William M. Callaghan

William McCombe Callaghan (August 8, 1897 – July 8, 1991) was a United States Navy officer who served as the first captain of the battleship and the inaugural commander of the Military Sea Transportation Service. Through the course of almost 40 years, he served his country in three wars. His naval career began on a destroyer in the final months of World War I. Following command of the destroyer and logistical work prior to World War II, he took command of Missouri in 1944.

Callaghan is perhaps best known for ordering, despite disagreement from some of his crew, that an honorable burial at sea be held for an enemy pilot who died during a suicide attack on Missouri in 1945. The family were devout Roman Catholics. Both men also subsequently attended the United States Naval Academy, Daniel graduating in 1911 and William in the class of 1918. From 1932 to 1933, he was a lieutenant aboard the aircraft carrier .

Ship commands

At the rank of commander, Callaghan captained the destroyer USS Reuben James from June 1936 to March 1938, and subsequently joined the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations in 1939. Before the US entered World War II, he was stationed in London in a logistical role. Admiral Chester Nimitz. He received the Legion of Merit for this work. the last battleship commissioned by the US Navy. He commanded Missouri in engagements at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Bill Obitz, a seaman at the time, recalled that the attacking plane approached at an extreme angle and estimated that it was 20 feet (6 m) above the water. Although struck by intense antiaircraft fire, the plane survived and struck the ship's starboard side at frame 169 below the main deck. its 500-pound bomb did not detonate, so the damage was minimal. There were no American casualties, but the Japanese pilot died. Parts of the plane's wreckage and the top half of the pilot's body landed on board Missouri.

Despite protests from crewmen, who wanted the remains hosed over the deck, Callaghan insisted that the young Japanese airman had done his job to the best of his ability, with honor, and deserved a military burial. Ivan Dexter, another crew member, gave his account of events to Herb Fahr, recalling that the top half of the Japanese pilot's body was scattered over the deck, while the bottom half fell with the rest of the plane into the sea.

On May 14, 1945, Callaghan passed command of Missouri on to Captain Stuart Murray, who had been a classmate of his at the US Naval Academy.

Senior commands In 1946, Callaghan held the rank of rear admiral, and in that year he gave a presentation to the Naval War College on his experience in the Naval Transportation Service before the war. On October 1, 1949, he was appointed the first commander of the Military Sea Transportation Service, From 1953 to 1954, during the Korean War, he commanded the Amphibious Force, Pacific Fleet. From 1954 to 1956, he served as commander, US Naval Forces Far East. He then replaced retiring Vice Admiral Francis S. Low as commander of the Western Sea Frontier. He retired from the US Navy at the rank of vice admiral in 1957.

Late in life, Callaghan resided in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Following a stroke, he died on July 8, 1991, at Bethesda Naval Hospital. and Jane Callaghan Gude (c. 1925–2008), wife of former member of Congress, Gilbert Gude, as well as eight grandchildren. His great-grandchildren include Caitlin Callaghan, Larkin Callaghan, and Connor Callaghan, and many others.

Legacy Callaghan's decision on the Japanese pilot's funeral in 1945 would receive praise years later, although a memorial service aboard the Missouri in April 2001 attracted controversy. Leading up to the service, Callaghan's son said, "My father believed a burial at sea for the pilot was the right thing to do. He felt it would set a good example for the crew in showing respect for the life of people, even for the people you are opposing."

b. Two sources state that Callaghan was promoted to the rank of vice admiral soon after his appointment to command the MSTS. Historian Salvatore Mercogliano (c. 2000) states that the initial commander of the MSTS was "Rear Admiral William M. Callaghan (subsequently promoted to Vice Admiral)" and a 1962 ship directory states that "[MSTS's] first commander, Rear-Admiral William Callaghan, was soon promoted to vice-admiral, and the M.S.T.S. has been a ' three-star' command ever since" (p. 41). Another article by Mercogliano (2000) states that Callaghan was still ranked a rear admiral in early July 1950. Two other sources, a later article by Mercogliano (2009) and Military Sealift Command's timeline, state that MSTS's first commander was Vice Admiral William M. Callaghan. It is not clear whether these last two sources were simply reporting Callaghan's rank at the time of writing, well after 1949, or whether they were implying that Callaghan was already a vice admiral before taking command of the MSTS.

c. Commenting on the decision to hold a memorial service for the Japanese pilots aboard USS Missouri, US veteran Lloyd Prang said, "If the Japanese want to memorialize their pilots and soldiers, let them do it on THEIR soil." Marine Corps veteran Rand Potts considered it "a promotional deal to excite Japanese visitors into visiting the Missouri."