Charles Emery Rosendahl was born in Chicago, Illinois, on 15 May 1892. His family subsequently relocated to Kansas and Texas and, in 1910, he was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy from the latter state. Commissioned in the rank of Ensign in June 1914, upon graduation from the Academy, he served in three cruisers and the old battleship Oregon during the next few years and spent the first part of World War I as an officer of the armored cruiser Huntington. In 1918 he helped put the new destroyer McKean into commission as her Engineering Officer. Service in several other destroyers followed during the next three years. Lieutenant Rosendahl was an engineering instructor at the Naval Academy during 1921-1923, then went to the Naval Air Station at Lakehurst, New Jersey, to be trained in airship operation.
Designated a Naval Aviator in November 1924, Lieutenant Commander Rosendahl served in the dirigible Shenandoah, and distinguished himself by successfully bringing part of the shattered airship safely to earth after she broke up in the air on 3 September 1925. He next was Executive Officer, and later Commanding Officer, of the dirigible Los Angeles and took part in long-range flights on board the German commercial airship Graf Zeppelin. In 1930 Rosendahl was assigned to the Bureau of Aeronautics, in Washington, D.C., and in 1931-1932 commanded the new dirigible Akron.
Between mid-1932 and mid-1934 Rosendahl had sea duty on board the battleship West Virginia and heavy cruiser Portland. He was Commanding Officer of NAS Lakehurst from then until 1938, and also served as an official observer on the big German airship Hindenburg. Commander Rosendahl was Executive Officer of the light cruiser Milwaukee in 1938-1940. Two years of Navy Department duty followed, most of it involving the Navy's growing lighter-than-air effort.
Captain Rosendahl commanded the heavy cruiser Minneapolis during the last months 1942 and the first part of 1943, receiving the Navy Cross for his heroism and leadership in saving that ship after she was torpedoed during the Battle of Tassafaronga, off Guadalcanal, at the end of November 1942. In May 1943, after promotion to the rank of Rear Admiral, he became Chief of Naval Airship Training. This service lasted through the end of World War II and into the post-war era. Retired as a Vice Admiral in November 1946, he devoted much of the rest of his life to the advocacy of lighter-than-air flight. Vice Admiral Charles E. Rosendahl died on 17 May 1977.
This page features all the views we have concerning Vice Admiral Charles E. Rosendahl, USN.
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the "Online Library's" digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
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Photo #: NH 46108 Lieutenant Commander Charles E. Rosendahl, USN Photographed circa 1930. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 57KB; 550 x 765 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 46109 Lieutenant Commander Charles E. Rosendahl, USN Photographed circa 1925. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 62KB; 570 x 765 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 789 USS Shenandoah (ZR-1) Officers assigned to the airship, photographed at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey, in 1923. Those present are identified in Photo # NH 789 (complete caption). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 115KB; 740 x 610 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 52831 Lieutenant Commander Charles E. Rosendahl, USN (left) and Lieutenant Joseph B. Anderson, USN Checking weather data in the Aerological Laboratory at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey, circa 1925-1926. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 91KB; 740 x 620 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 46110 Christening of USS Akron (ZRS-4), 8 August 1931 Lieutenant Commander Charles E. Rosendahl, Akron's Prospective Commanding Officer, leaving the airship's control car during christening ceremonies held in the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation "air dock" hangar at Akron, Ohio. Photograph received from the Navy Recruiting Bureau, 1932. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 64KB; 740 x 600 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 84435 Philadelphia Air Show, 11 January 1937 Attendees at the Air Show dinner, including (left to right): Commander R.E. Farnsworth, USN; Lieutenant Commander C.G. Richardson, USN; Mr. A. Graham; Commander Charles E. Rosendahl, USN; Mr. Igor Sikorsky; and Commander W.W. Webster, USN. Courtesy of Ted Stone, 1976. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 86KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 57961 Airship Hindenburg disaster, 6 May 1937 Bureau of Air Commerce Board and advisors at the official investigation of the burning of the Hindenburg. Taken at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey, 27 May 1937. Seated at the small table in center are, left to right: R.W. Schroeder; Colonel South Trimble, Jr. (Chairman); and Dennis Mulligan. Technical advisors seated at the large table behind them are, left to right: Commander Charles E. Rosendahl, USN; Gill R. Wilson; Colonel R.B. Lincoln, U.S. Army; Lieutenant Colonel C. de F. Chandler; and Colonel H.E. Hartney. Stated at right are, left to right: G.C. Lovening, Frederick Hoffman, Dr. Hugo Eckener and Ludwig Dürr. Photograph received from the Commanding Officer, Naval Air Station Lakehurst, 16 June 1937. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 113KB; 740 x 580 pixels |
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If you want higher resolution reproductions than the "Online Library's" digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 9 March 2003
Link added 17 September 2006