Honolulu Advertiser Sun. Morning, September 28th, 1941
Famed Spy Chaser commands Navy Cruiser Here
Capt. Zacharias foe of Foreign Agents
by Lee Van Atta
Men who sail under him know Capt. Ellis M. Zacharias as "one swell skipper." His junior officers and practically everyone else in the United States Navy know him affectionately as just plain "Cap'n Zach."
And alien agents operating in the United States know each letter of his name spells trouble for them in capital letters.
Until he retuned to sea duty a year ago, Captain Zacharias was the number one Pacific Coast navy counter-espionage expert, and one of the most important figures in American's military intelligence setup.
Today, he is commander of a heavy cruiser stationed at Pearl Harbor, is delighted with the command, but is anxious to return to the duty he has studied and practiced for more than a decade.
Capt. Zacharias has had a hand in practically every espionage case in recent years.
On Farnsworth Case
He was instrumental in solving the Farnsworth puzzle in Washington, which sent a former navy commander to prison for selling navy secrets to Japan, and he aided or directed the apprehension of central figures in the recent Gorin-Salich Russian espionage riddle involving sabotage in Los Angeles; the Japanese Miyazaki-Thompson case and the Drummond spy riddle in San Diego.
Capt. Zacharias won commendation, too, for his part in last year's roundup of New York Nazis, who were found guilty of stealing United States military secrets.
Fifty-one-year-old Cap'n Zach is a perfect advertisement for a how-to-reach-middle-age-without-knowing-it company, and his friendly smile and easy manner mask well his other role: that of an occasional intelligence officer.
A Floridian, he speaks with a decided Southern accent, and one finds it difficult to believe he also reads and converses fluently in Japanese.
Capt. Zacharias is a 1912 graduate of Annapolis, and he served his first cruise as a naval officer aboard the then newly-commissioned USS ARKANSAS.
During World War I, Cap'n Zach served aboard the cruisers RALEIGH and PITTSBURGH. Shortly after the war, his interest turned to espionage and naval intelligence work; and he was sent to the American Embassy in Tokyo to study the Japanese language.
For the next three years, that was the sum and substance of his life --- eight-hour-a-day sessions with his instructors and only occasional vacations to break the monotony of steady application.
To Yokohama
Finally, in 1923, he was graduated -- just in time to go to Yokohama for a well-earned rest --and to be there for the great Japan earthquake.
For Captain Zacharias worked day and night for many weeks following rendering aid to homeless Yokohamans, and later -- when American Navy aid arrived -- acting as liaison officer between the Navy and civilian authorities.
In 1928, after more service with the Asiatic fleet, he began three years of service in the Office of Naval Intelligence. It was while in this capacity that he acted as aide for two months to Prince and Princess Takamatsu, brother of the present emperor, during their tour of the United States.
Once, at a Wellesley college supper in the course of the tour, his fluent knowledge of Japanese inspired an elderly dowager to lean over and inquire: "But my dear commander, how did you ever learn to speak English so well?"
That yarn is one of the prize stories of the Navy.
In 1938, Capt. Zacharias became 11th Naval district intelligence officer, in charge of espionage and counter-espionage activities in Southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico.
When he has filled his required duty at sea, Capt. Zacharias will return to shore intelligence work -- his especial forte.
Capt. Ellis Zacharias in July 1945,
at the Office of War Information studios
making psychological warfare broadcasts in Japanese
to the people and military leaders of Japan.
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