The Reminiscences of Adm. Stuart S. Murray, USN (Ret.) (1898-1980)

An early submariner, Murray was involved in the construction of the submarine base at Pearl Harbor in the early 1920s. He commanded the submarines USS R-17 (SS-94), L-8 (SS-48), R-13 (SS-90), and S-9 (SS-114). In the 1920s he served in the battleships USS Arkansas (BB-33) and New York (BB-34) and was an instructor at the Naval Academy. In the 1930s he commanded the submarine USS S-44 (SS-155), served at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, commanded the submarine USS Porpoise (SS-172), was damage control officer in the heavy cruiser USS Portland (CA-33), and was a submarine detailer in the Bureau of Navigation. When the Japanese attacked in 1941, Murray was commander of Submarine Division 15 at Manila, participating in the defense of the Philippines and Netherlands East Indies. His next assignment was chief of staff and aide to Commander Submarine Force, Southwest Pacific. In 1943 he became chief of staff to Charles Lockwood, Commander Submarine Force Pacific Fleet. In 1944-45 Murray was Commandant of Midshipmen at the Naval Academy. In the spring of 1945 he took command of the battleship USS Missouri (BB-63), flagship of Admiral William F. "Bull" Halsey Jr., Commander Third Fleet. In Murray's oral history, after relating the ship's wartime activities, including bombardments against Honshu, Hokkaido, and Okinawa, he then provides a marvelously detailed description of the events leading up to and during the Japanese surrender ceremony on board the Missouri on 2 September 1945. In November 1945, as a newly selected rear admiral, he was ordered to Commander Seventh Fleet for duty with the survey for forming the U.S. Advisory Group to China. Subsequent flag billets included the following: 1948-49, Pearl Harbor Naval Base; in 1949-50, Commander Amphibious Training Command Atlantic Fleet; 1950-52, Commander Submarine Force Atlantic Fleet; 1952-54, Commandant of the 14th Naval District in Hawaii; and 1954-56 as Naval Inspector General. He retired from active duty in 1956 and later worked as a consultant for the Rand Corporation.