Herbert Emery Schonland (September 7, 1900 – November 13, 1984) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Rear Admiral and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

—for his actions in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Biography

Schonland was born in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...

September 7, 1900 and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland in 1925. joined the Navy from his birth state of

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

. By November 12, 1942 he was serving as a

lieutenant commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

on the . On that day, the ''San Francisco'' was heavily damaged during the

Naval Battle of Guadalcanal The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, sometimes referred to as the Third and Fourth Battles of Savo Island, the Battle of the Solomons, the Battle of Friday the 13th, or, in Japanese sources, the , took place from 12 to 15 November 1942, and was t ...

and began taking on water. Schonland, as the

damage control In navies and the maritime industry, damage control is the emergency control of situations that may cause the sinking of a watercraft. Examples are: * rupture of a pipe or hull especially below the waterline and * damage from grounding (ru ...

officer, worked through the night to stop the flooding and save the ship. His actions during this encounter demonstrated his acumen. The ship had taken 85 hits in excess of five inches just above the water line and was leaking badly. At a key point during the effort to keep it from sinking, Schonland realized that the pumps for the second deck were inadequate to remove the water, but that the vessel had much higher capacity bilge pumps. So he called down to the engine room to arrange for all the bilge pumps to be pumping at full capacity, and the crew there ready for an immense amount of water. He then opened the hatches to the lower decks. This served the additional purpose of lowering the center of gravity of the ship, thus increasing its stability during the effort to save it. (John Carlton-Foss reporting a personal communication with Andrew Sims, Schonland's son in law) He reached the rank of rear admiral before leaving the Navy. Schonland died November 13, 1984 at age 84. He and his wife Claire Mills (1908–1997) are buried in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

Arlington County, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

.Burial Detail: Schonland, Herbert E (Section 7A, Grave 168)
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Honor and awards

Medal of Honor citation

Schonland's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

For extreme heroism and courage above and beyond the call of duty as damage control officer of the U.S.S. ''San Francisco'' in action against greatly superior enemy forces in the battle off Savo Island, 12–13 November 1942. In the same violent night engagement in which all of his superior officers were killed or wounded, Lt. Comdr. Schonland was fighting valiantly to free the San Francisco of large quantities of water flooding the second deck compartments through numerous shell holes caused by enemy fire. Upon being informed that he was commanding officer, he ascertained that the conning of the ship was being efficiently handled, then directed the officer who had taken over that task to continue while he himself resumed the vitally important work of maintaining the stability of the ship. In water waist deep, he carried on his efforts in darkness illuminated only by hand lanterns until water in flooded compartments had been drained or pumped off and watertight integrity had again been restored to the ''San Francisco''. His great personal valor and gallant devotion to duty at great peril to his own life were instrumental in bringing his ship back to port under her own power, saved to fight again in the service of her country.

Other honors

The U.S. Navy Surface Warfare Officer School's Damage Control School in Newport, Rhode Island was named Schonland Hall in his honor. It is unusual for buildings to be named for someone who is still alive and in this case the event occurred near the end of his lifetime, yet he was alert enough to understand and participate in the process. There was no previous person who had ever been awarded the Medal of Honor for damage control. (John Carlton-Foss reporting a personal communication with Andrew Sims, Schonland's son in law)

References

External links