Arthur Schuyler Carpender | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Vice Admiral Arthur S. Carpender | |
| Nickname(s) | Chips |
| Born | (1884-10-24)24 October 1884 New Brunswick, New Jersey |
| Died | 10 January 1960(1960-01-10) (aged 75) Washington, D.C. |
| Place of burial | |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Service |  United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1908–1946 |
| Rank |  Admiral |
| Service number | 0-6600 |
| Commands | Ninth Naval District Seventh Fleet Destroyers,Atlantic Fleet Destroyer Squadron 31 Destroyer Squadron 32 USS Northampton USS Macdonough Submarine Division 14 USS Maddox USS Radford USS Fanning |
| Battles / wars | Mexican Revolution |
| Awards | Army Distinguished Service Medal Navy Distinguished Service Medal Legion of Merit (2) Distinguished Service Order (United Kingdom) Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Australia) Grand Officer of theOrder of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands) |
Arthur Schuyler Carpender (24 October 1884 – 10 January 1960) was an Americanadmiral who commanded the Allied Naval Forces in theSouthwest Pacific Area duringWorld War II.
A 1908 graduate of theUnited States Naval Academy, Carpender sailed around the world with theGreat White Fleet. He commanded a landing force that went ashore atPuerto Cortes, Honduras in 1911, and participated in theUnited States occupation of Veracruz asadjutant of the First Regiment of Bluejackets in 1914. As commander of the destroyerUSS Fanning in theaction of 17 November 1917 duringWorld War I, he engaged theU-boatU-58, and forced it to surrender.
At the start of World War II Carpender was Commander Destroyers,Atlantic Fleet. In July 1942, he arrived in the Southwest Pacific Area, where he became commander of Task Force 51, the naval forces based inWestern Australia. In September 1942, he was appointed commander of the Southwest Pacific Force, later renamed theSeventh Fleet, and Allied Naval Forces, Southwest Pacific Area, which he led through theBattle of Buna–Gona and theBattle of the Bismarck Sea. The following year he oversaw the fleet's operations duringOperation Cartwheel. He commanded theNinth Naval District from January 1944 until August 1945, retiring in November 1946 with atombstone promotion to the rank of admiral.
Arthur Schuyler Carpender was born inNew Brunswick, New Jersey, the sixth of seven children of John Neilson Carpender and his wife Anna Neilson (née Kemp) on 24 October 1884. His uncle wasWilliam Carpender, president of theSixth Avenue Railroad. He was a direct descendant ofWolphert Gerretse Van Kouwenhoven,[1] one of the early settlers theNew Netherland colony.[2]
He was educated atSt. Paul's School inConcord, New Hampshire, andRutgers Preparatory School in New Brunswick.[1][3] Carpender was appointed to theUnited States Naval Academy bySenatorJohn Kean in 1904. He graduated in 1908.
At the time of his graduation from the Naval Academy, midshipmen had to serve two years service at sea before being commissioned, so he reported for duty with the crew of the newbattleshipUSS Minnesota. This was one of the battleships of theGreat White Fleet sent byPresidentTheodore Roosevelt on an epic voyage around the world in 1907. In 1909, Carpender was transferred to theUSS Marietta. He was commissioned as anensign in theUnited States Navy on 6 June 1910.[3] Amidst the backdrop of theBanana Wars, he commanded a 16-man landing force from theMarietta that was put ashore atPuerto Cortes, Honduras, on 14 January 1911 to help protect American citizens during a period of unrest; after four days ashore Carpender's force returned to the ship.[4]
Leaving theMarietta in March 1911, Carpender was involved with the fitting out of the new battleshipUSS Utah.[3] Like other naval officers of the day, he acquired a nickname, "Chips" (a traditional nickname for a ship's carpenter in the days of wooden ships).[5]
Carpender participated in theUnited States occupation of Veracruz in April 1914 during theMexican Revolution asadjutant of the First Regiment of Bluejackets,[3] which was formed from sailors fromFlorida,Utah andArkansas.[6] Landing mid-morning on 21 April, the sailors remained under fire on the beachhead until early the next morning when they began their advance through Veracruz. After a series of street fights, they captured the town shortly before noon on 22 April.[6] The town was cleared and defense lines established before it was handed over to United States Army troops on 30 April.[6] On returning to the United States, Carpender was assigned to the Office of Naval Militia Affairs in Washington, D.C.[3]
