Franklin Van Valkenburgh

Captain Franklin Van Valkenburgh DD-656 USS Van Valkenburgh DD-656 USS Van Valkenburgh Franklin Van at the Academy Captain Franklin Van Valkenburgh The USS Arizona

Franklin was born on April 5th, 1888 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Franklin's father was Frank Pratt Van Valkenburgh and his mother was Jane Irvin Swoope.  His paternal grandparents were Franklin Butler Van Valkenburgh and Emeline (Emily) Wells Pratt. He had two sisters named Helen and Alice.  He was the second oldest of the three children.  He died at the age of 53 on December 7th, 1941 in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

• General Notes

  This Navy captain was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. "Captain Van Valkenburgh, commanding officer of the USS Arizona, was killed when that ship was blown up during attack on Pearl Harbor. He was born in Minneapolis, Minn April 5, 1888, and was appointed to Annapolis from Wisconsin in 1905. He studied postgraduate engineering at Annapolis and Columbia University from 1915 to 1917. During World War I he served aboard the USS Rhode Island, for which he was awarded the Victory Medal, Atlantic Fleet Clasp. Captain Van Valkenburgh's home was at 3023 East Ocean Boulevard, Long Beach. Calif." Married: 1 JUL 1914 in Olongapo, Zambales, Phillipines Jane Carleen VAN VALKENBURGH b: 6 APR 1915 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Elizabeth Ann VAN VALKENBURGH b: 22 APR 1917 in Hackensack, New Jersey Franklin Butler VAN VALKENBURGH b: 5 May 1919 in Annapolis, MD Franklin Van Valkenburgh-born on 5 April 1888 at Minneapolis, Minn., and appointed a midshipman on 15 September 1905-graduated from the Naval Academy on 4 June 1909. After service in Vermont (Battleship No. 20) and in South Carolina (Battleship No. 26), Van Valkenburgh was commissioned ensign on 5 June 1911. Traveling to the Asiatic Station soon thereafter, he joined Rainbow (Submarine Tender No. 7) at Olongapo, Philippine Islands, on 11 September. He reported to Pampanga (Gunboat No. 39) as executive officer on 23 June 1914 for a short tour in the southern Philippines before his detachment on 4 August. After returning to the United States, Lt. (jg.) Van Valkenburgh joined Connecticut (Battleship No. 18) on 11 November. Following postgraduate work in steam engineering at the Naval Academy in September 1915, he took further instruction in that field at Columbia University before reporting to Rhode Island (Battleship No. 17) on 2 March 1917. The entry of the United States into World War I found Van Valkenburgh serving as the battleship's engineering officer. Subsequent temporary duty in the receiving ship at New York preceded his first tour as an instructor at the Naval Academy. On 1 June 1920, Van Valkenburgh reported on board Minnesota (Battleship No. 22) for duty as engineer officer, and he held that post until the battleship was decommissioned in November 1921. He again served as an instructor at the Naval Academy-until 15 May 1925-before he joined Maryland (BB-46) on 26 June. Commissioned commander on 2 June 1927 while in Maryland, he soon reported for duty in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations on 21 May 1928 and served there during the administrations of Admirals Charles F. Hughes and William V. Pratt. Detached on 28 June 1931, Van Valkenburgh received command of Talbot (DD-114) on 10 July and commanded Destroyer Squadron 5 from 31 March 1932. After attending the Naval War College, Newport, R.I., and completing the senior course in May 1934, Comdr. Van Valkenburgh next served as inspector of naval materiel at the New York Navy Yard before going to sea again as commanding officer of Melville (AD-2) from 8 June 1936 to 11 June 1938. Promoted to captain while commanding Melville-on 23 December 1937-he served as inspector of materiel for the 3d Naval District from 6 August 1938 to 22 January 1941. On 5 February 1941, Van Valkenburgh relieved Capt. Harold C. Train as commanding officer of Arizona (BB-39). Newly refitted at Puget Sound, Arizona served as flagship of Battleship Division 1 for the remainder of the year, based primarily at Pearl Harbor with two trips to the west coast. On 4 December, the battleship went to sea in company with Nevada (BB-36) and Oklahoma (BB-37) for night surface practice and, after conducting these gunnery exercises, returned to Pearl Harbor independently on the 6th to moor at berth F-7 alongside Ford Island. Both Capt. Van Valkenburgh and the embarked division commander, Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd, spent the next Saturday evening, 6 December, on board. Suddenly, shortly before 0800 on 7 December, Japanese planes roared overhead, shattering the Sunday peace and punctuating it with the explosion of bombs and the staccato hammering of machine guns. Capt. Van Valkenburgh sped forward from his cabin and arrived on the navigation bridge where he immediately began to direct his ship's defense. A quartermaster in the pilot house asked if the captain wanted to go to the conning tower-a less-exposed position in view of the Japanese strafing-but Van Valkenburgh refused to do so and continued to man a telephone, fighting his ship. A violent explosion suddenly shook the ship, throwing the three occupants of the bridge-Van Valkenburgh, an ensign, and the quartermaster, to the deck, and shattering the bridge windows. Dazed and shaken, the ensign stumbled through the flames and smoke and escaped, but the others were never seen again. A continuing fire, fed by ammunition and oil, blazed for two days until finally put out on 9 December. A subsequent search recovered only Capt. Van Valkenburgh's class ring. The captain was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor-the citation reading in part: "for devotion to duty . . . extraordinary courage, and the complete disregard of his own life." In gallantly fighting his ship, he directed its defense in the tragically short time allotted him.

Details of Franklin's family with Marguerite Horne