Donald Roderick Osborn, Jr.
Donald Roderick Osborn Jr. was born in Tomah, Wisconsin on the 1st of June 1898. Donald Jr. attended high school at Westport High in Kansas City. Somewhere along the line Donald received the nickname “Os” later to be known as “Oz”.
Early Life
During his adolescent years, stories from veterans of the Spanish American War influenced Donald and later his brother Philip to join the U.S. Navy. Donald entered the U.S. Naval Academy in June of 1916, being appointed by the Honorable William P. Borland of the 5th District, Missouri. His first sea service was as a Midshipman aboard the U.S.S. Huntington (CA-5), an armored cruiser built in 1905. He spent the summer of 1918 aboard the Huntington escorting transport vessels across the Atlantic to England during World War I. Because of the war, an accelerated academic schedule allowed early graduation from the Naval Academy in June of 1919. The class graduated though as part of the Class of 1920.
Early Career
After graduation from the Naval Academy, Ensign Osborn spent another short tour of duty aboard the U.S.S. Huntington in 1919.
In October of 1921, Ensign Osborn reported to the U.S. Submarine School in New London, Connecticut. He attended training there until December of that year.
Lieutenant Osborn’s first assignment aboard a submarine was in 1923 as commander of the U.S.S. R-4 (SS-81). The R-4 was commissioned in 1919 and had recently relocated to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii with the rest of Submarine Division 9.
One of the highlights of his naval career was the rescue of the naval flying boat PN9-1 and crew off the coast of Kauai on September 10th 1925. The PN9-1 was twin wing seaplane built by Boeing and powered by two Packard engines. The plane was built to demonstrate with maximum publicity, the usefulness of naval aviation to the fleet by performing a non-stop flight from San Francisco to Hawaii, a distance of 2,100 nautical miles. From the start, the plane was plagued with problems partly due to the short production schedule and experimental engines used. The Navy had already publicized the event so the date of the flight had to be met regardless of shortcomings of the plane. The plane left San Francisco on August 31, 1925 with a crew of five with Commander John Rogers in charge.
Around the 1,600-mile mark the plane started running out of fuel. Rogers and crew radioed ships waiting to assist but was unable to locate any ships. The plane made a successful ocean landing and the crew was forced to rescue themselves by rigging a sail between the wings from fabric removed from the lower wing. The plane was adrift at sea for nine days with limited food and water. The crew was in bad shape due to dehydration, seasickness and exposure. By celestial navigation the crew made an attempt for Oahu but had to settle for Kauai because of lack of steering ability. The Navy had sent out surface ships and submarines out of Pearl Harbor immediately to search for the PN9-1 upon its disappearance. It wasn’t until the ninth day at sea that the submarine R-4 commanded by Lieutenant Osborn spotted the PN9-1 adrift fifteen miles off Kauai. The plane was towed to shore by the R-4 and the PN9-1 crew looked after. Upon arrival at Pearl Harbor, the PN9-1 crew, and crew of the R-4 were treated to a hero’s welcome.
In February of 1926, Donald met Margaret Eleanor Lurene Grill (Happy) who was vacationing in Honolulu, Hawaii after graduating from Stanford in 1925. The two were married in Los Angeles on the 3rd of July 1926. Shortly after their marriage, Lt. Osborn was reassigned back to the U.S. Naval Academy where he taught Ordinance and Gunnery for the years 1926 and 1927.
By 1928, Lt.Osborn was stationed in San Diego where he commanded the submarine S-28 as part of Sub Division 11. Sub Division 11 actively patrolled the West Coast and Canal Zone during this time frame. On September 13, 1929 their first child, Donald Roderick Osborn III, was born while Donald Jr. was stationed in San Diego. By July of 1932 the family moved to Newport, Rhode Island so that Lt. Osborn could attend the Naval War College there. He graduated as a member of the Junior Class of 1933 in May of that year.
The family moved back to the West Coast late in 1933 to Long Beach, California. It was here that their second child, Margaret Louise (Peggy) was born on January 7, 1934 while the family resided at 269 Mira Mar Avenue in Long Beach. Lt. Osborn was stationed at the Long Beach Naval Station during this time frame. By 1936, the family moved back to Annapolis, Maryland where now Lieutenant-Commander Osborn was given another teaching position at the Naval Academy. He taught at the Post-Graduate school there until sometime in 1937.
