Edward Joseph O'Donnell (April 13, 1907 December 9, 1991) was an American naval officer. He commanded the

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base Guantanamo Bay Naval Base (), officially known as Naval Station Guantanamo Bay or NSGB, (also called GTMO, pronounced Gitmo as jargon by the U.S. military) is a United States military base located on of land and water on the shore of Guant ...

from December 1960 to 1963, during which the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred. He then served as senior navy member of the Military Studies and Liaison division at

The Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

and superintendent of the

Naval Postgraduate School Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a Naval command with a graduate university mission, operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California. The NPS mission is to provide "defense-focused graduate education, including clas ...

before retiring as a

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

in 1967. After retirement, O'Donnell was president of the New York Maritime College until 1972. Born in Boston, he graduated from the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

in 1929. He then served on various naval ships before taking command of Destroyer Division 32 in the aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. O'Donnell also commanded the USS ''George Clymer'' and USS ''New Jersey''. He died in 1991.

Education

Edward Joseph O'Donnell was born and raised in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts, and attended

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

schools there. After graduating high school he attended the

, graduating in 1929 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree and averaging academically 83rd out of the 240 midshipmen in his class.

Early naval career

O'Donnell's first assignment in the Navy was from September 1929 to May 1930 aboard the USS ''Florida'', working engineering and deck. After service on the ''Florida'' and before

, he served on board the USS ''John D. Ford'', USS ''Houston'', and the USS ''San Francisco'' while doing postgraduate work in ordnance engineering at the

, then in

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

. O'Donnell served as a

gunnery officer The gunnery officer of a warship was the officer responsible for operation and maintenance of the ship's guns and for safe storage of the ship's ammunition inventory. Background The gunnery officer was usually the line officer next in rank to the ...

on board the aircraft carrier USS ''Lexington'', and served aboard her when she sank during the

Battle of the Coral Sea The Battle of the Coral Sea, from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces of the United States and Australia. Taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, the battle ...

. He later continued serving as a gunnery officer aboard the USS ''Birmingham'', serving on her throughout many of the raids and invasions she participated in throughout the war. On the night of November 8 and 9 of 1943, days after serving in the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay, the ''Birmingham'' was subjected to enemy air attacks that damaged the ship. Commander O'Donnell lead the gunnery department to defend the ship, shooting down four aircraft. For his efforts, he was awarded a Letter of Commendation from then

Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

William Halsey Jr. William Frederick "Bull" Halsey Jr. (30 October 1882 – 16 August 1959) was an American Navy admiral during World War II. He is one of four officers to have attained the rank of five-star fleet admiral of the United States Navy, the others be ...

, Commander of the

South Pacific Area The South Pacific Area (SOPAC) was a multinational U.S.-led military command active during World War II. It was a part of the U.S. Pacific Ocean Areas under Admiral Chester Nimitz. The delineation and establishment of the Pacific Ocean Areas wa ...

. He was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in 1945. During his postwar years, O'Donnell commanded Destroyer Division 32 and served on the staffs of the

Bureau of Ordnance The Bureau of Ordnance (BuOrd) was a United States Navy organization, which was responsible for the procurement, storage, and deployment of all naval weapons, between the years 1862 and 1959. History The Bureau of Ordnance was established as part ...

and Commander of Naval Forces in Germany. He then commanded the USS ''George Clymer'' in operations off

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in 1952 and 1953. O'Donnell next served as commander of the USS ''New Jersey'' and was sworn in on March 18, 1955. He also commanded Destroyer Flotilla 6 from June 1956 to October 1957. From October 1958 to November 1960, O'Donnell served as Director of the Far East Region under the Office of the

Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs In the United States, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs or ASD (ISA) is the principal advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (USD (P)) and the United States Secretary of Defense on international ...

, then headed by John N. Irwin II. O'Donnell served during the tenures of Secretaries of Defense Neil H. McElroy and Thomas S. Gates Jr. in the

Eisenhower administration Dwight D. Eisenhower's tenure as the 34th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1953, and ended on January 20, 1961. Eisenhower, a Republican from Kansas, took office following his landslide victor ...

Guantanamo and the Naval Postgraduate School

O'Donnell, promoted to a two-star rear admiral in 1957, served as commander of the

from December 1960 to December 1962, and was serving on the base during the

Cuban missile crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...

. In April 1961, he commanded the

during the covert

Bay of Pigs invasion The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called or after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in April 1961 by the United States of America and the Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front ...

. J. W. Davis assumed command of Guantanamo from O'Donnell on December 22, 1962, in a change of command ceremony held at the base's golf course. After Guantanamo, O'Donnell served as the Senior Navy Member of the Military Studies and Liaison division at

under

US Secretary of Defense The United States secretary of defense (acronym: SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense (DoD), the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is a high-ranking member of the federal cabinet. DoDD 5100.1: Enclos ...

Robert McNamara Robert Strange McNamara (; June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American businessman and government official who served as the eighth United States secretary of defense from 1961 to 1968 under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson ...

, and then as superintendent of the

from 1965 to 1967.

After the navy

After his retirement from naval service in 1967, O'Donnell served as president of the New York Maritime College in

the Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

for six years, until 1972. From October 21–23, 1969, O'Donnell testified before the Special Subcommittee on Maritime Education and Training of the

United States House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries The United States House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries is a defunct United States Congressional committee, committee of the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives. The Committee on Merchant Marine and Fish ...

at the

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the United States Congress, the United States Congress, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, federal g ...

in support of a bill proposed by US Representative

William Hathaway William Dodd Hathaway (February 21, 1924June 24, 2013) was an American politician and lawyer from Maine. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States senator for Maine from 1973 to 1979, as the U.S. representative for Maine's ...

( D- ME-2). The bill would amend the Maritime Academy Act of 1958 and increase the contribution of funding from the

Federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

to the state governments for maritime colleges. The bill passed successfully. O'Donnell lived the rest of his life in

Monterey, California Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, California, Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a popu ...

Personal life

O'Donnell was from an Irish Roman Catholic family in Boston and was the oldest of five siblings. His first wife, Ruth, was from

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

and the daughter of Robert A. Hall, a Naval officer himself who graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1912. Ruth was also a Navy officer, commissioned in the Naval Reserve as a

lieutenant (junior grade) Lieutenant junior grade is a junior commissioned officer rank used in a number of navies. United States Lieutenant (junior grade), commonly abbreviated as LTJG or, historically, Lt. (j.g.) (as well as variants of both abbreviations), i ...

. During World War II, she was a member of the first group of

WAVES United States Naval Reserve (Women's Reserve), better known as the WAVES (for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), was the women's branch of the United States Naval Reserve during World War II. It was established on July 21, 1942, ...

and served in BUPERS. They had two sons. Ruth died at age 67 in 1980. O'Donnell remarried to Jeannette C. Carns a year later. O'Donnell died of a heart attack on December 9, 1991, age 84 years.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:ODonnell, Edward J. 1907 births 1991 deaths United States Navy rear admirals United States Naval Academy alumni Recipients of the Legion of Merit Military personnel from Boston Naval Postgraduate School alumni Presidents of the State University of New York Maritime College United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century American academics