Salem (CA 139) - Naval Cruise Book

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CAPTAIN A. L. REED United States Navy Chief of Sta-0' Commander Cruiser Division Four Y r ' frr A .A 1 A A i ' A s A A -A - A A rrrr A , A A A W Commander Cruiser Division Four and Staff wp'- v ff

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- s 1.1 ty g l l rl 1 1 .l an eg .urn 1 1 u m 41 Eff fi? I EAR :XDNIIRAL Tuoxnxs MURRAY STOKES, USN, Commander Cruiser Division Four, was born 2 February 1899 in Fulton, Alabama. , At a very early age his family moved to Meridian, Mississippi where he attended the Meridian public school. He enlisted in the Navy in 1917, in YVorld YVar I, and went through training at Yerba Buena Island, San Francisco. In 1918 he received a Special Order discharge from enlisted service to enter the Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland. After graduation from the Naval Academy in june 1922, he reported to duty aboard the U.S.S. CONNECTICUT, and thereafter, until early 1941, followed the usual rotation of duty assignments in various types of ships and at shore establishments, which is normal practice in the Navy for training young officers. In February 1941 he commissioned and took com- mand of one of our, then new, destroyers, the U.S.S. GRAYSON QDD-4355, named for Rear Admiral Grayson, Medical Corps, USN. The GRAYSON was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet during the period of tension preceding lVorld lVar II, and was in Iceland on December 7, 1941. In early 1942 the GRAYSON was transferred to the Pacific and was REAR ADMIRAL T. M. STOKES United States Navy Commander Cruiser Division Four a part of the Task Force which took General Doo- little and his fliers close to the shores of Japan and launched them on the Tokyo Raid in April 1942. After this operation he was transferred from the GRAYSON to the U.S.S. CUSHING QDD-3765 as Commander of Destroyer Division TEN. The CUSHING was lost in combat, sunk by gunfire in the Battle of Guadalcanal, November 13, 1942. On 27 November 1942 Commander Stokes was assigned Executive Oflicer of the U.S.S. HELENA operat- as ing in the South Pacific, thence to the U.S.S. MAS- . A d SACHUSETTS as Chief of Staff to Comman er Battleship Division EIGHT, and in February 1944 as assi ned duty to commission and command an w g attack transport, the U.S.S. BARNSTABLE QAPA- 931. In August 1944 Captain Stokes was assigned duty Head of the Department of Marine Engineering, as U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland. Fol- . . . d h lowing this shore assignment, he commande t e U.S.S. IOW'A QBB-61j and has recently completed t lr of dut in the Office of the Chief of Naval a ot y Operations prior to duty with Cruiser Division FOUR. He was promoted to Rear Admiral in August 1948 while on duty in the Navy Department, Vlfashington, D. C.

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Q5 .-xl 1'A1N Tavrok was born in Chicago, lllinois, on April -l, 1904. He was appointed to the United States Naval Academy from Ohio's 4th Congres- sional District, and graduated lrom the Academy in the class ol 1925. Captain Taylor excelled in athletics while a mid- shipman at the Naval Academy. ln 1924 he was captain ol' the Naval Academy football team, in 1924 and 1925 was selected on the All-American Lacrosse team, and also in 1925, he was awarded the athletic sword lor personal excellence and lead- ership in athletics. He was president of the Naval Academy Christian Association in 1925. Following graduation from the Naval Academy, Captain Taylor had the lollowing duty assignments: U.S.S. New York, 1925-19263 U.S.S. Texas, 1926- l927g U.S.S. lV3'f1llIIiI'1g, 1927-1928, Engineering Offi- cer aboard the U.S.S. Halfeld, 1929-1931, same assignment aboard the U.S.S. Leary, 1931-19323 duty at the U. S. Naval Academy, 1932-1935. On com- pletion ol his tour of duty at the Academy, Captain Taylor was ordered as Executive Ofhcer of the U.S.S. Philip. He served in that billet until 1937 when he became Executive Officer on the U.S.S. Perry. From 1937 to 1939 he was Aide and Flag Lieutenant to the Commander Destroyer Battle- CAPTAIN ' EDMUND B. TAYLOR United States Navy Commanding Officer U .S.S. Salem lorce, following which he served until January 1942 in the Bureau of Personnel, Navy Department, 1Vashington, D. C. During 1942 and 1943 he was Commanding Officer of the Destroyers U.S.S. Dznzearz and U.S.S. Bennett respectively. In 1943 Captain Taylor commanded Destroyer Division 90, and in 1944 he was Commander Destroyer Squad- ron 45. During 1945 and 1946 he served as Aide to the Secretary of the Navy, the Honorable James Forrestal, following which he became Director of Athletics and Head of Department of Physical Training at the Naval Academy. He served as Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations on the Staff ol the Commander-in-Chief, U. S. Pacific Fleet, lrom 1948 to January 1950. On February 2, Captain Taylor took over his present duty as Commanding Officer of the heavy cruiser U.S.S. Salem. Captain Taylor has been awarded the Navy Cross, Purple Heart, Silver Star Medal, Bronze Star Medal, Legion ol' Merit, Letter of Commendation, and the Pacific Area and European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medals. Captain Taylor's wife is the former Elizabeth Fay Valiant of Annapolis, Maryland. They have two children, Elizabeth Fay, 22, and Edmund B. 18. The family home is at 1141 Rice Avenue, Lima, Ohio.