navy.” His philosophy was that running the navy was not like running merchant ships. The life of a naval officer was continuous work, attention to detail devotion to excellence in every aspect of duty and deportment. Midshipmen, not ensign, was the first step towards learning the “trade.”

There is more history of the man who not only had our first combat action in blue water, but the one who certainly, by his practice, set the course for some of the very practices that we value as tradition in “Six Frigates.”

One of the more interesting sections in the tale of Captain Truxtun’s service was the great controversy in determining the value of the prize ship, L’insurgente. It sounds like there were some efforts to appraised her, via some influence, at a greater value than she was worth, backed by Captain Truxtun and some of his officers. Why? Each of the crew members received a portion of the value of the vessel as a reward for the captured. In the end,, after many investigations, it was determined no disciplinary action was to be taken and a lesser value assigned to the prize.

But, to put a little interesting humanity to this story of Captain Truxtun, after the success over the French, he began politicking to move, in seniority, from the position of 6 of 6 to a higher “lineal number,” , certainly above those positions of Captains’ Dale and Talbot, who’s ships were halted in construction is 1796 and they were released from their commissions for a time. As a result of the unsuccessful maneuvering, Captain Truxtun resigned his commission in 1799 and later refused a commission for the Barbary Wars.

Ships named for Thomas Truxtun (from WikiPedia):

• The first Truxtun was a brig launched in 1842 and destroyed after running aground off Mexico in 1846.
• The second Truxtun (DD-14) was a destroyer in service from 1902 to 1919.
• The third Truxtun (DD-229) was a destroyer in service commissioned in 1921 and accidentally wrecked in 1942.
• The fourth Truxtun (APD-98) was laid down as a destroyer escort DE-282 in 1943, but completed as a high-speed transport in 1945, later transferred to Taiwan and renamed Fu Shan.
• The fifth Truxtun (CGN-35), originally DLGN-35, was a guided missile cruiser.
• The sixth Truxtun (DDG-103) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that has recently been launched.

The TRUXTUN (DDG-103) is scheduled for commissioning sometime in 2008. She is being built in Pascagoula., MS, and the construction has been delayed by Hurricane Katrina.

USS TRUXTUN (DDG-35), a nuclear powered vessel, now decommissioned, had a long and eventful life in the Pacific Fleet, serving in Vietnam on many deployments, and was one of the first ships to head to try to provide support for the USS PUEBLO (AGER-2).

In 1986, as part of the USS ENTERPRISE Battle Group, she sailed the Suez Canal to assist in Operations in the Vicinity off Libya, chronicled from my view point in this series.

Later, she sailed on support of Operation EARNEST WILL, escorting tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, and was part of DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM in 1990/91.

It was a typical muggy, sunny day in the summer in Mississippi: August 25th, 1979. Ross Perot was there, Admiral Hayward, the Chief of Naval Operations was the speaker. They were there to honor their Naval Academy classmate.

Lt Col William G. Leftwich, Jr., USMC, Class of 1953His widow, since remarried, and his two sons attended. One was by then a Cadet at VMI, The other in high school.Why was a modern destroyer named for this man? Because he displayed gallantry in battle and died while flying to the aid of his trapped Recon team in South Vietnam.

From HQ Marine Corps website:

Lieutenant Colonel William G. Leftwich, Jr., was commissioned a Marine Second Lieutenant on June 5, 1953, upon graduation from the United States Naval Academy. As Brigade Captain during his senior year at the Naval Academy, he was commended at graduation for exemplary officer-like qualities, which contributed… “to the development of naval spirit and loyalty within the Brigade.”

Lieutenant Colonel Leftwich completed The Basic School in January 1954, and later served as a rifle platoon commander with the 2dMarine Division at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. During 1955-56 he served with the 3d Marine Division in Okinawa. On his return to the United States, he was stationed at Camp Pendleton, California, where he was promoted to Captain in July 1957. He began a 3-year assignment at the Naval Academy, serving as a company officer. An excellent athlete, he performed collateral duties as assistant varsity tennis coach and battalion football coach.

