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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 -- Picture Data

Photo #: NH 89471

John Henry ("Dick") Turpin,
Chief Gunner's Mate, USN (retired)
(1876-1962)

One of the first African-American Chief Petty Officers in the U.S. Navy.
This photograph appears to have been taken during or after World War II.
Turpin enlisted in the Navy in 1896. A survivor of the explosions on USS Maine (1898) and USS Bennington (1905), he became a Chief Gunner's Mate in 1917. Transferred to the Fleet Reserve in 1919, CGM Turpin retired in 1925.
Qualified as a Master Diver, he was also employed as a Master Rigger at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, and, during the World War II era, made inspirational visits to Navy Training Centers and defense plants.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 47KB; 590 x 765 pixels

 

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Originally posted 30 November 1998
Rescanned and reposted 9 February 2005