Franklin Van Valkenburgh
Franklin Van Valkenburgh (born April 5, 1888 in Minneapolis , Minnesota , † December 7, 1941 in Pearl Harbor , Hawaii ) was an officer in the United States Navy and with the rank of captain (German counterpart: captain at sea ), last commandant of the battleship USS Arizona (BB-39) . He fell during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and was posthumously honored with the Medal of Honor , the US armed forces' highest honor.
Life
Van Valkeburgh was the son of a lawyer and attended Cass Street School and East Side High School in Milwaukee . From 1905 to 1909 he graduated from the Naval Academy in Annapolis , took part in companies in the Asian fleet and was trained as a mechanical engineer. Until the early 1930s he was deployed on the battleships USS Rhode Island , USS Minnesota and USS Maryland , was transferred to the Naval Academy twice as an instructor, and from 1928 to 1931 he was assigned to the High Command for Naval Operations in Washington.
He later was the commanding officer of the destroyer USS Talbot and commanded the 5th destroyer squadron. After a further assignment as inspector of naval equipment in the New York City shipyard , he commanded the destroyer USS Melville between 1936 and 1938 . He then served on land with the 3rd Marine District in New York before he was given command of the battleship USS Arizona in February 1941.
The USS Arizona was at that time one of the most powerful warships in the world and has been stationed in the Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor since April 1940 .
On December 7, 1941 there was a surprise attack by Japanese naval aviators on the fleet lying in the port. Van Valkenburgh manned the bridge and gave instructions to the crew. The USS Arizona was protected against torpedo attacks between the island of Ford Island and the workshop ship USS Vestal, but received at least four direct hits from armor-piercing high explosive bombs. One of these 800 kg bombs penetrated the foredeck and detonated the ammunition chambers there, which sank the ship in a matter of minutes and killed 1,177 crew members, including Van Valkenburgh and the commander of the 1st Battleship Division Isaac C. Kidd .
Honors
He was one of 15 soldiers who were awarded the Medal of Honor for their behavior during the attack on Pearl Harbor. His final resting place is the USS Arizona Memorial .
In 1943 the Navy put the destroyer USS Van Valkenburgh (DD-656) named after him into service.
Web links
- Franklin Van Valkenburgh on Destroyer-History
- USS Arizona on the homepage
- Medal of Honor Recipients from the US Army
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Van Valkenburgh, Franklin |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American officer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 5, 1888 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Minneapolis , Minnesota |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 7, 1941 |
| Place of death | Pearl Harbor , Hawaii |