In 1960, he rejoined the 2d Marine Division, serving as a company commander until 1962, when he was named aide-de-camp to the Commanding General. In June 1963, he was assigned as aide to the Commandant, Marine Corps Schools, Quantico, Virginia. He reported for duty in Vietnam in January 1965, as Assistant Senior Advisor to the Vietnamese Marine Brigade.

Lieutenant Colonel Leftwich participated in 27 major operations against the Viet Cong in the central highlands of Vietnam, and spent more than 300 days in the field. He was wounded in the battle of Hoai An, March 9, 1965, and in addition to receiving the Purple Heart, was awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism. According to his citation, he “…played a major part in all phases of the successful relief of the village of Hoai An which was under heavy enemy attack by two Viet Cong battalions…. By his own personal example…, he led the attack…. Despite injuries by enemy machine gun bullets in the back, cheek, and nose, he went to the aid of a mortally wounded comrade… and delayed his own evacuation until he could call for additional air strikes and brief the task force commander of the situation.”

Upon his return to the United States in January 1966, he served as an instructor at The Basic School. He completed the Command and Staff College in June 1967, and was named to the school’s honor list. Assigned to Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in November 1967, while serving as a systems analyst with the Manpower Management Information Branch, G-1 Division.

In 1968, Lieutenant Colonel Leftwich was selected by the Under Secretary of the Navy to be his special assistant and Marine Corps aide. He served in this capacity under the Honorable Charles F. Baird, and Mr. Baird’s successor as Under Secretary of the Navy, the Honorable John W. Warner.

In April 1970, he began his second tour of duty in Vietnam, serving initially as an infantry battalion commander with the 2d Battalion, 1st Marines. On June 30, he assumed duty as the Commanding Officer of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division (Reinforced).

On November 18, 1970, Lieutenant Colonel Leftwich was, per his practice of accompanying every emergency extraction called for by his reconnaissance teams, serving as senior “extract officer” for such a mission on the day of his death. The team had incurred casualties and requested an emergency extraction from enemy-infested territory, in an area being enveloped by dense fog. The team was extracted under Lieutenant Colonel Leftwich’s personal supervision. As the helicopter began it’s ascent, it crashed into a mountainside in enemy territory, killing all aboard.

Lieutenant Colonel Leftwich’s medals and awards include: the Navy Cross, the Silver Star (posthumous), the Legion of Merit with Combat “V” and two gold stars, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Medal with one gold star, the Purple Heart with two gold stars, and various personal awards from the Republic of Vietnam.

The memory of Lt Col Leftwich lives on in the form of an annual award, the Leftwich Trophy:

The Marine Corps Association is grateful for the generous support of the H. Ross Perot Foundation for providing the endowment that supports the annual presentation of the Leftwich Trophy. The trophy is rendered in bronze and depicts a Viet Nam era Marine Officer aggressively leading from the front which epitomizes the character of the award winner each year.

The Leftwich Trophy is intended to recognize active duty captains in the ground combat arms community, holding company or battery command who clearly and dramatically demonstrate the ideals of courage, resourcefulness, perseverance and concern for the well being of our Corps and it’s enlisted Marines. For the first time in the history of the award, which spans back to 1979, this year’s award is presented posthumously. Captain John W. Maloney, died in combat operations in Iraq after being recommended for the award.

The Award is provided through a foundation, which was established by H. Ross Perot who was a Naval Academy roommate of Lt Col William Leftwich, for whom the trophy is named.

The 2005 award of the Leftwich Trohpy went to CAPT William Maloney, USMC.

From the Military Times:

Leftwich Trophy awarded posthumously

By Christian Lowe
Times staff writer

For the first time in the award’s 27-year history, the Marine Corps has bestowed the prestigious Leftwich Trophy for Outstanding Leadership to an officer who died in combat.

