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Home Town Bangor, ME
Date of Passing May 18, 1953
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Wall/Plot Coordinates 4 3025
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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.
Pennsylvania Class Battleship: Displacement 31,400 Tons, Dimensions, 608' 6" (oa) x 97' 1" x 29' 10" (Max). Armament 12 x 14"/45 14 x 5"/51, 4 x 3"/50 2 x 21" tt. Armor, 13 1/2" Belt, 18" Turrets, 3" +2" Decks, 16" Conning Tower. Machinery, 34,000 SHP; Geared Turbines, 4 screws. Speed, 21 Knots, Crew 915.
Operational and Building Data: Laid down by New York Naval Ship Yard, March 16, 1914. Launched June 19, 1915. Commissioned October 17, 1916. Decommissioned (War Loss). Stricken December 1, 1942.
Fate: Sunk by Japanese aircraft during attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, December 7 1941. Arizona still rests in the berth where she sank. A Memorial to her crew was built over the wreck in 1962. 1,177 Officers and Men were lost with the ship and remain on duty inside her rusting hulk. The wreck is still bleeding fuel oil, more than 70 years after her sinking.
