Cluverius, Wat Tyler, Jr., RADM

Wat Tyler Cluverius Jr. was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on 12 December 1874, the son of Wat Tyler Cluverius Sr., and his wife Martha Lewis née Manning. He attended Tulane University before being appointed to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, which he entered on 20 May 1892.

In retirement, Cluverius became president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, in succession to Rear Admiral Ralph Earle, a Naval Academy classmate who died in February 1939. Cluverius announced that his priority would be to complete the building program envisaged by his predecessor. He began with a footbridge which was named in Earle's memory.

Cluverius returned to active duty during World War II as secretary of the Naval office of Public Information and as a member of the Navy Board of Production Awards. In this capacity he was involved in the conferring of Army-Navy "E" Awards. In 1943, Worcester was chosen as one of the colleges in the V-12 Navy College Training Program. He returned to Worcester in 1945 after the war ended. In 1951, he oversaw the establishment of an ROTC unit on the campus.

On 28 October 1952, Cluverius was returning by train from a Navy reunion in Philadelphia when he became so seriously ill that when the train stopped in New Haven he was taken to hospital, where he died. The last surviving officer of USS Maine, he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Navy Distinguished Service Medal
Awarded for Actions During World War I
Service: Navy
Division: U.S.S. Shawmut
General Orders: Authority: Navy Book of Distinguished Service (Stringer)
Citation: The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Distinguished Service Medal to Captain Wat Tyler Cluverius, United States Navy, for exceptionally meritorious service in a duty of great responsibility as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. SHAMUT, engaged in laying mines in the North Sea during World War I.