Capt. John W. Maloney was killed June 16, 2005, when his Humvee was destroyed by a “massive bomb” as he led his infantrymen from the Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, out of an ambush in a small town south of Ramadi, Iraq, according to his nomination.

Maloney assumed command of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines in July 2004.

“There are few officers who accomplish so much in such a short time in command,” wrote 1/5’s former commander, Lt. Col. Eric Smith. “This is simply a reflection of the efforts and abilities of an officer who, in my opinion, was not only made of the same stuff as Lt. Col. Leftwich, but who similarly sacrificed his life for his Marines.”

The Corps cited Maloney as the 2005 recipient of the Leftwich Trophy in an April 4 Corps-wide message, AlMar 015/06.

First awarded in June 1979 to Capt. Clyde S. Brinkley Jr., the Leftwich Trophy is intended to recognize active-duty captains in the ground combat-arms community holding company or battery command who “clearly and dramatically demonstrate the ideals of courage, resourcefulness, perseverance and concern for the well-being of our Corps and its enlisted Marines,” according to the criteria for the award.

The award is provided through a foundation established by H. Ross Perot, a Naval Academy roommate of Lt. Col. William Leftwich, for whom the trophy is named.

Shortly after taking command of 1st Reconnaissance Battalion in Vietnam, Leftwich died in a helicopter crash during a Nov. 18, 1970, emergency extraction of his men from enemy-infested territory.

Maloney’s company was posted at one of the hottest combat outposts in Ramadi, capital of the volatile Anbar province in western Iraq, a notorious Sunni stronghold. The government center outpost in the heart of the city is the site of frequent insurgent attacks from rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns and mortar fire.

The parallels with Maloney’s actions and those of the award’s namesake were not lost on Smith when he recommended the fallen Maloney for the Leftwich.

“Were we to replace a hot [landing zone] and a UH-1 [Huey] helicopter with an IED-infested sector of town and an armored Humvee, there would be no daylight between what these two great leaders gave to our Corps,” he wrote.

Awarding the trophy posthumously was somewhat controversial, Marine officials said, though rules governing the award do not rule out giving the trophy — which depicts a Vietnam-era Marine officer clutching an M16 in one hand, waving his men forward with the other — to a deceased Marine.

Smith argued in his nomination for Maloney that the Jan. 20 award of a Bronze Star with a combat “V” was done “to pay him tribute” for his heroism in Iraq.

“The commandant came back and asked us, ‘Are you doing this because the Marine was killed in action or was he the best guy?’” said Gene Benson, Leftwich Trophy coordinator with the Corps’ Plans, Policy and Operations office, in an April 24 interview. “And he was the best guy regardless if he had been [killed in action] or not. So it just turned out that way.”

Benson said plans are in the works to present the Leftwich Trophy to Maloney’s wife, Michelle, at the Marine Corps Association-sponsored Ground Awards Dinner in Arlington, Va., on Sept. 21.

Last I recall, his son who graduated from the Naval Academy had been selected to Commander.

The ship? I am a Plank Owner, and have often blogged here on some of the shipboard life I experienced there:

The 22nd of 31 hulls, LEFTWICH began service stationed in San Diego, and later was shifted to her homeport of Pearl Harbor. She was one of the first of the SPRUANCE Class ships to be fitted with TOMAHAWK cruise missiles, with two armored box launchers (4 weapons each) on her foc’sle.

I met this imposing figure, as some of my Black Shoe peers about the blogosphere may have. I worked for his son in the later part of my career, and now, there is a ship sailing the oceans named after this incredible man.

