Oliver F. Naquin
| Oliver Francis Naquin | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Nake |
| Born |
March 24, 1904 New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Died | November 13, 1989 (aged 85) Malcolm Grow Medical Center, Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. |
| Buried at | Arlington National Cemetery |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service/branch | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1925–1955 |
| Rank | Rear Admiral |
| Commands held | USS Squalus |
| Battles/wars | Battle of Coral Sea, Battle of Midway, Battle of Tassafaronga |
| Awards | Bronze Star |
| Other work | Military Assistance Advisory Group |
Rear Admiral Oliver Francis Naquin, United States Navy (March 24, 1904 – November 13, 1989) was born in New Orleans, and was a 1925 graduate of the United States Naval Academy. He was one of 33 men rescued by the McCann Rescue Chamber when the submarine USS Squalus sank in 240 feet of water during routine sea trials in the Atlantic Ocean off Portsmouth, New Hampshire on May 23, 1939, and was rescued in a two-day rescue operation.
Twenty-six men (one officer, Ensign Joseph H. Patterson; 23 enlisted men; and two civilian technicians, Donald M. Smith and Charles M. Wood) were trapped in a flooded aft compartment and died. The remaining 32 naval personnel and a third civilian, naval architect Harold C. Preble, spent up to 39 hours in the sunken vessel before they were brought to the surface by the McCann Rescue Chamber which was used for the first time. Survivors of the USS Squalus were brought up in four trips as the diving bell rode a cable attached to the forward escape hatch of the submarine. A naval board of inquiry concluded that “a mechanical failure in the operating gear of the engine induction valve,” had caused flooding of the aft compartment. The USS Squalus was later salvaged, repaired and returned to sea as the renamed USS Sailfish, receiving credit for sinking seven enemy vessels in World War II.
Naquin also was a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor while aboard the battleship USS California, which sank in shallow water after being struck a bomb and two torpedoes in the Japanese attack on December 7, 1941. During World War II, he served as navigator of the heavy cruiser USS New Orleans in the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway. At the Battle of Tassafaronga on November 30, 1942 the cruiser was struck by a Japanese torpedo, which detonated the ship's forward magazines and gasoline tanks and the ensuing explosion severed 150 ft of her bow forward of turret #2. The severed bow, including turret #1, swung around the port side and crushed several holes in the New Orleans' hull before it sank at the stern and damaged the port inboard propeller. Naquin guided the ship to Tulagi Harbor, which was reached near daybreak on December 1, 1942 for repairs and was awarded a Bronze Star for his role in saving the vessel.
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