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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Online Library of Selected Images:
-- PEOPLE -- UNITED STATES --
Rear Admiral Claud A. Jones, USN, (1885-1948)
Claud Ashton Jones was born on 7 October 1885 in Fire Creek,
West Virginia. He was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy from
that state in 1903 and graduated with the Class of 1906. He served
in the battleships Indiana
and New Jersey
during the next three years and received his commission as an
Ensign in 1908. Between 1909 and 1915, Jones was assigned to the
training ship Severn and the armored cruiser North Carolina,
received post-graduate engineering education at the Naval Academy
and Harvard University, and served in the battleships Ohio,
New York and
North Dakota.
He was promoted to Lieutenant (Junior Grade) in 1911 and Lieutenant
in 1914.
Late in 1915 Lieutenant Jones reported for duty as Engineer
Officer of the armored cruiser Tennessee
(renamed Memphis in May 1916). He was severely injured
when she was wrecked
by a tsunami on 29 August 1916. Many years later, in recognition
of his heroic conduct in rescuing crewmen from the dying ship's
steam-filled engineering spaces, then-Commander Jones was awarded the
Medal of Honor. After
recovering from his ordeal, he served ashore in industrial positions
until after the end of World War I.
Lieutenant Commander Jones was designated as a specialist engineering
duty officer in 1918 and in 1920-1921, in the rank of Commander,
was Engineer Officer of the new battleship Tennessee.
During the 1920s and into the early 1930s he had two Navy Department
tours with the Bureau of Engineering, served in Europe as an Assistant
Naval Attache and was senior engineering officer with the Battle
Fleet. He was promoted to Captain in 1933, while again on duty
with the Bureau of Engineering, and was Assistant Chief of that
Bureau in 1935-1936. Captain Jones had machinery and materiel
inspection assignments for the rest of the decade, then returned
to Washington, D.C., to serve as Head of the Shipbuilding Division
of the Bureau of Ships.
As a Rear Admiral, he was the Bureau's Assistant Chief and,
for much of World War II, Assistant Chief of Procurement and Material.
He became Director of the Naval Experiment Station at Annapolis,
Maryland, from September 1944 until nearly the end of 1945. Retired
in June 1946, Rear Admiral Claud A. Jones died at Charleston,
West Virginia, on 8 August 1948.
The escort ship Claud Jones (DE-1033), of 1959-1974,
was named in honor of Rear Admiral Jones.
This page features all the views we have concerning Rear
Admiral Claud A. Jones, USN, (1885-1948).
Click on the small photograph to prompt
a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 48727
Captain Claud A. Jones, USN
Portrait photograph, taken during the middle or later 1930s.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 58KB; 580 x 765 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 48726
Commander Claud A. Jones, USN
Receiving the Medal of Honor in ceremonies at the White House,
1 August 1932. President Herbert Hoover is standing beside Cdr.
Jones, and his wife and son are behind him.
Captain Walter N. Vernou, Presidential Naval Aide, is at right,
reading the award citation.
Others present, are (from left to left center): Rear Admiral
Samuel M. Robinson, Chief of the Bureau of Engineering; Captain
Harold G. Bowen, Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Engineering;
Secretary of the Navy Charles Francis Adams, with Captain Harold
Stark, Aide to the Secretary, partially visible behind him; and
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Ernest Lee Jahncke.
Commander Jones received the Medal for heroism on board USS Memphis
(Armored Cruiser # 10) when she was wrecked on 29 August 1916.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 110KB; 740 x 590 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 48728
Commander Claud A. Jones, USN
Receives the Medal of Honor from President Herbert Hoover, in
ceremonies at the White House, 1 August 1932.
Cdr. Jones' wife and son are partially visible behind him and
the President.
Captain Walter N. Vernou, Presidential Naval Aide, is at right.
In the left center is Secretary of the Navy Charles Francis Adams.
At the extreme left are Rear Admiral Samuel M. Robinson, Chief
of the Bureau of Engineering; Captain Harold G. Bowen, Assistant
Chief of the Bureau of Engineering (partially visible); and Captain
Harold Stark, Aide to the Secretary of the Navy (partially visible).
Commander Jones received the Medal for heroism on board USS Memphis
(Armored Cruiser # 10) when she was wrecked on 29 August 1916.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 101KB; 740 x 620 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 48725
Commander Claud A. Jones, USN
Talking with President Herbert Hoover, after being presented
with the Medal of Honor in ceremonies at the White House, 1 August
1932.
Commander Jones' wife and son are standing in the center background.
Captain Walter N. Vernou, Presidential Naval Aide, is at right,
holding the award citation. Secretary of the Navy Charles Francis
Adams is in the left center, with Assistant Secretary of the
Navy Ernest Lee Jahncke partially visible behind him. Captain
Harold Stark, Aide to the Secretary, is further to the left.
At the extreme left are Rear Admiral Samuel M. Robinson, Chief
of the Bureau of Engineering, and (partially visible) Captain
Harold G. Bowen, Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Engineering.
Commander Jones received the Medal for heroism on board USS Memphis
(Armored Cruiser # 10) when she was wrecked on 29 August 1916.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 88KB; 740 x 595 pixels |
 |
Medal of Honor citation of Commander Claud A. Jones (as
printed in the official publication "Medal of Honor, 1861-1949,
The Navy", pages 106 & 107):
"For extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession
as a senior engineer officer on board the U.S.S. Memphis,
at a time when the vessel was suffering total destruction from
a hurricane {sic} while anchored off Santo Domingo City,
29 August 1916. Lieutenant Jones did everything possible to get
the engines and boilers ready, and if the elements that burst
upon the vessel had delayed for a few minutes, the engines would
have saved the vessel. With boilers and steam pipes bursting
about him in clouds of scalding steam, with thousands of tons
of water coming down upon him and in almost total darkness, Lieutenant
Jones nobly remained at his post as long as the engines would
turn over, exhibiting the most supreme unselfish heroism which
inspired the officers and men who were with him. When the boilers
exploded, Lieutenant Jones, accompanied by two of his shipmates,
rushed into the firerooms and drove the men there out, dragging
some, carrying others to the engineroom, where there was air
to be breathed instead of steam. Lieutenant Jones' action on
this occasion was above and beyond the call of duty." |
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Page made 28 February 2005