This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Kent Weekly (SS/DSV) (DBF), EMCS
to remember
Carpenter, Donald Marshall (Doc), LCDR USN(Ret).
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Contact Info
Home Town Hopbottom, PA
Last Address Coronado, Ca
Date of Passing Apr 04, 1940
Location of Interment Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery (VA) - San Diego, California
Donald Marshall Carpenter was an early naval aviator in the United States Navy flying from the USS Langley (CV-1) and USS Lexington (CV-2). These were the first two aircraft carriers of the U.S. Navy.
He graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy in the Class of 1916, representing Pennsylvania. He is the namesake of the USS Carpenter (DD-825).
Medically retired in October 1936.
Other Comments:
On 18 June 1945, Mrs. Edward S. Shaw, sister of Carpenter’s widow Clara, wrote to Admiral King, then Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet (who had commanded Lexington when Carpenter had commanded VS-3B) suggesting that a ship be named for the late leader of VP-5F’s historic flight in 1933, citing the "sincere respect" her brother-in-law had felt for King. "I sincerely hope you will not consider me presumptuous," she wrote, "but if you could lend your approval to such an honor for ‘Doc’ as we all knew him, I would appreciate it very much."
"Please do this if you can," King wrote to the Chief of Naval Personnel, who recommended the name assignment on 10 July 1945; consequently, on 14 July 1945, Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal assigned the name Carpenter to DD-825.
In writing to Secretary Forrestal upon being informed of the naming of the ship, Carpenter’s widow wrote on 9 August 1945 of her “deep appreciation of the honor bestowed on my two sons and me in the naming of this ship for my late husband and I hope her record will be one of which to be proud...".
1936-1936, Naval Station (NAVSTA) San Diego
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On 15 September 1946, the Secretary of the Navy re-designated the repair base Naval Station, San Diego. By the end of 1946, the base had grown to 294 buildings[4] with floor space square footage of more than 6,900,000 square feet (640,000 m2), berthing facilities included five piers of more than 18,000 feet (5,500 m) of berthing space. Land then totaled more than 921 acres (373 ha) and 16 miles (26 km) of roads. Barracks could accommodate 380 officers and 18,000 enlisted men. More than 3,500 sailors could be fed in the galley at a single sitting on the base.
Later, in the 1990s, the Naval Station became the principal homeport of the then U.S. Pacific Fleet, when the Long Beach Naval Shipyard was closed for the final time on 30 September 1994. Naval Station San Diego was realigned under Commander, Navy Region Southwest and became one in a triad of metropolitan Navy bases that now make up the bulk of the metro area Navy's presence. With that change, the base became the hub of all Navy port operations for the Region, assumed logistical responsibility for both Naval Medical Center San Diego and the Region headquarters and was re-designated Naval Base San Diego.