If you knew or served with this Sailor and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
Contact Info
Home Town Bangor, ME
Date of Passing May 18, 1953
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Wall/Plot Coordinates 4 3025
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Vice Admiral Carl Frederick Holden, USN (Ret.)
First Commanding officer of the USS New Jersey
Awarded nine battle stars in the Asia-Pacific Theatre
Born in Bangor, Maine, Holden graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1917. He saw service in World War I on destroyers based in Queenstown, Ireland. Lieutenant Commander Holden was given command of the destroyer Mason in 1920. In 1922-1924 he took a Master's degree in Electrical Communications Engineering from the Naval Academy and Harvard University, and spent the next ten years on communications-related assignments, including a posting with the Naval Mission to Brazil. He commanded the destroyer Tarbell in 1932-34, and in 1935-36 was sent to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii as District Communications Officer.
On the morning of December 7, 1941, Holden was serving as Executive Officer with the rank of Commander on the battleship Pennsylvania when it was attacked and damaged by Japanese aircraft at Pearl Harbor. In January 1942 he was made Fleet Communication Officer on the Staff of the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Fleet, and was then appointed Director of Naval Communications in September 1942, replacing Joseph Redman. In 1943 he became the first captain of the battleship New Jersey, a position he held for most of the war. In 1945 he was made Rear Admiral in charge of Cruiser Division Pacific, and witnessed the Japanese surrender from the deck of the Missouri in Tokyo Bay. He subsequently became Commander of US Naval Forces in occupied Germany, retiring from that position (and the Navy) in 1952.
At his funeral, in their dress blues, were Halsey, Struble, DeLany, Austin, Duncan, Curts, Killenkoetter and Jarrett lined up around the grave, heads bowed. The honorary pallbearers - Navy heroes all of them - had gathered to honor a man from Bangor who was one of their own.
Iowa Class Battleship: Displacement 45,000 Tons, Dimensions, 887' 3" (oa) x 108' 2" x 37' 9" (Max). Armament 9 x 16"/50 20 x 5"/38AA, 80 x 40mm 49 x 20mm, 3 AC. Armor, 12 1/8" Belt, 17" Turrets, 1 1/2" +6" +5/8" Decks, 17 1/4" Conning Tower. Machinery, 212,000 SHP; Westinghouse Geared Turbines, 4 screws. Speed, 33 Knots, Crew 1921.
Operational and Building Data: Laid down by Philadelphia Naval Ship Yard, September 16, 1940. Launched December 7, 1942. Commissioned May 23, 1943. Decommissioned June 30, 1948. Recommissioned November 21, 1950. Decommissioned August 21, 1957. Recommissioned April 6, 1968. Decommissioned December 17, 1969. Recommissioned December 28, 1982. Decommissioned September 9, 1991. Stricken for disposal 12, January 1995. Retained in reserve; reinstated on the Naval Vessels Register, in reserve, 12, February 1998. Stricken for preservation in New Jersey, 4 January, 1999. Towed to Philadelphia, 12 September 1999 - 11 November 1999. Fate: Moved to Camden, NJ for preservation as a museum.
The date of the Photograph is 4 February 1984, the day that she fired 288 16" rounds at Beruit, Lebanon.
With a long history from WWII through decommissioning, 8 February 1991, the New Jersey (BB-62) retires.
