Rear Admiral Charles Lorain Carpenter (July 31, 1902 – February 21, 1992) was a Naval officer and a holder of the Navy Cross and a Purple Heart. His career encompassed combat action in Nicaragua. He was involved in all three Theaters of Operations in World War II and naval combat in the Pacific. He commanded attack transports during the war and an animal research vessel in the post-World War II-era Operation Crossroads series of atomic bomb tests. He earned nine Service Bars, the U.S. Navy Combat Command Insignia, and foreign decorations from the governments of Nicaragua, Peru, and Spain.Richard V. Sabatini, The Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer: "Charles L. Carpenter, 89, A Retired Rear Admiral", Philly.com, , 24 Feb 1992.Military Times: Charles Lorain Carpenter, Military Times Hall of Valor, http://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient.php?recipientid=19518, accessed 15 May 2014.The Boston Globe: "Charles Carpenter, Pacific theater commander; at 89", issue of February 25, 1992, , accessed 15 May 2014. Of his 30 years of active military service, 22 years were spent at sea or on foreign shores.
Early life
Charles, also known as "Chuck" when younger and "Charlie" when older, was born July 31, 1902, in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. He was the first son of Charles C. "Timothy" and Jennie Addell (Wilson) Carpenter. He was a direct descendant of William Carpenter, who emigrated from England to Providence, Rhode Island, in 1635. Carpenter received his early education in the public schools of Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He enjoyed running and track, which he continued through his upper education. He was also a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity. See also: Midshipman Charles L. Carpenter biography entry in Commons.
After graduating from high school, Carpenter attended the University of Pittsburgh, where he studied mechanical engineering and participated in the US Army ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps) program. In spring 1922, Carpenter received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy from M. Clyde Kelly, Congressional Representative of Pennsylvania's 30th congressional district. He was sworn in on June 16, 1922, and became a plebe, or freshman, at the academy.
Carpenter graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, on June 26, 1926, and was commissioned an ensign in the US Navy.Lucky Bag, Yearbook of the Class of 1926, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, 1926, p. 359, https://www.e-yearbook.com/yearbooks/United_States_Naval_Academy_Lucky_Bag_Yearbook/1926/Page_359.html, accessed 15 May 2014.
US Navy career Following his commissioning, Carpenter was deployed to naval service in what was later called the Second Nicaraguan Campaign.
USS Galveston – 1926
Carpenter's first assignment after graduation was to the gunnery department of the , a protected cruiser. From Fold3DANFS USS Galveston Galveston was with the Special Service Squadron and conducted gunboat diplomacy out of Christobal and Balboa, Panama.
Carpenter participated in several landing force details, including one at León, Nicaragua. It was at this time that he was recognized and awarded the Navy Cross for his valor. His "extraordinary heroism, coolness and excellent judgment in the performance of duty" in the Leon detachment of the landing force on May 17, 1927, earned him the Navy Cross awarded by the President of the United States.
The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Ensign Charles Lorain Carpenter (NSN: 0-60331), United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism, coolness and excellent judgment in the performance of duty during an insurrection in Nicaragua. Ensign Carpenter was a member of the Leon detachment of the landing force and on 17 May 1927, while attempting to arrest and disarm an ex-rebel soldier after having been twice fired on, and at the time being surrounded by a crowd who egged on his aggressor, he in self defense shot and killed the soldier in question, thereby producing a most salutary effect on the population. His actions at all times were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. Action Date: 17-May-27 Service: Navy Rank: Ensign Division: Leon Detachment
After returning to the US, Carpenter was stationed at the Boston Navy Yard and then assigned to duty in the United States Pacific Fleet.
USS Wyoming – 1928 In 1928, Carpenter (Service Number 60331) served as the Assistant Navigator on the . She was the lead ship of her class of dreadnought battleships.
In late August 1928, Wyoming went to Philadelphia for an extensive modernization. Her old coal-fired boilers were replaced with new oil-fired models, and anti-torpedo bulges were added to improve her resistance to underwater damage. The work was completed by November 2, after which Wyoming conducted a shakedown cruise to Cuba and the Virgin Islands. She was back in Philadelphia on December 7, and two days later, she returned to her post as the flagship of the Scouting Fleet, flying the flag of Vice Admiral Ashley Robertson.DANFS USS Wyoming
USS Trenton – 1929
From 1929 to 1933, he was on the . His last job on Trenton was as the 3-inch A.A. (anti-aircraft) officer. While aboard Trenton in May 1929, the ship's division was detached from the Asiatic Fleet, and she steamed back to the United States along with and . The light cruiser was overhauled at Philadelphia in the latter part of 1929 and then rejoined the Scouting Fleet. For the next four years, Trenton resumed the Scouting Fleet's schedule of winter maneuvers in the Caribbean, followed by summer exercises off the New England coast. Periodically, however, she was ordered to the Isthmian coast to bolster the Special Service Squadron during periods of extreme political unrest in one or more of the republics of Central America. Carpenter left Trenton in the spring of 1933 before she moved to the Pacific and became the flagship of the Battle Force cruisers.DANFS USS Trenton
Shore duty & USS Du Pont – 1933 In 1933, Carpenter was rotated from seven years of sea duty to shore duty as Assistant District Communications Officer and District Issuing Officer for the First Naval District, then at Portsmouth Naval Yard.
