This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Michael Kohan (Mikey), ATCS
to remember
Cobb, Calvin Hayes, VADM.
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Contact Info
Home Town Kittery, ME
Last Address Chevy Chase, MD
Date of Passing Mar 03, 1961
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Wall/Plot Coordinates 2 1200 LH
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Then-LCDR Cobb was awarded the Navy Cross for ASW Patrol service in the Atlantic during the First World War. He had previously seen action at the Guantanamo Bay uprising in 1912 and the following year at Vera Cruz.
Cobb's career nearly ended in 1923. His ship, USS Percival was one of 14 destroyers of Destroyer Squadron 11 steaming in formation through a heavy fog off Honda Point, California. Fortunately, Percival was barely able to avoid running aground. However, nine of the other ships ran aground. Two were able to eventually free themselves, but 7 were damaged beyond repair, and 23 lives were lost. It was the largest peacetime loss of ships for the US Navy.
Other Comments:
Navy Cross
Awarded for Actions During World War I
Service: Navy
Division: U.S.S. Duncan
Citation: The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant Commander Calvin Hayes Cobb, United States Navy, for distinguished service in the line of his profession as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. DUNCAN, engaged in the important, exacting and hazardous duty of, patrolling the waters infested with enemy submarines and mines, in escorting and protecting vitally important convoys of troops and supplies through these waters, and in offensive and defensive action, vigorously and unremittingly prosecuted against all forms of enemy naval activity during World War I.
Legion of Merit
Awarded for Actions During World War II
Service: Navy
Rank: Rear Admiral
General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 327 (June 1944) & 336 (March 1945)
Citation: The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Legion of Merit to Rear Admiral Calvin Hayes Cobb, United States Navy, for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States as Commander Service Squadron, South Pacific, from 20 November 1942 to 5 February 1944. Admiral Cobb was a brilliant and capable leader, untiring in his devotion to duty throughout an arduous period of operation. By his skillful planning he made possible the prompt repair of fleet damage and the servicing of advance bases.
Originally the unnamed "hull no. 680", the ship was laid down at Hog Island, Pennsylvania by the American International Shipbuilding Corporation under a United States Shipping Board contract. Named Wright on 20 April 1920, the ship was launched on 28 April. A little over two months later, the Navy signed a contract with the Tietjen and Lang Dry Dock Company of Hoboken, New Jersey to convert the ship to a unique type of auxiliary vessel, a "lighter-than-air aircraft tender." On 17 July 1920, the ship received that classification and was designated AZ-1. Wright was commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on 16 December 1921. Her first commanding officer was Captain (later Admiral) Alfred W. Johnson, who also discharged the collateral duties of Commander, Air Squadrons, Atlantic Fleet. Johnson was the first of a long line of commanding officers for the ship, some of whom later distinguished themselves; men such as John Rodgers, Ernest J. King, Aubrey W. Fitch, Patrick N. L. Bellinger, and Marc A. Mitscher.
