This Deceased Navy Profile is not currently maintained by any Member.
If you would like to take responsibility for researching and maintaining this Deceased profile please click
HERE
Contact Info
Home Town Augusta, Georgia
Last Address Columbia, South Carolina
Date of Passing Jan 19, 1975
Location of Interment Elmwood Cemetery - Columbia, South Carolina
Wall/Plot Coordinates Unknown
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Rear Admiral Martin was born in Augusta, Georgia, 4 January 1892. He attended the Blackville Graded School, Blackville, South Carolina, and the College of Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina, before being appointed to the Naval Academy from that state in June 1910. While at Annapolis he was Editor-in-Chief of the Lucky Bag. He was graduated and commissioned Ensign in June 1914 and progressed in grade until promoted to Commodore 24 May 1943. He was transferred to the Retired List of the Navy in the rank of Rear Admiral on 1 November 1946.
After graduation in June 1914, Rear Admiral Martin joined the USS Kansas, serving in her until October 1915, when he was assigned temporary duty as Instructor of Enlisted Men, Naval Training Station, Great Lakes, Illinois. From November 1916 until September 1919 he was in the USS Wyoming which, during the World War, operated in the North Sea as a unit of the Sixth Battleship Squadron of the British Grand Fleet. During the night of 20 November 1918, while serving in the Wyoming, he participated in the operations of escorting the German High Seas Fleet to Scapa Flow for internment and witnessed the surrender. Rear Admiral Wilson also took part in the ceremonies on 13 December 1918, when the Wyoming escorted the USS George Washington with President Wilson aboard on his way to the Peace Conference at Versailles, into the harbor of Brest France. He returned to the United States and was in the Wyoming when on 26 December 1918, she was reviewed in New York harbor by the Honorable Josephus Daniels, then Secretary of the Navy.
In fall of 1919 Rear Admiral Martin was ordered to the USS Fulton for instruction in submarines and, after qualifying in December, had consecutive duty in the USS 0-4 and the USS K-8 until June 1920, when he assumed command of the K-8. From December 1920 until July 1921 he was commanding officer of the USS R-8 and in September 1921 he joined the USS Eagle #33, serving in her until August 1922, when he was transferred to the USS Chewink.
Rear Admiral Martin was commanding officer of the USS S-19 from December 1923 until June 1926 and, for the next three years, was attached to the Office of the Judge Advocate General, Navy Department, Washington, DC. During this assignment he completed a postgraduate course in law, receiving his Bachelor of Laws degree.
Rear Admiral Martin served as gunnery officer of the USS Memphis from June 1929 until June 1932. During this period he established the first cruiser gunnery school and, in 1930, while he was gunnery officer of the Memphis that vessel established two records in light cruiser gunnery. He received a Letter of Commendation from the Commander, Cruisers, for the success of the gunnery school.
In June 1932, Rear Admiral Martin returned to duty in the Office of the Judge Advocate General, where he served as Chief of the Division of Navy Courts and Boards until May 1935. He was Commander, Submarine Division 11, from June 1935 until the spring of 1937, when he reported for duty as Commander, Submarine Squadron 3, with additional duty as Commander, Submarine Division 11, and Commander, Submarine Base, Coco Solo, Canal Zone. In 1936-37, one submarine of this division stood first in gunnery among all submarines of the US Fleet; one stood first in communications, and one in torpedoes. Rear Admiral Martin was commended by the Commander of the Submarine force for the efficiency of the ships in Submarine Division Eleven. In June 1937 he was relieved of additional duty as Commander Submarine Division 11, but continued with his regular assignment.
In July 1937, Rear Admiral Martin was transferred to duty at Headquarters, Eleventh Naval District, San Diego, California. Detached in June 1938, he returned to the Office of the Judge Advocate General, serving as Chief of the Administrative Division and later as Officer in Charge of Division of Contracts, Bonds and Real Estate, until January 1941.
Rear Admiral Martin was in command of the USS Henderson, operating with the Fleet, from January 1941 until October 1942, when he was transferred to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Navy Department, Washington, DC. in April 1944, he assumed command of the USS Pennsylvania, one of the battleships damaged by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941, and later repaired and modernized. Operating in the Pacific, Rear Admiral Martin commanded her during the Battle of Surigao Strait when, in the early morning hours of 25 October 1944, a US Naval force met and practically annihilated a strong Japanese surface force at the southern entrance to Leyte Gulf in the Philippines. For outstanding services in that command he received a Letter of Commendation from the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, and was awarded the Legion of Merit with the following citation:
Legion of Merit: (with authorization to wear the Combat "V") - "For exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States as Commanding Officer of the USS Pennsylvania during the capture of Leyte Gulf and the landings on Leyte, Philippine Islands, from October 18 to 29, 1944, and during the capture of Lingayen Gulf and the landing on Luzon, Philippine Islands, from January 6 to 18, 1945. Skillfully maneuvering his ship at a close-in fire support unit, Commodore (then Captain) Martin directed his men in delivering effective gunfire against the enemy and, despite intense and prolonged enemy serial attack, contributed materially to the success of operations in this area. His leadership and devotion to duty throughout were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.
