Harris Laning

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Vice Admiral Harris Laning

Harris Laning (born October 18, 1873 in Petersburg , Illinois , † February 4, 1941 in Philadelphia ) was an American Rear Admiral in the US Navy , who was president of the Naval War College between 1930 and 1933 .

Life

Naval officer training and uses

After attending school and training at the Peakshill Military Academy , he entered the US Naval Academy in Annapolis in 1891 and graduated on June 7, 1895 as the eighth best of his class. He then found employment as a midshipman on the cruiser USS Philadelphia , which served as the flagship of the naval base of the US Pacific Fleet . He was then used on the battleship USS Oregon , promoted to Ensign in June 1897 and transferred to the sailing ship USS Marion and then to its sister ship the USS Mohican .

During the Spanish Civil War was Laning in the spring of 1898 to monitor ship USS Monadnock displaced and took on this as part of the troops under Admiral George Dewey at the Philippine-American War in 1899 in part. On board the USS Monadnock , he was in charge of combat support for the land forces in the battles of Malate , Parañaque and Caloocan City . He then became the commandant of the old Spanish gunboat USS Panay , during which time he undertook patrols against smugglers and to map the coastal waters of Luzon , withstanding several typhoons thanks to his seafaring skills .

Family and 1912 Summer Olympics

The US Navy shooting crew, 1907

After his return to the United States, Laning married Mabel Clare Nixon in the summer of 1900 and found employment in the English , Law, and History Department of the US Naval Academy. There he was in June 1901 to lieutenant and in 1902 for Lieutenant promoted. After a subsequent employment between 1902 and 1905 as officer on watch and gunner on the gunboat USS Dolphin , he returned to the US Naval Academy, and served in the artillery and gun department. There he received the special attention of the target practice inspector, Lieutenant Commander William S. Sims , as he had previously achieved the best results from the gunboats on the USS Dolphin . In 1906 his only daughter Hester Laning was born. During this time he was also the trainer and captain of the shooting team of the US Naval Academy and the US Navy, with which he took part in numerous national competitions in 1907.

Subsequently, Oberleutnant zur See Laning was navigator and electronics officer on the USS Nebraska , a Virginia-class battleship between 1907 and 1910 , and took part in the ship's world tour from 1907 to 1909 and also trained the ship's rifle crew, the won a competition against a team from Australia . In the summer of 1910 he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and again seconded to the US Naval Academy, where he was a physical education teacher. At the same time he was the team leader of the shooting team at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm , which won seven gold medals at the shooting competitions .

First World War

The destroyer USS Cassin , the first in command of which Laning became in 1913

In June 1913 Lieutenant Commander Laning was seconded to Bath to take over as commandant of the newly built USS Cassin , a destroyer of the Cassin class of the same name . A year later, after the Tampico incident, he took command of the US Atlantic Fleet's reserve destroyer flotilla in Charleston and was promoted to frigate captain.

He then worked between October 1916 and April 1919 in the office of the newly established office of the Chief of Naval Operations as head of the personnel department for officers and was last promoted to captain at sea during this time . After the aggravation of the submarine warfare and the entry of the United States into the First World War in April 1917, the need for officers increased. At the same time, the Navy experienced an extensive shipbuilding program, which also included the construction of submarines . It was Laning's responsibility to ensure that the reserve officers called up received extensive training before they were deployed in sea warfare. On the other hand, this led to the fact that he was bound to this post on the instructions of the then Chief of Naval Operations, Rear Admiral William Shepherd Benson , and thus did not come to any war missions himself.

Postwar and President of the Naval War College

In the spring of 1919 Laning was initially acting chief of the US Navy's office for navigation, but shortly afterwards chief of staff at the commander of the destroyer units of the US Atlactic fleet. In 1921 he completed a course at Naval War College in Rhode Island and then stayed there as head of the tactics department. At the time, Rear Admiral William S. Sims was president of the college.

Then Captain Laning was in command of the battleship USS Pennsylvania between 1924 and 1926 and directed the voyage to the Antipode Islands from 1924 to 1925 . On his return he was in 1926 in command of the Naval Training Station (Naval Training Station) in San Diego and was promoted as such in the summer of 1927 to Rear Admiral. In September 1927 he became chief of staff at the commander of the US Battle Fleet .

He was then from June 1928 to June 1930 commander of battleship division 2 of the reconnaissance fleet (US Scouting Fleet) and contributed to the fact that this division, consisting mostly of older battleships and cruisers, nevertheless delivered good shooting results. He then succeeded Rear Admiral Joel Pringle as President of the Naval War College in June 1930 . He remained in this post for three years until he was replaced by Rear Admiral Luke McNamee in June 1933.

Rise to admiral (temporary rank) and last years of life

After finishing his work at Naval War College Laning was appointed Vice Admiral (Temporary Rank) in May 1933 and received his appointment as commander of the destroyer divisions. As such, he contributed significantly to the good results in the sea maneuvers in 1934 and 1935.

Most recently he was on April 1, 1935 Commander of the Battleship Fleet with the USS California as the flagship . As such, he was also an admiral (Temporary Rank) appointed, but for budgetary reasons during the Great Depression not promoted permanently. This is a special case that fell under the examination scope of the Comptroller General of the United States , especially since the difference in pay between the Rear Admiral and Admiral was US $ 9,500 . Accordingly, a rear admiral received $ 14,500, a vice admiral $ 18,000 and an admiral $ 24,000.

After a year he returned to his permanent rank (Permanent Rank) as Rear Admiral in 1936 and was in command of the Third Naval District responsible for Connecticut , New York, the northern part of New Jersey and the lightship Nantucket . In December 1937, after 46 years of service, he left active military service and was given retirement.

However, he was most recently governor of the Naval Home in Philadelphia between 1937 and 1938 . There he died on February 2, 1941 in the Naval Hospital Philadelphia and was subsequently buried in the cemetery of the US Naval Academy. In his honor, the USS Laning , a destroyer escort of the Buckley class, was christened on July 4, 1943 by his widow Mabel Laning .

publication

  • A practical manual of the compass , 1916
  • An Admiral's Yarn , autobiography, posthumously 1999

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jondavid DuVall, Kimberly Rhoades, John E. Jackson: Naval War College Illustrated History and Guide , pp. 14, 25, ISBN 1-88473-399-9
  2. ^ Lionel D. Wyld: The Naval War College , 2000, ISBN 1-43962-721-5 , p. 1988
  3. ^ John B. Hattendorf, Bruce A. Elleman: Nineteen-Gun Salute: Case Studies of Operational, Strategic, and Diplomatic Naval Leadership during the 20th and Early 21st Centuries , ISBN 1-88473-366-2 , p. 97
  4. ^ Decisions of the Comptroller General of the United States , 1936, Volume 15, p. 1070
personal data
SURNAME Laning, Harris
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American military, United States Navy Rear Admiral
DATE OF BIRTH October 18, 1873
PLACE OF BIRTH Petersburg , Illinois
DATE OF DEATH February 4, 1941
Place of death Philadelphia