Mervyn Sharp Bennion
Mervyn Sharp Bennion (born May 5, 1887 in Vernon , Utah , † December 7, 1941 in Pearl Harbor , Hawaii Territory ) was an officer in the United States Navy and reached the rank of captain (German equivalent: captain at sea ). As the commanding officer of the battleship USS West Virginia , he fell during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and was posthumously honored with the Medal of Honor , the highest honor in the US armed forces.
Life
Mervyn Bennion was born in Vernon, Tooele County , as one of nine children to a British farm couple . By 1906 he went to Saints High School in Salt Lake City and then attended the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis , from where he retired in 1910 as the third best officer of his class.
He then served on the cruiser USS California and was trained as a specialist in ship artillery and weapons technology. During the First World War he was used as a battery officer on the battleship USS North Dakota . In the inter-war years he took on technical shipbuilding activities, visited shipyards and weapons factories and served in various functions on several ships. In February 1920 he married Louise Clark. In 1925 their son Mervyn Sharp Bennion Jr. was born, who also entered the Navy at the age of 18.
He received his first own command from 1932 over the destroyer USS Bernadou , then over the destroyer USS Biddle , before he rose to command of the 1st Destroyer Division, the flagship of which was the USS Hatfield . This was followed by uses as first officer on the USS Arizona and as commander of the ammunition ship USS Nitro .
On July 2, 1941, he was finally given command of the battleship USS West Virginia, which had been part of the Pacific fleet lying in Pearl Harbor since 1939 .
On December 7, 1941, there was a surprise attack by Japanese air forces on the anchored fleet. The USS West Virginia was hit by at least six torpedoes and two bombs, causing floods and fires.
Captain Bennion was hit by a fragment of a bomb on the bridge that had detonated on the neighboring USS Tennessee . He suffered life-threatening injuries and could no longer use his legs, but resolutely refused to be evacuated from the ship. After a makeshift first aid, he continued to give instructions to the crew. This was then able to prevent the ship from capsizing and the flames from spreading. The ship's cook Doris Miller dragged Bennion to a more protected part of the bridge and then fought the attacking aircraft. Captain Bennion did not survive his injuries and died on the bridge.
Honors
He was one of 15 soldiers who were awarded the Medal of Honor for their behavior during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was buried in Salt Lake City Cemetery . Part of the Farragut Naval Training Station in Idaho has been renamed Camp Bennion . In 1943 the destroyer USS Bennion (DD-662) named after him entered service. In 1968 he was honored by the University of Utah's Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps by naming the Midshipman's officers' mess after him. In the movie Pearl Harbor by Michael Bay he is from Peter Firth shown.
Web links
- Mervyn S. Bennion, Captain
- Mervyn Sharp Bennion, Captain USS West Virginia, United States Navy
- Captain Mervyn Sharp Bennion, Department of the Navy
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bennion, Mervyn Sharp |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American officer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 5, 1887 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Vernon , Utah |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 7, 1941 |
| Place of death | Pearl Harbor , Territory of Hawaii |