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Contact Info
Home Town Warrenton, GA
Last Address Long Beach, CA
Date of Passing Jan 21, 1943
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Wall/Plot Coordinates 8 5118
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Robert Henry English commanded the U.S. Navy's submarine force in the Pacific Theater of Operations early in World War II.
TO: Submarine Squadron Commanders, SubPacFlt/SubSoWesPac
FROM: Admiral Ernest J. King CinC U.S. Fleet Chief of Naval Operations
CC: Admiral Chester W. Nimitz
DATE: 31 January, 1943
SUBJECT: Death of Rear Admiral English
It is my sad duty to inform all Officers and Enlisted personal of SubPacFlt of the untimely death of Rear Admiral Robert H. English.
Rear Admiral English was in transit to the submarine support facility at Mare Island aboard a Pan-Am clipper on loan to the U.S. Navy. Radio contact was lost due to a severe storm which occurred while approaching San Francisco. Rear Admiral English, three senior staff officers, six Navy passengers, a nurse and nine crewmen all perished.
Our hearts go out to the English family. It is a tragic loss to SubPacFlt and to the United States Navy. Let us keep his family in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.
Captain John H. "Babe" Brown will assume temporary command of SubPacFlt until a suitable replacement is appointed.
Admiral Ernest J. King CinC
Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet
Chief of Naval Operations
Other Comments:
USS English (DD-696), an Allen M. Sumner-class destroyer in commission from 1944 to 1970, was named in English's honor.
Navy Cross
Awarded for Actions During World War I
Service: Navy
Division: U.S.S. O-4
Citation:
" The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Lieutenant Commander Robert Henry English (NSN: 0-7724), United States Navy, for distinguished service as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. 0-4, engaged in the important, exacting and hazardous duty of patrolling the waters infested by enemy submarines, destroyers and mines, protecting vitally important convoys of troops and supplies and in offensive and defensive action, vigorously and unremittingly prosecuted against all forms of enemy naval activity during World War I."
Navy Cross
Awarded for Actions During World War I
Service: Navy
Citation:
"The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting a Gold Star in lieu of a Second Award of the Navy Cross to Lieutenant Commander Robert Henry English (NSN: 0-7724), United States Navy, for his heroic conduct upon the occasion of the explosion on the U.S.S. 0-5.
...
At the risk of his own life, Lieutenant Commander English entered the after battery compartment, which was filled with smoke and debris from the exploding batteries, and rescued Lieutenant Commander G. A. Trever, U.S.N., from being burned to death."
Navy Distinguished Service Medal
Awarded for Actions During World War II
Service: Navy
General Orders: Commander in Chief: Serial 1158)
Citation:
"The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Distinguished Service Medal (Posthumously) to Rear Admiral Robert Henry English (NSN: 0-7724), United States Navy, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service in a position of great responsibility to the Government of the United States, as Commander, Submarines, Pacific Fleet, during World War II.
...
In that position of great responsibility, he directed the operations of his command with marked skill and resourcefulness, as a result of which heavy damage was inflicted on enemy ships and shipping. His example of tenacity and devotion to duty was in large part responsible for the high degree of combat efficiency attained by his command."
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Attack on Pearl Harbor
From Month/Year
December / 1941
To Month/Year
December / 1941
Description The attack on Pearl Harbor, also known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor, the Hawaii Operation or Operation AI by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters, and Operation Z during planning, was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory, on the morning of December 7, 1941. The attack led to the United States' entry into World War II.
Japan intended the attack as a preventive action to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan planned in Southeast Asia against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. Over the next seven hours there were coordinated Japanese attacks on the U.S.-held Philippines, Guam and Wake Island and on the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
The attack commenced at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian Time. The base was attacked by 353 Imperial Japanese fighter planes, bombers, and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers. All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four sunk. All but Arizona were later raised, and six were returned to service and went on to fight in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer. 188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,403 Americans were killed and 1,178 others were wounded. Important base installations such as the power station, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section) were not attacked. Japanese losses were light: 29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, and 64 servicemen killed. One Japanese sailor, Kazuo Sakamaki, was captured.
The attack came as a profound shock to the American people and led directly to the American entry into World War II in both the Pacific and European theaters. The following day, December 8, the United States declared war on Japan. Domestic support for non-interventionism, which had been fading since the Fall of France in 1940,[19] disappeared. Clandestine support of the United Kingdom (e.g., the Neutrality Patrol) was replaced by active alliance. Subsequent operations by the U.S. prompted Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy to declare war on the U.S. on December 11, which was reciprocated by the U.S. the same day.
From the 1950s, several writers alleged that parties high in the U.S. and British governments knew of the attack in advance and may have let it happen (or even encouraged it) with the aim of bringing the U.S. into war. However, this advance-knowledge conspiracy theory is rejected by mainstream historians.
There were numerous historical precedents for unannounced military action by Japan. However, the lack of any formal warning, particularly while negotiations were still apparently ongoing, led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to proclaim December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy". Because the attack happened without a declaration of war and without explicit warning, the attack on Pearl Harbor was judged by the Tokyo Trials to be a war crime.