Admiral John Bulkeley, USN His nickname? The “Sea Wolf.” John D. Bulkeley didn’t get to Admiral the easy way. He had to go door knocking to get his appointment to the Naval Academy and was successful with a Congressman from Texas, as he couldn’t get a nod from his native state of New Jersey.It appears the salt water in his veins may have been genetic:

John Bulkeley’s destiny may have been cast long before he sought the salt spray of the open ocean. His ancestors, including Richard Bulkeley, brought aboard HMS VICTORY by Lord Nelson just prior to the Battle of Trafalgar in 1804; John Bulkeley of HMS WAGER under Captain Bligh, who sailed with Anson’s Squadron to raid Spanish silver ships of the new world; and Charles Bulkeley, raising the Union Jack for the first time on an American warship, the ALFRED, commanded by John Paul Jones, influenced his intense love of the sea.

USS INDIANAPOLIS (CA-35) in Pearl Harbor c. 1937He made it through the US Naval Academy, Class of 1933 and entered the Army Flying Corps, but…too many hard landings sent him to sea, being assigned as an Ensign to the USS INDIANAPOLIS (CA-35) (the much later stories cruiser that carried the atomic bomb to Tinian). While assigned as Ship’s Company, but traveling on a steamer, he displayed, possibly not the first of many feats, the hallmark of audacity and initiative that labeled him for many years:

As a new ensign in the mid-thirties, he took the initiative to remove the Japanese ambassador’s brief case from a stateroom aboard a Washington-bound steamer, delivering same to Naval Intelligence a short swim later.

Earned him a medal or promotion you ask? Not likely, but the resulting “reward” was not to sit him at the end of the long green table without a coffee cup and ashtray:

This bold feat, of which there were to be many more in his life, didn’t earn him any medals, but it did get him a swift one way ticket out of the country and a new assignment as Chief Engineer of a coal burning gunboat, the SACRAMENTO [PG-19], also known in those parts as “The Galloping Ghost of the China Coast.” Picture in your minds the movie “Sand Pebbles”.

It was on China Station where the CHENG met his future wife. They witnessed the invasion of Shanghai and Swatow, as well as the bombing of the PANAY by the Japanese during their time together in that theater before WWII.

In 1941, Lieutenant Bulkeley was assigned as the Squadron Commander of six motor torpedo boats in the Philippines. It fell to this man to escort General MacArthur, his wife and their son to safety, dodging intense Japanese ship patrols to get the General to southern Mindanao, where a B-17 picked he and his family up. LT Bulkeley and his shipmates were left to find their own way to Australia, which they finally did.

Rewarded? Yes, for that daring escapade, LT John D. Bulkeley was presented with the Congressional Medal of Honor.

By the resources available with some quick searches, John Bulkeley was next present for the momentous Normandy invasion, managing the PT boats and minesweepers, protecting the landing from threats by German E-Boats and waterborne mines.

USS ENDICOTT (DD-495)Shortly after the invasion, he was assigned to the USS ENDICOTT (DD-495) as Commanding Officer, where he was assigned to patrol in the English Channel and had a few scraps with German corvettes. Of his 5 5″/38 cal guns, only one was working, yet he sent both corvettes to become fish reefs. Audacity once more:

[…]
The tale of his WWII exploits would not be complete without the mention of his love for destroyers, of which he would command many in his years to come. As Normandy operations wound up, he got his first large ship command, the destroyer ENDICOTT, and a month after the D-day invasion of Europe he came to the aid of two British gunboats under attack by two German corvettes. Charging in as dawn’s light broke the horizon with his uncanny ability and determined leadership, with only one gun working, but with a band of brothers for a crew, he unhesitantly engaged both enemy vessels at point blank range, sending both to the bottom. When I asked him about this action, he replied, “What else could I do? You engage, you fight, you win. That is the reputation of our Navy, then and in the future.”

