Henry Lee Plage

Henry Lee Plage (February 19, 1915 – September 24, 2003) was an American naval officer best known for his role in the recovery of sailors from Task Force 38 during Typhoon Cobra.

Before World War II Henry Lee Plage joined the Naval ROTC at Georgia Tech, where he majored in industrial management and swam competitively. After graduating in 1937, he was commissioned as an ensign of the U.S. Naval Reserve. He married Marjorie Armstrong and moved to Florida, where he worked as an insurance adjuster. In January 1941, he requested and received active duty, but he was not given sea duty.

World War II Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Plage again requested sea duty. In May 1942, he took command of USS PC-464, a submarine chaser out of Panama with a crew of 55.

His next command was another Evarts-class, USS Donaldson, which he sailed from Pearl Harbor to the Marshall Islands.

Post-war life Plage and the Tabberer conducted anti-mine and escort duty following the Surrender of Japan. He returned Tabberer to San Diego, where she would be decommissioned in April 1946. His next assignment was at the Naval War College. He retired from the Navy in 1954.

Plage later worked as a pharmaceutical distributor and in 1980 moved to Ocala, Florida, where he died in 2003 at the age of 88. At the time of Marjorie's death in 1998, Plage had two sons, two grandchildren, and a great-grandchild. A plaque in his memory can be found at Silver Springs Shore Presbyterian Church, where he and Marjorie were members.