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Contact Info
Home Town Cresco, IA
Last Address Vallejo, CA
Date of Passing Mar 26, 1955
Location of Interment Buried at Sea, Pacific Ocean
Wall/Plot Coordinates Ashes scattered from the Cruiser Bremerton.
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Admiral Lowry began his naval career with his appointment to the NavalAcademy, Annapolis, Maryland in 1907. He was graduated in June, 1911. He first served at MareIsland in 1919, when he assumed command of the receiving ship and training station, following Atlantic patrol duty in World War I. His work between the two world wars included assignment to Guam, the Naval College at Newport, Rhode Island, duty on the battleships California and New York, at the University of California as professor of Naval science and tactics, command of the U.S.S. Hale, training work and a Washington tour in the bureau of navigation.
In 1940 he took command of the heavy cruiser, "Minneapolis" at Pearl Harbor, and the ship was the entrance to the harbor standing by to escort a convoy to Manila when the Japanese attacked. During the first year of the war, the "Minneapolis" operated in the southwest Pacific, and rescued 850 of the crew of the Lexington, which was sunk in the battle of the Coral Sea. This action resulted in the Navy Cross award for Admiral Lowry.
He also participated in the battle of Midway, the first landing at Guadalcanal, and the battle of the Eastern Solomons, where the "Minneapolis" towed the torpedoed "Saratoga" from the danger area.
He served briefly on stateside duty in 1942 and was then named commander of the MoroceanSea frontier, with headquarters at Casablanca. He then took command of the landing craft and bases at Salerno, Italy, and in November, 1943, became commander of the eighth Amphibian force.
Under his command the combined United States and British naval forces planned and assaulted the beaches at Anzio in January, 1944. He then commanded the landing in Southern France in August, 1944, and returned to the United States to organize and amphibious group for the invasion of Japan. When the war ended, he was ordered to Germany to serve under General Patton. He was named area commander of MareIsland, October 30, 1947, succeeding Vice Admiral Mahlan D. Tisdale, the first to hold the area command position.
Admiral Lowry was awarded 21 medals, ranging from the highest Navy honor and Navy cross, to six decorations from foreign governments.
He retired from active duty as commander of the MareIsland in March, 1950.
Other Comments:
Navy Cross
Awarded for Actions During WWII
General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 311 (February 1943)
Action Date: May 7 & 8, 1942
Service: Navy
Rank: Captain
Company: Commanding Officer
Division: U.S.S. Minneapolis (CA-36)
Citation: The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Captain Frank Jacob Lowry, United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession as Commanding Officer of the Heavy Cruiser U.S.S. MINNEAPOLIS (CA-36), during operations in Coral Sea on 7 and 8 May 1942 . Under Captain Lowry's skillful direction, his ship during this action inflicted considerable damage on the enemy Japanese and rendered vital protection to the aircraft carrier to which it was assigned. Captain Lowry's inspiring leadership and the valiant devotion to duty of his command contributed in large measure to the outstanding success of these vital missions and reflect great credit upon the United States Naval Service.
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Iwo Jima Operation
From Month/Year
February / 1945
To Month/Year
March / 1945
Description The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945), or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States Armed Forces fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Japanese Empire. The American invasion had the goal of capturing the entire island, including its three airfields (including South Field and Central Field), to provide a staging area for attacks on the Japanese main islands. This five-week battle comprised some of the fiercest and bloodiest fighting of the War in the Pacific of World War II.
After the heavy losses incurred in the battle, the strategic value of the island became controversial. It was useless to the U.S. Army as a staging base and useless to the U.S. Navy as a fleet base. However, Navy SEABEES rebuilt the landing strips, which were used as emergency landing strips for USAAF B-29s.
The Imperial Japanese Army positions on the island were heavily fortified, with a dense network of bunkers, hidden artillery positions, and 18 km (11 mi) of underground tunnels. The Americans on the ground were supported by extensive naval artillery and complete air supremacy over Iwo Jima from the beginning of the battle by U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aviators.
Iwo Jima was the only battle by the U.S. Marine Corps in which the Japanese combat deaths were thrice those of the Americans throughout the battle. Of the 22,000 Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima at the beginning of the battle, only 216 were taken prisoner, some of whom were captured because they had been knocked unconscious or otherwise disabled. The majority of the remainder were killed in action, although it has been estimated that as many as 3,000 continued to resist within the various cave systems for many days afterwards, eventually succumbing to their injuries or surrendering weeks later.
Despite the bloody fighting and severe casualties on both sides, the Japanese defeat was assured from the start. Overwhelming American superiority in arms and numbers as well as complete control of air power — coupled with the impossibility of Japanese retreat or reinforcement — permitted no plausible circumstance in which the Americans could have lost the battle.
The battle was immortalized by Joe Rosenthal's photograph of the raising of the U.S. flag on top of the 166 m (545 ft) Mount Suribachi by five U.S. Marines and one U.S. Navy battlefield Hospital Corpsman. The photograph records the second flag-raising on the mountain, both of which took place on the fifth day of the 35-day battle. Rosenthal's photograph promptly became an indelible icon — of that battle, of that war in the Pacific, and of the Marine Corps itself — and has been widely reproduced.