However, Sergeant Fulgencio Batista and the 1933 Cuban "Revolt of the Sergeants" caused a sudden need for Landing Force officers. Carpenter volunteered and went to sea on temporary duty on the , a . Du Pont was then in Rotating Reserve Squadron 19. She operated from Boston, training Naval Reservists, until assigned temporary duty on patrol off Cuba from September 1933 until February 1934, during which time Carpenter was aboard.DANFS USS Du Pont
USS Gold Star – 1934
Going back to sea duty, he served on the , a civilian cargo ship purchased in 1922. During the 1920s and 1930s, the Gold Star became a familiar sight in the ports of Asia. Though assigned as the flagship at Guam, she made frequent voyages to Japan, China, and the Philippines with cargo and passengers. Prior to World War II, much of her crew was made up of Chamorro sailors, natives of Guam, with American non-commissioned officers and commissioned officers like Carpenter. Page 68-69. Strangely, Carpenter's records of what he did on the "Gold Star" are absent from the spring of 1934 into early 1936.DANFS USS Gold Star
In 1934, Gold Star was a veteran Q-Ship dealing with communications intelligence. As a station ship, she was assigned to monitor internal Japanese Fleet frequencies and make frequency measurements and direction finder azimuths. She had three intercept operators and one chief radioman supervised by an officer. This all started in 1933, during the reconstruction of the Japanese fleet by Tokyo. Gold Star—along with ground stations at Guam, Olongapo, and Beijing—provided significant intelligence before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. DOCID: 3362395 – Approved for Release by NSA. on 06-16-2008, FOIA Case #51505 – UNCLASSIFIED See pages 31 & 32.
Carpenter had married Dorothy Gertrude Hanna on August 8, 1931, and had a child, Charles Lorain Carpenter Jr., on August 31, 1934. His wife, "Dottie", had the unique experience of sailing on the Gold Star with her husband and their infant son, who was named "Skipper" while on board the ship. The ship, with Carpenter's new family, conducted seven loops of about seven weeks each around the Orient. Some of the other officers and senior petty officers were permitted to have their families with them for much shorter periods when the ship sailed from Guam. It appears that the Carpenter family received the most benefit from this unique window-dressing distraction. It is unknown if Carpenter's wife was ever aware that while the ship visited various ports in Japan like Miki-Ko, Nagasaki, Kobe, Nagoya, and Yokohama, part of the ship was spying on the Japanese.
USS Tennessee – 1936 Carpenter was then assigned to the in 1936 during Panama Fleet maneuvers. Next, he was assigned to shore duty with the Fourth Naval District, headquartered at League Island Navy Yard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Again, his duties are not given.DANFS USS Tennessee
USS Doran – 1940
Carpenter was assigned to the newly renamed USS Doran as its commanding officer in early 1940.DANFS USS Doran She had been named Bagley but was decommissioned on July 12, 1922. She served on loan from 1932 to 1934 with the United States Coast Guard. Her name was dropped on May 31, 1935, allowing the US Navy to reuse the name for a new ship by the same name, , a commissioned in 1936. From 1935 to late 1939, the ex-Bagley was referred to as DD-185 (ex-Bagley). The start of World War II and the Royal Navy's dire need for destroyers saved her from the shipbreakers. She was refurbished in Philadelphia. DD-185 was renamed Doran on December 22, 1939.DANFS USS Bagley
Carpenter worked on readying Doran for sea duty, and the ship was recommissioned on June 17, 1940. Doran reported to the Atlantic Squadron. They served with the Squadron until September 22, 1940, when she was decommissioned from the US Navy at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and transferred in the destroyer-land bases exchange to Great Britain to serve in the Royal Navy as HMS St. Mary's, a .
USS Washington – 1941
In 1941, he was on the , a , as its Damage Control Officer. Washington was commissioned on May 15, 1941, and assigned to the Atlantic Fleet. Because of major problems with acute longitudinal vibrations from her propeller shafts, full power tests were delayed until August 3, 1941. Repairs greatly reduced the vibrations by adding new propeller combinations. This greatly reduced tank, pipe, and other equipment breakages that kept Carpenter and other damage control personnel busy. Page 274-275.DANFS USS Washington
On December 7, 1941, Carpenter was on the Washington. In early 1942, US Navy reassignments were made. Carpenter went from the Atlantic to the United States Pacific Fleet for war duty.
World War II
USS Helena Carpenter was the navigator on the , a light cruiser, when she sailed to enter action during the Guadalcanal Campaign in 1942.DANFS USS Helena He was third in command of the ship. They escorted a detachment of Seabees and an aircraft carrier, rushing planes to the South Pacific. She made two quick dashes from Espiritu Santo to Guadalcanal, where the long and bloody battle for the island was then beginning, and having completed these missions, she joined the task force formed around the aircraft carrier . This task force steamed in distant support of six transports carrying Marine reinforcements to Guadalcanal. Mid-afternoon on September 15, 1942, Wasp was suddenly hit by three Japanese torpedoes. Almost at once, she became an inferno. Helena stood by to rescue nearly 400 of Wasps crew, whom she took to Espiritu Santo.