The Admiral was a strong believer in standards, some would say, from the old school, as the enemy Captain of one of the corvettes soon learned. Coming up from the sea ladder, he would not salute the colors of the ENDICOTT, and was promptly tossed back into the sea. The third time did the trick, and he was taken prisoner and allowed on deck.
[…]

ADM Bulkeley was a no nonsense man. From Wikipedia:

In the early 1960s, Bulkeley commanded Clarksville Base, Tennessee, then a tri-service command under the aegis of the Defense Atomic Support Agency. Having lost none of his wartime daring, Bulkeley was known to test the alertness of the Marines guarding the base by doning a ninja suit, blackening his face and endeavoring to penetrate the classified area after dark without detection. This was a dangerous endeavor, as the Marines carried loaded weapons. Ever popular with his men, who both respected and admired him, Bulkeley could be seen driving around the base in his fire-engine red Triumph TR-3 sports car with a large silver PT boat as a hood ornament. Promoted to Rear Admiral by President Kennedy, who commanded PT-109 during World War II, Bulkeley was dispatched to command the disputed Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, where he met Cuba’s threat to sever water supplies in response to the Bay of Pigs invasion and other assaults by ordering the installation of desalinization equipment to make the base self-sufficient. Fidel Castro’s government put out a “wanted-dead-or-alive” poster, offering 50,000 pesos for this “guerrilla of the worst species.”

ADM Bulkeley himself went to the dug up pipeline at GTMO, near the gate into Cuba territory and helped cut the water off himself, in full view of the Cubans.

Later, he went on to be the hard nosed officer who wanted the best for all sailors and headed the Board of Inspection and Survey (INSERV), a group of Naval Officers who actually worked for Congress to determine the viability of each ship on a three year cycle, as to it’s ability to continue in active service. He relentlessly hammered on specific systems, the MK-15 Close in Weapons Systems (CIWS), inflatable life rafts and various ship design features (the famous “no chamber in the deck”). Us poor fleet sailors thought he was after us, but in actuality, he was making a point with the design and procurement side of the Navy. That is where I met the Admiral, on Final Contract Trials (FCT) aboard USS LEFTWICH (DD-984), sometime in late 1979. His Flag Lieutenant was LT Blake Miller, who I relieved years later at another job. ADM Bulkeley was an aloof man, from my perspective, and all business.

The outcome of his seemingly indelicate manner of criticizing our ships was major changes in designs for the ARLEIGH BURKE DDG-51 Class units, which had slight chamber in their decks and positive pressure air systems, both of which are invaluable in staving off chemical, biological and radiological (CBR) attacks, and those are but a few things I know the INSURV was able to force into the design of that class of ship, based on mountains of data collected over many years of inspections.

The paraphrase of his eulogy by his son is here.

“Sea Wolf” is the biography of this fascinating, bemedaled hero.
USS BULKELEY (DDG-84) USS BULKELEY is the first ship to honor VADM John D. Bulkeley, USN. embedded by Embedded Video


USS BULKELEY (DDG-84) At Work

Last week, I discussed the first Naval Ship Constructor for the United States Navy, Joshua Humphreys.

