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John W. Danenhower | |
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| Birth name | John Wilson Danenhower |
| Born | (1849-09-30)September 30, 1849 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | April 20, 1887(1887-04-20) (aged 37) Annapolis, Maryland, U.S. |
| Branch | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1870–1887 |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Expeditions | Jeannette expedition |
| Awards | Gold Jeannette Medal (1890) |
| Relations | Sloan Wilson (grandson) |
John Wilson Danenhower (September 30, 1849 – April 20, 1887) was aUnited States Navy officer best known for his participation in theJeannette expedition.
Born inChicago, Danenhower attended local public schools, then accepted appointment to theUnited States Naval Academy in 1866. After his 1870 graduation, he served in theEuropean Squadron aboard both theUSS Plymouth and theUSS Juniata.
Following this, he was assigned to the Portsmouth surveying party in the North Pacific. In 1875, he was assigned to theU.S. Naval Observatory where he attained the rank of master and thenlieutenant in 1879. A year prior to this, he was committed to apsychiatric hospital for two months for signs of an unbalanced mind, but sufficiently recovered to return to active duty aboard theUSS Vandalia in theMediterranean Sea, attached to GeneralUlysses S. Grant's cruise.
FromSmyrna, his petitioned services in the ArcticJeannette expedition—officially called the United States Arctic Expedition—were accepted and he soon joined CaptainGeorge W. De Long atLe Havre, prior to sailing on to theMare Island Navy Yard, nearSan Francisco. Here, theUSS Jeannette was prepared and provisioned for the Arctic by Danenhower and LieutenantCharles W. Chipp. The ship set sail for theBering Strait on July 8, 1879. En route, Captain De Long, in a letter to his wife, Emma, praised Danenhower's work ethic.
Danenhower began a school of navigation for the crew while theJeannette was wedged in an ice pack. Unfortunately, he was ineffective to the expedition and rendered unfit for duty on December 22, 1879, due to a months-long and ever increasingly treatment-resistant eye inflammation caused bysyphilis.
Then on June 12, 1881, the ship was crushed by ice. The team was forced to drag their boats and provisions over the ice towards theSiberian coastline. Danenhower, with one eye bandaged and one covered by a dark goggle, complained often about not being allowed to take command of a group of men or lead a task, seemingly oblivious to his incapacitation. De Long was ultimately forced to order him to ride in a sledge due to his failing eyesight and frequent stumbles into crevasses.
They finally found open water and set a course for the SiberianLena River delta in three separate boats which became separated by gale winds on September 12, 1881. Danenhower's boat, under command of Chief EngineerGeorge W. Melville, reached the eastern Lena River Delta five days later. The crew was rescued by friendly natives. Danenhower set sail for the United States and arrived on May 28, 1882. His published book,Lieutenant Danenhower's Narrative of the Jeannette, graphically describes his experiences.
For a few years, in ill health, he served as the assistant commander formidshipman training atAnnapolis. His health problems centered around his failing eyesight. He assumed command of theUSS Constellation on April 11, 1887, atNorfolk, but upon the ship's grounding while leavingHampton Roads harbor, he returned to the academy, disturbed. There, on April 20, 1887, brooding over this incident, he committed suicide.
He was survived by his wife, Helen Sloan Danenhower and two children, Lieutenant Commander Sloan Danenhower, commander of the Arctic exploration submarineNautilus, and Ruth Danenhower Wilson, an author. Danenhower's grandson was writerSloan Wilson, who wroteThe Man in the Gray Flannel Suit and was captain of aU.S. Coast Guard ship inWorld War II. John Wilson Danenhower was buried atRiverside Cemetery inOswego County, New York.
