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Home Town Omaha, Nebraska
Last Address Burial: Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Los Angeles County, California, USA Plot: Corridor of Glory, GM, Holly Terrace, Lot 0, Space 14434
Date of Passing Jul 31, 1981
Location of Interment Forest Lawn Memorial Park - Glendale, California
Wall/Plot Coordinates Corridor of Glory, No. 14434
Captain Herbert Gordon Claudius, USN (Ret.) USNR 1930-1946, transfered to USN 1946-1963
Naval officer, Commanding Officer of Coastal Patrol Boat 566 (PC-566, later the USS Honesdale), a sub chaser. He gave orders to launch depth charges on a suspected enemy submarine in the Gulf of Mexico after having just witnessed the sinking of the SS Robert E. Lee. Evidence showed a potential sinking of the submarine by the 566. However, then US Navy officials highly doubted his report. Instead of being praised and revered, LtCdr Claudius was relieved of command and sent to ASW school again. For years, he had this stain on his record.
Seven decades later, wreckage of a German submarine was found in the area indicated by Lt Commander Claudius. With the help of several people, including a marine archeologist surveying the Gulf floor in 2011, & from the underwater archology branch at the Navy History & Heritage Command under director Robert Neyland, and using the most recent data from a 2013 expedition in the Gulf of Mexico lead by Oceanographer, Bob Ballard, he was vindicated!
In 2014, 72 years later his only surviving son, Gordon Claudius, received posthumously the Legion of Merit with a Combat "V", for Valor while under combat, from the Chief of Naval Operations, Jonathan Greenert, and Sec. Of the Navy Ray Mabus on behalf of his deceased father. Lt. Commander Herbert G. Claudius was correct in his after action report that day and the record is now corrected.
Other Comments:
WASHINGTON - The Navy has posthumously awarded the Legion of Merit with a Combat "V" device to Herbert G. Claudius, 72 years after it dismissed his claims that he and his crew sunk a German U-boat off the coast of Louisiana during World War II.
Captain Herbert G. Claudius, then a Lieutenant Commander, has finally been recognized for his actions on July 30, 1942, when he led the patrol ship USS PC-566 into battle against a German submarine that had been attacking American vessels.
Minutes after the passenger ship SS Robert E. Lee was torpedoed and sunk by U-166 45 miles south of the Mississippi River Delta, Claudius' crew spotted a periscope in the area. After Claudius ordered depth charges fired, the crew saw an oil slick in the area where the weapons were dropped, according to historical accounts of the incident. This was strong evidence that the submarine had been severely damaged or destroyed.
But when Claudius submitted his after-action report, the Navy doubted his account because he and his crew had not yet received anti-submarine training, according to National Geographic, which is making a documentary about the affair.
The Navy's Anti-Submarine Warfare Assessment Committee even admonished the crew for a poorly executed attack, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Claudius was removed from command and sent to anti-submarine warfare school.
"Claudius was shafted," U-boat expert Richie Kohler said, according to National Geographic. "He should have returned home a hero, but he was humiliated and sent back to school."
But the Navy has since come around. Nearly 60 years after the fact, an oil company discovered U-boat wreckage very close to where the battle occurred. Last summer, oceanographer Robert Ballard explored the site with remotely piloted vehicles and conducted high-resolution mapping to try to figure out what happened. The evidence suggested that U-166 had in fact been destroyed by a depth charge.
After concluding its own historic and archeological assessment, the Naval History and Heritage Command recommended the service credit PC-556 and Claudius for sinking the U-boat and give them the appropriate recognition.
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus acknowledged that the Navy made a mistake.
.oOo.
USS Floyd B. Parks DD-884
"The Fightin' Floyd B" Korean War Service, Commander H.G. Claudius
in command from April 1949 to December 1951
First U.N. Counter Offensive 1951: 16-Mar.-51 21-Apr.-51, One Battle Star.
Communist China Spring Offensive1951: 11-Apr.-51 16-May-51, One Battle Star.
U.N.Summer-Fall Offensive 1951: 11-Jul.- 51 22-Sep-5, One Battle Star.
Commander Claudius was awarded the "Legion of Merit" with combat "V" for his command leadership in this activity. While on the PARKS in July, 1951, he was promoted to the rank of Captain.
Chain of Command PARKS' WESTPAC activity: Captain Claudius commanded during four WESTPAC tours. The PARKS was now involved in the Korean Conflict. The ship performed superbly in conducting shore bombardment and blockade duties in the Bay of Wonsan, North Korea. Captain Claudius was awarded the "Legion of Merit" for his command leadership in this activity. While on the PARKS in July, 1951, he was promoted to the rank of Captain.