This week, another name from the beginnings of our naval history: John Rodgers (1772-1838).The reason to distinguish this man by date is because his son and great-grandson also distinguished themselves in the Naval Service. John Rodgers entered our naval history as a Second Lieutenant assigned to the commissioning crew, commanded by CAPT Thomas Truxton. LT Rodgers was responsible for recruiting a crew to man the 38 gun vessel from an office at Cloney’s tavern in the maritime district of Fell’s Point near Baltimore, MD. It was a difficult time to recruit for the Navy, as merchant wages were better, but LT Rodgers managed to fill about half the ship’s compliment with his effort.The USS CONSELLATION sailed south to the Caribbean and began to hunt for French warships, and on February 9th, 1799, a lookout sighted the French Frigate L’Insurgente. CAPT Truxton gave chase and, after a brutal, well fought battle, including vicious broadsides fired at close range and boarding parties engaged in bloody hand to hand combat on the deck of the French frigate, the first US Navy victory at sea was in hand. John Rodgers, having commanded a merchant vessel at the age of 25 before joining the navy, was promoted to the rank of Acting Captain of the captured vessel and was responsible to repair and outfit L’Insurgente.Much controversy was eventually raised when the issue of paying, as was the tradition, the crew of the USS CONSTELLATION for their share of the value of the captured vessel. Detailed in “Six Frigates” by Ian Toll, were influence and maneuvering were done to try and show more value (placed at $120K) for the ship than it may have been worth. In the long run, it is a tale where a showdown between the politicians and the crew who would benefit from the payout faced off. In the long run, the final value of $84,500 was settled upon, and further possibilities of cashiering out officers suspected of inflating values was avoided.John Rodgers next appears in history as the Captain of the USS JOHN ADAMS, a light frigate, sailing with the squadron of CAPT Preble, of the USS CONSTITUTION in 1803 in the Mediterranean. From there, he rose to command USS CONGRESS, which was directed to be activated and put to sea by oder of th President Jefferson after the USS PHILADELPHIA had been captured at Tripoli. CONGRESS was assigned to the squadron of Samuel Barron. By 1810, John Rodgers was assigned as a commodore a position he held into the beginning of the War of 1812.In honor of Commodore John Rodgers, the Navy has named three ships (directly) for him. The first USS JOHN RODGERS was a lighthouse tender (1917-1919). The second USS JOHN RODGERS (DD-574), a FLETCHER Class Destroyer, was commissioned on Feb 9, 1943 and saw action at Marcus Island, Tawara and Wake Island in 1943, Kwajalein Atoll and later the Mariannas Island campaigns, then was at Leyte Gulf in Oct, 1944. After a refit stateside, RODGERS joined ADMIRAL Spruance’s Task Force 58 and participated in the assaults on Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and was one of the first ships to enter Tokyo Bay for the surrender ceremonies. Decommissioned in 1946, the USS JOHN RODGERS (DD-574) won 12 battle stars for combat action. The third USS JOHN RODGERS was a SPRUANCE Class Destroyer, hull DD-983, in honor of all three famous John Rodgers. Commissioned Sep 4th, 1979, RODGERS conducted Naval Gunfire Support (NGFS) operations off Beruit in Sep, 1983. Decommissioned Sep 4th, 1998, she has been broken up for scrap.Three vessels of the US Navy have also been named to honor John Rodgers, but also included honoring his son and great grandson, each bearing the name USS RODGERS.But by a small twist of fate, I would have served aboard the USS JOHN RODGERS (DD-983). I was in the list for orders to one of the pre-commissioning SPRUANCE Class crews, with RODGERS at the top of the list for myself and the Navy. There was difficulty in getting my relief through Communications Officer School and to the ship in the Mediterranean on time for me to join training for the Combat Systems team at Fleet Combat Training Center, Atlantic. As a result, I was assigned to USS LEFTWICH (DD-984).

With luck perseverance, this will beget a series of weekly postings to cover issues of maritime interest.

My jumping off point will be to bring forth some history of the US Navy, specifically keying on notable people, providing background on them, and then the ships named after them.

The impetus? A wonderful book, “Six Frigates” by Ian Toll. It is the story of how our Navy came into being, and it is chock full of interesting discussions regarding the very beginnings of our Nation, The Constitution, early maritime commerce issues, and many detailed facts about the (this is a euphemism) “polite” verbal and written interactions between politicians, ship builders, and Naval Officers of the day.

Subject number 1: Joshua Humphreys. Born 6/16/1751. Native of Pennsylvania, and a shipwright. A Quaker by religious upbringing, yet did not shy away from supporting the Revolutionary War effort, as many of his religion did as a matter of doctrine.

Why is Joshua Humphreys important? He was the first “Naval Ship Constructor” for this United States. Being a trained shipwright in a busy seaport (Philadelphia), he was chosen by the Continental Congress, along with John Wharton, to design our first warships, with a plan of building 13 light frigates. These ships were poorly built and poorly outfitted. The ignoble end to that phase of building our fledgling Navy amount to seven of the frigates being captured by the British, and four more being destroyed to avoid capture.

