Cooke, Charles Maynard Jr “Savvy”.

Cooke, Charles Maynard Jr “Savvy”., born on 19-12-1886 in Fort Smith, Arkansas. In 1906, after receiving a degree from the University of Arkansas, he entered the United States Naval Academy, graduating second in the Class of 1910. Between then and 1913, during which time he was commissioned Ensign, Cooke served in the battleships Connecticut, Maine and Alabama. He then received submarine instruction and, as a Lieutenant, took command of the submarine E-2. In 1916–1918, he was assigned to shipyard inspection duty at Quincy. Served as commanding officer of the Submarine “USS S-5”,  which sank during a training exercise in September 1920. He was responsible for saving lives of 37 fellow crewman trapped in wreck. He was serving as commanding officer of the battleship “USS Pennsylvania” when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour on 07-12-1941. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proclaimed on December 7, 1941, “a date which will live in infamy”. Promoted to Rear Admiral, he was assigned to Staff of Admiral Ernst King

   during World War II. He later served as Chief of Naval Plans, Advocate for Naval Management of War in Pacific, and worked on the transition from a battleship oriented navy to aircraft carrier battle groups. He was present on Omaha Beach during the June 6, 1944 D-Day Invasion. Attained rank of Admiral and commanded the Pacific Fleet after the end of the war. He served as Naval consultant to General Shiang Kai Shek of Nationalist China before he retired.

Admiral Charles M. Cooke, Jr, retired at the beginning of May 1948 and subsequently made his home in Sonoma County, California, where he, at the old age of 84 died, on 24-12-1970. He is buried with his wife Mary Louise, born Cooper, who died age 89, in 1975, on Arlington National Cemetery, in Section 8.