Relieved of command of the Pennsylvania on 5 June 1945, he reported for duty as Commander, Naval Base, Manus Island, and served in that command until 19 April 1946, when he was ordered to the United States. Following temporary duty in the Bureau of Naval Personnel, he was relieved of actively duty on 2 July 1946. He was transferred to the Retired List of the Navy in the rank of Rear Admiral on 1 November 1946.
In addition to the Legion of Merit with Combat "V", and the Commendation Ribbon, Rear Admiral Martin has the Mexican Service Medal, (USS Kansas); Victory Medal, Grand Fleet Clasp, (USS Wyoming); and is entitled to the American Defense Service Medal, Fleet Clasp, (USS Henderson); the American Area Campaign Medal; the Asiatic Pacific Area Campaign Medal (USS Pennsylvania); and the World War II Victory Medal.
Rear Admiral Martin died 19 January 1975 in Columbia, South Carolina. He was a member of the Bar of the District of Columbia, and had been admitted to practice before the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia; before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia; and before the Supreme Court of the United States.
Description The United States of America declared war on the German Empire on April 6, 1917. The U.S. was an independent power and did not officially join the Allies. It closely cooperated with them militarily but acted alone in diplomacy. The U.S. made its major contributions in terms of supplies, raw material and money, starting in 1917. American soldiers under General John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), arrived in large numbers on the Western Front in the summer of 1918. They played a major role until victory was achieved on November 11, 1918. Before entering the war, the U.S had remained neutral, though it had been an important supplier to Great Britain and the other Allied powers. During the war, the U.S mobilized over 4 million military personnel and suffered 110,000 deaths, including 43,000 due to the influenza pandemic. The war saw a dramatic expansion of the United States government in an effort to harness the war effort and a significant increase in the size of the U.S. military. After a slow start in mobilising the economy and labour force, by spring 1918 the nation was poised to play a role in the conflict. Under the leadership of President Woodrow Wilson, the war represented the climax of the Progressive Era as it sought to bring reform and democracy to the world, although there was substantial public opposition to United States entry into the war.
Although the United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, it did not initially declare war on the other Central Powers, a state of affairs that Woodrow Wilson described as an "embarrassing obstacle" in his State of the Union speech. Congress declared war on the Austro-Hungarian Empire on December 17, 1917, but never made declarations of war against the other Central Powers, Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire or the various Co-belligerents allied with the central powers, thus the United States remained uninvolved in the military campaigns in central, eastern and southern Europe, the Middle East, the Caucasus, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and the Pacific.
The United States as late as 1917 maintained only a small army, smaller than thirteen of the nations and empires already active in the war. After the passage of the Selective Service Act in 1917, it drafted 2.8 million men into military service. By the summer of 1918 about a million U.S. soldiers had arrived in France, about half of whom eventually saw front-line service; by the Armistice of November 11 approximately 10,000 fresh soldiers were arriving in France daily. In 1917 Congress gave U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans when they were drafted to participate in World War I, as part of the Jones Act. In the end Germany miscalculated the United States' influence on the outcome of the conflict, believing it would be many more months before U.S. troops would arrive and overestimating the effectiveness of U-boats in slowing the American buildup.
The United States Navy sent a battleship group to Scapa Flow to join with the British Grand Fleet, destroyers to Queenstown, Ireland and submarines to help guard convoys. Several regiments of Marines were also dispatched to France. The British and French wanted U.S. units used to reinforce their troops already on the battle lines and not to waste scarce shipping on bringing over supplies. The U.S. rejected the first proposition and accepted the second. General John J. Pershing, American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) commander, refused to break up U.S. units to serve as mere reinforcements for British Empire and French units. As an exception, he did allow African-American combat regiments to fight in French divisions. The Harlem Hellfighters fought as part of the French 16th Division, earning a unit Croix de Guerre for their actions at Château-Thierry, Belleau Wood, and Séchault.
Impact of US forces on the war
On the battlefields of France in spring 1918, the war-weary Allied armies enthusiastically welcomed the fresh American troops. They arrived at the rate of 10,000 a day, at a time when the Germans were unable to replace their losses. After British Empire, French and Portuguese forces had defeated and turned back the powerful final German offensive (Spring Offensive of March to July, 1918), the Americans played a role in the Allied final offensive (Hundred Days Offensive of August to November). However, many American commanders used the same flawed tactics which the British, French, Germans and others had abandoned early in the war, and so many American offensives were not particularly effective. Pershing continued to commit troops to these full- frontal attacks, resulting in high casualties against experienced veteran German and Austrian-Hungarian units. Nevertheless, the infusion of new and fresh U.S. troops greatly strengthened the Allies' strategic position and boosted morale. The Allies achieved victory over Germany on November 11, 1918 after German morale had collapsed both at home and on the battlefield.