Over the next several years, after the war ended, the debates raged as to whether we even needed a Navy, and if so, what would it be used for. The discussions between the Founding Fathers became rather acrimonious at times, proving today’s politics might just be “normal” by historical standards. In the meantime, American mechantmen roamed the oceans of the world, having a neutral status in the conflict between the British and the French, and making a lot of money along the way.

Much more is covered in this period, before we set out to put a Navy to sea, which make for fascinating reading about international diplomacy and economics, but that’s for another realm.

When the United States of America, in 1794, the straw that broke the discussion’s back, as it was, was what to do about the Barbary Pirates, who continued to capture our merchant vessels in the Mediterranean, and enslaving their crews. President John Adams had had enough,as did Congress. On Mach 10th, 1794, the House passed, by a margin of 50-39, an “Act to Provide a Naval Armament.” The authorization was to build six frigates, four rated at 44 guns and two at 36. The authorization further stipulated that the purpose of the ships was to police the Mediterranean against piracy and, in the event a truce was reached with the Dey of Algeria, the building program would come to a stop. Contrast that with the mood of today.

Secretary of War, Henry Knox was tasked to implement the ship building program. He turned to Joshua Humphreys. Joshua had become a master shipwright and owner of a shipyard at the age of 20, when John Wharton died He now had many years of experience, including the conversion of merchant vessels as warships.

Joshua Humphreys was the visionary that conceived, pitched and built the new frigates, smaller and faster than British “Ships-of-the Line,” yet larger and more powerful that European frigates. Tough enough to stand up for a fight, yet fast enough to make more sail and run away to return when conditions were better. Not only would these vessels handle the light, lesser armed ships of the pirates, they would be suited for defending the commerce and Nation against the established navies of the world.

The work did not flow easily to design or build the ships. Toll discusses the personality conflicts between Humphreys and Josiah Fox later in the process. Secretary Knox, not a sailor by profession, was involved.

The “Six Frigates:”

Frigate	Guns	Shipyard	Captain	Constructor
UNITED STATES	44	Philadelphia, PA	John Barry	Joshua Humphreys
CONSTELLATION	36	Baltimore, MD	Thomas Truxton
CONSTITUTION	44	Boston, MA		Edmund Hartt
PRESIDENT	44	Brooklyn, NY	Thomas Truxton	Christian Bergh
CONGRESS	38	Portsmouth, NH	James Sever	James Hackett
CHESAPEAKE	44	Norfolk	James Barron	Joshia Fox

USS HUMPHREYS (DD-236)The details flow, but now the second part of the story: In honoring the man who conceived and put to sea our first warships, we have named only two vessels. The first HUMPHREYS (DD-236 and later APD-12) was launched 28 July 191 and commissioned in Philadelphia, PA July 21st, 1920. The ship saw action the Crimean War in the 20s and in the 30s was involved in developing tactics for carrier battle group operations. During WWII, initially the HUMPHREYS was an escort ship between the West Coast and Hawaii, then was converted to an APD to conduct high speed landing operations.Sailing to Australia, HUMPHREYS served in the Solomon Islands Campaign and at New Guinea, and later delivered UDT 5 to Leyte Gulf on 18 Oct, 1944 and also supported the invasion of Okinawa. She was decommissioned Oct 26th, 1945 and sold for scrap.
USS JOSHUA HUMPHREYS (AO-188) later USNS JOSHUA HUMPHREYS (T-AO-188)The second ship of the KAISER Class of fleet oilers was commissioned sometime in the early-80s to replace the aging ships of the logistics force. Beginning her life as a commissioned naval vessel, she was later transferred to the Military Sealift Command and manned by a merchant marine crew. She is presently out of service, at the Inactive Ship Facility in Philadelphia, PA.