Later Career
By early 1939, Lt.-Commander Osborn served as the Navigator aboard the WWI era Battleship U.S.S. Pennsylvania (BB-43). By June of 1939, Lt.-Commander Osborn was given the commission as commanding officer of the U.S.S. Capella (AK-13). The Capella was a WWI naval auxiliary vessel intended for Marine Corps transport and cargo that was in the process of being refitted after being out of commission for many years. In August of 1939, Lt.-Commander Osborn was promoted to the rank of Commander and the Capella was off for the Pribilof Islands in Alaska. The Capella was tasked for Naval transportation service to the Pribilof Islands for the annual Alaska voyage to transport the years catch of seal pelts. In January of 1940, the Capella was transferred to the East Coast to transport Marines from Quantico, Virginia to Puerto Rico for training exercises. By June of 1940 the Capella was getting ready to tow the world’s largest floating dry dock from the Pacific side of the Panama Canal to Pearl Harbor. The dry dock was towed by civilian contractors from New Orleans across the Caribbean then through the Panama Canal to where the Capella and the ocean going tug Navajo met it. On the 10th of July 1940 the Capella and Navajo began towing the dry dock for an almost 5,000 mile ocean voyage to Pearl Harbor that took 44 days.
During his command of the Capella from 1939 to early 1941, the family was residing on Coronado Island in San Diego. In March of 1941 the entire Osborn family moved to 4 Forest Hill Road in Alexandria, Virginia while Commander Osborn reported to service in Washington, D.C. at the Naval Board of Inspections and Survey. They remained there until May or June of 1942. By this time the U.S. had entered the war and Donald was promoted to Captain.
The whole family moved once again to the West Coast. This time, to Bremerton, Washington, while Captain Osborn assisted in the overhaul of the Battleship Tennessee (BB-43). The Tennessee was undergoing modernization and repairs from damage incurred during the Pearl Harbor raid. Captain Osborn left Bremerton for San Francisco around December of 1942 to report for duty at the Navy’s Western Sea Frontier Office Anti-Submarine Warfare Section. At this assignment he was responsible for developing protocol for the submarine warfare against the Japanese in the Pacific. He stayed at this assignment until February of 1943. The family moved back to Coronado, California at 420 9th Street sometime before December of 1942.
In February of 1943 Captain Osborn was given a short assignment as Commander of the ammunition ship U.S.S. Lassen (AE-3). The Lassen was responsible for supplying ammo to ships in the Pacific fleet. By May of 1943 he was reassigned again, this time back to the East Coast. During his command of the Lassen, the family remained at the Coronado residence.
In May of 1943 Captain Osborn reported to the Naval Commander in Chief Headquarters in Washington, D.C. to the U.S. Fleet, Atlantic Section Planning. The family followed, moving to 3427 Porter Street in N.W. Washington, D.C. where they would remain for number of years. Captain Osborn’s assignment from May of 1943 to July of 1944 was to assist in the planning of the Normandy invasion in June of 1944. Although headquartered in Washington, he spent a considerable amount of time in London, England for the planning exercise.
After his Washington assignment, Captain Osborn finally received commission as commander of a new Cruiser the U.S.S. Duluth (CL-87) in September of 1944. The Duluth went through shake down trials from October to December after being launched in Newport News, Virginia. The trials were off the coast of Virginia and the Caribbean. After returning from the Caribbean, the Duluth and crew spent December 1944 to March of 1945 in Newport, Rhode Island undergoing training. While training was going on in Newport, on February 14, 1945 Happy had her third child, James Grill Osborn, while living in Washington.
It wasn’t until April of 1945 that the Duluth was underway from the East Coast through the Canal Zone to participate in combat as part of Fast Carrier Task Force 38 in the Pacific. The Duluth’s was tasked with protecting aircraft carriers from attacks by Japanese planes and submarines during the Okinawa Campaign. On June 5th of 1945, Task Force 38 was caught in a typhoon that caused severe structural damage to the Duluth and ripped the bow off her sister ship the U.S.S Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh was able to close off her watertight doors and continue underway. The Duluth, Pittsburgh and several other ships from the task force made their way to Guam for repairs. The bow of the Pittsburgh stayed afloat and was towed to Guam. By July of 1945 repairs were completed and the Duluth rejoined the task force through the remaining Naval campaigns until the Japanese surrender in August. After the surrender, the fleet along with the Duluth made their way into Tokyo Bay. On September 21, 1945, Captain Osborn turned command over of the Duluth while in Tokyo and made his way back to Washington, D.C.
His next assignment after the war was as Assistant Director of Fleet Operational Readiness at the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington. He remained at this position until June of 1949, coincidently the date which marked his 30 year anniversary with the Navy. Since he was not promoted above Captain he was required to retire.
After retirement, Donald earned a Masters Degree from Catholic University in Geomorphology and taught there briefly. He was called back to the Navy from inactive service in November of 1950 to become Assistant Director for Naval Records and History at the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. He continued there until his final retirement in June of 1952. After his final retirement he worked at the architectural firm of Milis, Petticord and Mills in Washington for a time in the 1950s.
By 1957 with their son Don and daughter Peggy both married and out of the house, the family moved from their Washington house on Porter Street to a house in suburban Bethesda, Maryland. The house was located at 7106 Arrowwood Drive. Throughout the 1960s both Donald and Happy were active in St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church, Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution and other societies and charities.
On the 5th of June 1974, Donald passed away from a heart attack at the Bethesda Naval Hospital. He was buried at the Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, Maryland.