In June 1916, Carpender helped fit out and commission the newdestroyerUSS Davis at theBath Iron Works inBath, Maine. He served as a member of its crew until March 1917, when he assumed command of the destroyerUSS Fanning.[3] During theaction of 17 November 1917, he engaged theU-boatU-58, which was forced to the surface and compelled to surrender.[7] For his part in the engagement, Carpender was awarded theNavy Distinguished Service Medal.[3]
In December 1917, Carpender became an aide to the Commander, Destroyer Flotillas Operating in European Waters. In August 1918 he reported to theNewport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company to help fit out the new destroyerUSS Radford, and assumed command of the ship when it was commissioned on 30 September 1918.[3] The ship sailed for Europe in October 1918, escorting a convoy.[8]
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Carpender returned to the United States in April 1919, and became a Member of the Naval Examining Board, and Judge Advocate General of the General Court Martial at theNaval Training Station Great Lakes. In August 1921 he assumed command of theUSS Maddox. He reported to theNaval Submarine Base New London for training in June 1922, after which he was posted to theUnited States Asiatic Fleet as commander of Submarine Division 14.[9]
In August 1923 Carpender returned to Washington, D.C., where he served ashore for the next two years in theBureau of Navigation, before becoming executive officer of theUSS Pittsburgh in December 1925. He was assigned to the Receiving Ship, New York, from October 1926 until March 1927, when he assumed command of the destroyerUSS Macdonough.[9]
Following the familiar pattern of shore duty alternating with sea duty, Carpender served in the Office of theChief of Naval Operations in Washington, D.C. from 1928 until 1931. This was followed by two years as executive officer of thelight cruiserUSS Omaha. He then attended theNaval War College atNewport, Rhode Island, after which he returned to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. In June 1936, he became Chief of Staff of Destroyers,Scouting Force. He assumed command of the cruiserUSS Northampton in August 1937. In February 1938 he became Professor of Naval Science and Tactics of theNaval Reserve Officers Training Corps atNorthwestern University atEvanston, Illinois.[9]
Carpender returned to sea duty in September 1939, when he helped fit out a new destroyer squadron, Destroyer Squadron 32. He commanded it until September 1940, when he became Director of Officer Personnel at the Bureau of Navigation. In this capacity, he helped foster the careers of many other officers.[9] In December 1941 he was promoted torear admiral, as Commander Destroyers,Atlantic Fleet.[10]
In July 1942, Carpender arrived in theSouthwest Pacific Area, where he reported toVice AdmiralHerbert F. Leary, the commander of the Southwest Pacific Force and Allied Naval Forces, Southwest Pacific Area. Leary assigned Carpender to replace CaptainCharles A. Lockwood in command of the naval forces based inWestern Australia, known as Task Force 51. The main U.S. naval forces based in the west were the submarines, which remained under Lockwood. As a submariner himself, Carpender took a great interest in submarine operations, and did not like what he saw. Carpender and Lockwood did not get along well, and soon came to detest one another. "I've heard about how they run things in the Atlantic Fleet", Lockwood wrote, "so often that I'm ready to shoot any Atlantic Fleet sailor on sight—and they, after all, haven't done so much to write home about."[11]
On 11 September 1942, Carpender succeeded Leary as commander of both the Southwest Pacific Force and the Allied Naval Forces, Southwest Pacific Area.[12][5] In the former role, he reported to the Commander in Chief,United States Fleet,AdmiralErnest J. King; in the latter he was answerable directly to the Commander in Chief, Southwest Pacific Area,GeneralDouglas MacArthur. The new post came with a promotion to the rank of vice admiral, but Carpender was not the most senior naval officer in the theater, as theRoyal Australian Navy′sAdmiral SirGuy Royle and theRoyal Netherlands Navy′s Vice AdmiralConrad Helfrich were both senior to him.[13] The Southwest Pacific Force was small; when Carpender assumed command, it consisted of just five cruisers, eight destroyers and 20 submarines.[5]
