Commander Frank Ragan King (October 15, 1884 – July 12, 1919) was an officer in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

who died while conducting minesweeping operations shortly after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Biography

Born in

Montevallo, Alabama Montevallo is a city in Shelby County, Alabama, United States. A college town, it is the home of the University of Montevallo, a public liberal arts university with approximately 3,000 students. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city o ...

, King was appointed

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

at the

Naval Academy A naval academy provides education for prospective naval officers. See also * Military academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally pro ...

6 May 1903 and graduated February 11, 1907. After serving as a passed midshipman, he was commissioned Ensign February 12, 1909. King served in ''Arkansas'', , ''Milwaukee'', ''Pennsylvania'', and ''Illinois'' before attaining the rank of Commander September 21, 1918. Comdr. King assumed command of the trawler July 7, 1919, during minesweeping operations in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

. On July 12, 1919, his ship struck a mine and went down in only seven minutes. During the crisis, King exerted himself to see that all of his crew might be saved. King's feeling for his men was evidenced by the fact that his final act before going down with his ship was to strap his own life preserver to a stunned sailor and help him over the side. Comdr. King received the

Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in action * Distinguishe ...

for his valor.

USS Richard Buckley

Commander Frank Ragan King assumed command of the trawler ''Richard Buckley'' July 7, 1919 during minesweeping operations in the

for his valor.

Namesake

The destroyer USS ''King'' (DD-242) was named for him.

Bibliography

Notes References * - Total pages: 249 : 1884 births 1919 deaths People from Montevallo, Alabama United States Navy personnel of World War I United States Naval Academy alumni United States Navy officers Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal {{US-navy-bio-stub