USS Floyd B. Parks DD-884 "The Fightin' Floyd B"
Korean War Service, Commander H.G. Claudius in command from April 1949 to December 1951.
First U.N. Counter Offensive 1951: 16-Mar.-51 21-Apr.-51, One Battle Star.
Communist China Spring Offensive1951: 11-Apr.-51 16-May-51, One Battle Star.
U.N.Summer-Fall Offensive 1951: 11-Jul.- 51 22-Sep-5, One Battle Star.
Commander Claudius was awarded the "Legion of Merit" for his command leadership in this activity. While on the PARKS in July, 1951, he was promoted to the rank of Captain.
Other Memories
USS FLOYD B. PARKS (DD 884), APRIL 1949 TO DECEMBER 1951, COMMANDING OFFICER CDR HERBERT G. CLAUDIUS. AWARDED THE LEGION OF MERIT DURING THE KOREAN WAR.
In April of 1949, PARKS proceeded to Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California for overhaul. Upon completion of the yard period, PARKS steamed to San Diego, where she conducted local training exercises until October of 1949. On 16 July CDR Herbert G. CLAUDIUS, USN, relieved CDR NICHOLS, thus becoming the fourth Commanding Officer of PARKS. The ship left for her third tour of duty in the Far East, arriving in Japan in November of 1949; this tour lasted almost eight months. PARKS visited the Philippine Islands, China, Malaya, and crossed the Equator on a voyage to the South Seas and Singapore.
She returned to San Diego on 12 June 1950. When hostilities broke out in Korea, PARKS steamed to Hawaii and remained in a stand-by status prepared to assist the Naval units in the WESTPAC area. In September she returned to San Diego and soon proceeded to San Francisco for her regular overhaul.
PARKS deployed on the morning of 19 February 1951. After a logistics stop at Pearl Harbor, PARKS set course for non-stop trip to Sasebo, Japan. After steaming across the International Date Line, however, she was forced to backtrack to Midway Island with a seriously ill seaman. After transferring the patient and fueling, PARKS set her course once more for Sasebo. After again crossing the 180th she was once more compelled to return to Midway with another patient. On 7 March PARKS crossed the Date Line for the fifth time in three days and finally arrived in Sasebo on 13 March without further incident.
PARKS joined Fast Carrier Task Force 77 on 17 March to assist in screening the larger ships and commenced a month tour in support of anti-communist air operations off the east coast of North Korea. Enroute to TF 77 a floating mine was sighted close aboard and exploded by 40 mm fire. The incident had its amusing side; the Junior Officer of the watch, who sighted the mine, remarked only a few minutes earlier that PARKS was "too far at sea to have to worry about such things as mines".
After a week of upkeep in Yokosuka, PARKS proceeded to Wonsan, North Korea, for Naval Gunfire Support Activities. At Wonsan on 30 April 1951, PARKS encountered gunfire from enemy shore batteries for the first time; after a two hour battle, she silenced them. During here stay at Wonsan she was responsible for saving the lives of two pilots who were forced to ditch their planes in the harbor. PARKS fired 6,569 rounds of five-inch projectiles in interdiction, harassing the counter battery fire during her first 29 day tour of shore bombardment duty.
When PARKS returned for her second tour of shore bombardment duty at Wonsan, she encountered increased enemy resistance. Enemy shore batteries opened fire on the ships in the harbor six times in six days. PARKS was straddled three times, and on another occasion received seven near misses, but successfully answered and silenced the enemy fire without damage to herself.
During this tour PARKS was responsible for coordinating the rescue of six more United States pilots. In, addition, PARKS worked with Air Force and Navy planes designating targets for day and night bombing, rocketing and strafing attacks, and in turn, received spotting assistance from the aircraft.
Twice PARKS provided a shore fire control party for several days on Hwang To-Do Island just 3,000 yards from the enemy's shore. Using this party and a U. S. Marine party, PARKS was spotted onto numerous lucrative targets. At one time her illumination and gunfire broke up an attempted invasion of Hwang To-Do by communist sampans. PARKS provided fire support for mine sweeps conducting close-in operations and more than once silenced opposing enemy guns.
On 22 September PARKS was relieved and sailed from Wonsan with her guns firing counter battery fire. The damage done to the enemy at Wonsan will never be fully known, but the destruction on warehouses, ammunition dumps, gun emplacements and railway and highway facilities was very heavy.
PARKS spent a total of 60 days in the enemy harbor at Wonsan participating in the longest siege in U. S. Naval History. It is believed that she spent more time there than any other U. S. Warship. A total of 12,307 rounds of five-inch projectiles fired at the Korean Operations. On 15 December 1951 CDR CLAUDIUS relieved by CDR John J. FOOTE, USN.