Leary's reluctance to risk his ships, and his habit of communicating directly with King without going through MacArthur's General Headquarters (GHQ) inBrisbane, had aroused the ire of MacArthur. Carpender would soon find himself involved in similar conflicts.[14] In October, Carpender rebuffed a request for the Allied Naval Forces to transport troops toCape Nelson. Carpender refused as there was no adequatehydrographic survey of that part of the Papuan coast, making it dangerous to sail at night, and movements in the area by day were subject to attack from Japanese aircraft. A survey was conducted in October andlighters andluggers began making their way up the coast to Cape Nelson, escorted on occasion by Royal Australian Navycorvettes.[5][15]
In November 1942, Carpender turned down a similar request from the Commander of Allied Land Forces,General SirThomas Blamey, for the Allied Naval Forces to escort some small transports toOro Bay, as theImperial Japanese Navy was doing during theBattle of Buna–Gona.[16] However, Carpender subsequently relented somewhat and, starting in December, small ships escorted by corvettes carried outOperation Lilliput to deliver vital supplies to Oro Bay.[17] During thePacific Military Conference in March 1943, MacArthur's chief of staff,Major GeneralRichard K. Sutherland, spoke to Admiral King and expressed his dissatisfaction with Carpender.[18]
On 15 March 1943, the Southwest Pacific Force, known colloquially as "MacArthur’s Navy", became theSeventh Fleet.[19] It remained very small. The Seventh Fleet acquired an amphibious force under the command of Rear AdmiralDaniel E. Barbey. This eventually became theVII Amphibious Force, but for some time most of its strength was only on paper, oren route to Australia from the United States.[20] Observing the capabilities ofPT boats during his evacuation from the Philippines, MacArthur encouraged their use, although initial results were disappointing.[21] Carpender made effective use of them during theBattle of the Bismarck Sea on 25 March 1943.[22]
Carpender oversaw the Seventh Fleet's operations during the early stages ofOperation Cartwheel, MacArthur's advance towards the main Japanese base atRabaul. A crisis arose during theBattle of Finschhafen, when Carpender became reluctant to reinforce the Australian position. As the situation at Finschhafen became increasingly precarious,Lieutenant General SirEdmund Herring grew frustrated with Carpender's attitude, and appealed to Blamey, who in turn took up the matter with MacArthur. On 29 September 1943, Carpender agreed to usehigh-speed transports to send an additional battalion to Finschhafen, and the crisis passed. Carpender told Lieutenant GeneralFrank Berryman that he "resented the implication thatUncle Sam's Navy was letting [the Australians] down at Finschhafen."[23]
Carpender was replaced by AdmiralThomas C. Kinkaid on 26 November 1943. For his services in the Southwest Pacific, he was awarded theArmy Distinguished Service Medal by MacArthur, and theLegion of Merit by the Navy. He was also appointed an honoraryCommander of the Order of the British Empire on the recommendation of the Australian government, and a Grand Officer of theOrder of Orange-Nassau by the Netherlands. He returned to the United States, where he commanded theNinth Naval District from 3 January 1944 until 31 August 1945, for which he was awarded a second Legion of Merit.[24]
Carpender's last naval assignment was as Coordinator of Public Relations in the Office of theSecretary of the Navy from 28 May 1946.[25] He retired from the Navy on 1 November 1946,[24] with atombstone promotion to the rank of admiral.[10] He lived in retirement inWashington, D.C. until his death.[26]
In 1948, he was elected Superintendent of the private,college-prep schoolAdmiral Farragut Academy inPine Beach, New Jersey (today located inSt. Petersburg, Florida), succeeding Brig. Gen. C. S. Bradford.[27]
On 30 April 1912, Carpender married Helena Bleecker Neilson, who was also from New Brunswick. Their marriage produced no children.[1]
Carpender died in Washington on 10 January 1960,[10][24] and was buried inArlington National Cemetery.[28] His papers are held by theNew Jersey Historical Society.[29]
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