Captains

Thomas D. Price
1945
Born in 1907. File Number 144703. USNR Deck officer, qualified for specialist duties. LCDR Price was commanding officer of the Rankin from February 25, 1945 to November 25, 1945, her first eleven months in commission, and the entire time of her World War II service. Date of death unknown. No further information is available at this time.

 

    
William L. McDonald
1945-1946
Born on November 20, 1892 in New Jersey. File number 12888. USNR Deck officer, qualified for general detail afloat or ashore. Attended Mine Warfare School. Served in the U. S. Navy in World War I. CAPT McDonald was commanding officer of the Rankin from November 25, 1945 to May 20, 1946. Died on August 15, 1962 at age 69. Buried at Fort Lee, New Jersey. Read More

 

    
Griswold T. Atkins
1946
Born on December 28, 1909. Graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy. CAPT Atkins was commanding officer of the Rankin from May 20, 1946 to March 10, 1947. Died on September 15, 1999 in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, age 89. Buried in Old Lyme, Connecticut
    

 

George D. Arntz
1947
Born on June 27, 1909. CDR Arntz was commanding officer of the USS Rankin for her final two months in commission, from March 10, 1947 to May 21, 1947. Died in February, 1977 in Tiburon, California, age 67. No further information is available at this time.

 

Bernard H. Meyer
1952-1953
Born on February 16, 1910. Graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy. CAPT Meyer was commanding officer of the USS Rankin for about a year, from her recommissioning on March 22, 1952 to April 11, 1953. Died on October 12, 2004 in Marietta, Georgia at age 94. Buried in Chattanooga National Cemetery, in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

 

    
Lawson P. Ramage
1953-1954
Born on January18, 1909 in Monroe Bridge, Massachusetts. Graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy in 1931. Qualified in submarines. Awarded the Silver Star, Navy Cross, and Congressional Medal of Honor for submarine actions during World War II. CAPT Ramage was commanding officer of the USS Rankin from April 11, 1953 to July 19, 1954. He retired from active service in 1969. Lawson P. Ramage died on April 15, 1990 in Bethesda, Maryland, aged 81. Buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

    

Malcolm T. Munger
1954-1955
Born on March 24, 1909. CAPT Munger was commanding officer of the Rankin from July 19, 1954 to July 20, 1955. He died on September 14, 1975 in San Francisco, aged 66. No further information is available at this time.

 

    
James D. Ferguson
1955-1956
Born on August 28, 1910. CAPT Ferguson was commanding officer of the USS Rankin from July 20, 1955 to October 4, 1956. He died on November 11, 1996 in Fort Myers, Florida, age 86. Buried in Arlington National Cemetery

 

 

W. F. A. Wendt
1956-1957
Born on March 15, 1912 in Millstadt, Illinois. Graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1933. Wendt was commanding officer of the USS Rankin from October 4, 1956 to November 9, 1957. He died in Virginia Beach, Virginia on October 18, 1997, age 85. Buried in Virginia Beach.

 

John Harllee
1957-1959
Born on January 2, 1914 in Washington, DC. Graduated from the United States Naval Academy. CAPT Harllee was commanding officer of the USS Rankin from November 9. 1957 to February 19, 1959. He died on February 5, 2005 in Bethesda, Maryland, aged 91. Buried in Arlington National Cemetery in the same site as his father, the famed marksmanship teacher Marine Corps Brigadier General William Curry Harllee

 

 

John S. C. Gabbert
1959-1960
Born on February 1, 1911 in Lewisport, Kentucky. Graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy in 1935. CAPT Gabbert was commanding officer of the USS Rankin from February 19, 1959 to December 10, 1960. He retired from active service in April, 1965. John S. C. Gabbert died on January 11, 1980 in McLean, Virginia, at age 68.

 

   
Leonard E. Harmon
1960-1961
Born on February 2, 1915, Qualified Naval Aviator. CAPT Harmon was commanding officer of the USS Rankin from February 10, 1960 to March 10, 1961. He died on July 7, 1998 in Huntington, New York, age 83. No further information is available at this time.

 

Thomas F. Howe
1961-1962
Born on May 11, 1914 in Chicago, Illinois. Qualified in submarines. CAPT Howe was commanding officer of the USS Rankin from March 10, 1961 to May, 29, 1962. He died on January 30, 1986 in Baltimore, Maryland, age 71. Buried in Beaufort National Cemetery, Beaufort, South Carolina.

    

John S. Leidel
1962-1963
Born on February 18, 1919. Graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1941. CAPT Leidel was commanding officer of the USS Rankin from May 29, 1962 to July 16, 1963. He died on November 14, 1993 in Provincetown, Massachusetts, at age 74. Buried at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

    

George C. Cook
1963-1964
Born February 21, 1918 in Milton, Massachusetts. Graduated from Massachusetts Maritime Academy in 1938. Awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism aboard USS Searaven in April, 1942. CAPT Cook was commanding officer of the USS Rankin from July 16, 1963 to August 22, 1964. He died in November, 1978, in Key Largo, Florida, at age 60. No further information is available at this time.

    

William T. Rapp
1964-1965
Born January 31, 1920 in Newark, New Jersey. Graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1943. Qualified as a Naval Aviator. CAPT Rapp was commanding officer of the USS Rankin from August 22, 1964 to  August 6, 1965. He died on November 24, 1988 in Virginia Beach, Virginia at age 68. No further information is available at this time

 

Thomas C. Hurst, III
1965-1966
Born June 17, 1920 in Norfolk, Virginia. Graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1943. CAPT Hurst was commanding officer of the USS Rankin from August 6, 1965 to August 8, 1966. He died on February 15, 2001 at age 80. He is buried at Norfolk, Virginia

 

    
Lester B. Lampman
1966-1967
Born on February 13, 1920. Served for 37 years in the Navy, as Seaman through Captain. Qualified Naval Aviator. CAPT Lampman was commanding officer of the USS Rankin from August 8, 1966 to September 26, 1967. In 1969, he was the final CO of the USS Boxer (LPH-4), which often sailed with the Rankin. He is alive and well at age 100 and living in Washington state.

    

John D. Exum
1967-1969
Born on May 8, 1921 in Johnson City, Tennessee. Graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1946. CAPT Exum was commanding officer of the USS Rankin from September 26, 1967 to April 14, 1969. He died on April 15, 2009 at age 87 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Buried in Johnson City, Tennessee.

 

    
C. Nello Pierozzi
1969-1970
Born on March 22, 1922. Qualified as a Naval Aviator. Was a member of the first Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Squadron to fly jet aircraft. CAPT Pierozzi was commanding officer of the USS Rankin from April 14, 1969 to August 9, 1970. He died on January 19, 2006 at age 83 in San Diego, California. Buried at Fort Rosecranz National Cemetery in San Diego.

 

Jerry T. Becker
1970-1971
Born on September 25, 1925. Qualified in submarines. CAPT Becker was commanding officer of the USS Rankin from August 9, 1970 to February 2, 1971. No further information is available at this time.

    

 

Philip R. Given
1971
Born on October 19, 1935 in Jackson, Tennessee. Graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy in 1958. LCDR Given was commanding officer of the USS Rankin from February 2, 1971 to May 11, 1971, her final three months in commission. He died on May 3, 2020 in San Diego, California, at age 84. Buried at Miramar National Cemetery, San Diego. No further information is available at this time.