Edward L. Beach

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Edward L. Beach, Jr. (1960)

Edward Latimer Beach, Jr. (born April 20, 1918 in New York City , † December 1, 2002 in Washington, DC ) was a Navy officer in the United States Navy and writer.

During World War II he took part in the Battle of Midway . He received ten awards, including the Navy Cross . In 1960 he was in command of the USS Triton (SSN-586) on its first underwater circumnavigation. His bestseller novel "Run Silent, Run Deep" was filmed in 1958.

Life

The son of the marine officer and author Edward L. Beach, Sr. and his wife Alice Fouché Beach was born in New York City and grew up in Palo Alto , California. In 1935 he joined the United States Naval Academy and was a freshman regimental commander. In 1939 he finished second out of 576 participants. He served on the heavy cruiser USS Chester (CA-27) before joining the destroyer USS Lea (DD-118) , which served off Iceland and in the North Atlantic.

In September 1941, Beach came to the New London Submarine Base in Connecticut. His training there was completed in December 1941. Beach served on the USS Trigger (SS-237) and USS Tirante (SS-420) submarines , and became the commandant of USS Piper (SS-409) towards the end of the Pacific War . He took part in the Battle of Midway and in various ranks in twelve combat missions. He received a total of ten awards, including the Navy Cross .

In December 1945, Beach became an advisor to Vice Admiral Louis E. Denfeld. In 1948 he became the commandant of the USS Amberjack (SS-522) . In March 1951 he was used as the commander of the still under construction USS Trigger (SS-564) , which he led until 1953. From 1953 to 1957 Beach was marine adviser to US President Dwight D. Eisenhower , his duties included the possible evacuation of the president in an emergency, the management of Camp David and the command of the presidential yacht Williamsburg . Beach was promoted to captain on October 1, 1956. He left the White House in January 1957 and took command of the USS Salamonie (AO-26) . In January 1958 he boarded the US Navy's first two nuclear reactor powered submarine, the USS Triton (SSN-586) .

After Beach was promoted to commanding officer of the USS Triton in November 1959 , he orbited the earth in this nuclear submarine in 84 days without surfacing in 1960 . For this orbit around the world, Beach was awarded the Legion of Merit by President Eisenhower , and he also received the Magellanic Premium . The trip was also the subject of his 1962 book "Around the World Submerged: The Voyage of the Triton" . After his time on the Triton, Beach briefly commanded the eighth submarine fleet and earned a Master of Arts in international relations from George Washington University. Beach retired in 1966 after 27 years of service.

plant

Beach followed in the footsteps of his father of the same name, Edward L. Beach, Sr., who was also a naval officer and writer. His first book was "Submarine!" (1952), a collection of war experiences as a submarine driver. His first novel "Run Silent, Run Deep" (1955) also had submarine experiences as its content and was his greatest success. The book was made into a film with Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster in 1958 (German title of the film: U 23 - Tödliche Tiefen ). Beach published a total of 13 books, including two sequels to "Run Silent, Run Deep" , namely "Dust on the Sea" (1972) and "Cold is the Sea" (1978). He also wrote several books on naval history.

  • Run Silent, Run Deep .
    • Deadly Depths: Novel of the Submarine War in the Pacific , Günther, Stuttgart 1956.
    • Deadly depths . Ullstein Verlag 2001.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Magellanic Premium of the American Philosophical Society , website of the APS . Retrieved October 29, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Beach, Edward L.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Beach Jr., Edward Latimer
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American Navy officer in the United States Navy and writer
DATE OF BIRTH April 20, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH December 1, 2002
Place of death Washington, DC