Homer Norman Wallin (December 6, 1893 – March 6, 1984) was a vice admiral 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 ...

, best known for his salvage of ships sunk in the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

Biography

Wallin was born in

Washburn, North Dakota Washburn is a city in southern McLean County, North Dakota, United States. Located along the upper Missouri River, it is the county seat of McLean County. The population was 1,300 at the 2020 census. Washburn was founded in 1882 near the form ...

. Following brief attendance at the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (also known as UND or North Dakota) is a public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of ...

and a year in the state

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

, he was appointed to the

U.S. Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) 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 Secretary of ...

in 1913. He graduated in March 1917 and was commissioned in the rank of

Ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

. During most of

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 ...

, he served in the

battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...

. In September 1918, he was transferred to the navy's Construction Corps and was sent to the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

for postgraduate education in

naval architecture Naval architecture, or naval engineering, is an engineering discipline incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and safety engineering as applied to the engineering design process, shipbuilding, maintenance, and o ...

. After receiving his Master of Science degree in 1921, Wallin served for four years at the

New York Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex located in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York (state), New York. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a ...

. He was assigned to the

Bureau of Construction and Repair The Bureau of Construction and Repair (BuC&R) was the part of the United States Navy which from 1862 to 1940 was responsible for supervising the design, construction, conversion, procurement, maintenance, and repair of ships and other craft for the ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, in 1925 to 1929. Over the following decade he had successive tours at the

Mare Island Mare Island (Spanish: ''Isla de la Yegua'') is a peninsula in the United States in the city of Vallejo, California, about northeast of San Francisco. The Napa River forms its eastern side as it enters the Carquinez Strait juncture with the eas ...

and

Philadelphia Navy Yard The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was an important naval shipyard of the United States for almost two centuries. Philadelphia's original navy yard, begun in 1776 on Front Street and Federal Street in what is now the Pennsport section of the cit ...

s and at the Bureau of Construction and Repair (redesignated the

Bureau of Ships The United States Navy's Bureau of Ships (BuShips) was established by Congress on 20 June 1940, by a law which consolidated the functions of the Bureau of Construction and Repair (BuC&R) and the Bureau of Engineering (BuEng). The new bureau was to ...

in 1940). During this time, Wallin met and married his wife Elizabeth, and had two children, son Homer Norman, Jr. and daughter Susan Ann. In 1941, Captain Wallin became material officer for commander, Battle Force,

U.S. Pacific Fleet The United States Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT) is a theater-level component command of the United States Navy, located in the Pacific Ocean. It provides naval forces to the Indo-Pacific Command. Fleet headquarters is at Joint Base Pearl Harbor� ...

, and was serving in that position when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Early in the following year, he was placed in charge of the

Pearl Harbor Navy Yard Naval Station Pearl Harbor is a United States naval base on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. In 2010, along with the United States Air Force's Hickam Field, Hickam Air Force Base, the facility was merged to form Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam. Pe ...

's Salvage Division. Through most of 1942, he directed the Pearl Harbor ship salvage effort, a huge task that enabled the navy to recover the use of three sunken battleships. From November 1942 to August 1943, he was force maintenance officer for the South Pacific Force, then spent a few months at the Bureau of Ships. Rear Admiral Wallin was supervisor of shipbuilding and inspector of ordnance at

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

and commander of the naval station at

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

, beginning in October 1943. NH64486 Wallin aboard BB-44

Post-World War II Career

Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Wallin commanded the Philadelphia and

Norfolk Naval Shipyard The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard and abbreviated as NNSY, is a U.S. Navy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia, for building, remodeling and repairing the Navy's ships. It is the oldest and largest industrial facility tha ...

s. In February 1951, he became chief of the Bureau of Ships, a post he held until August 1953, when he took command of the

Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, officially Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km2) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted u ...

. He retired from active service on 1 May 1955 and was simultaneously advanced to the rank of vice admiral on the basis of his combat awards. In 1968, retired Vice Admiral Wallin published a memoir of his service, especially the Pearl Harbor salvage operations, titled ''Pearl Harbor: Why, How, Fleet Salvage and Final Appraisal''. Vice Admiral Homer N. Wallin died on 6 March 1984. He is interred at

Willamette National Cemetery Willamette National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located about southeast of the city of Portland, Oregon. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses straddling the county line between Multn ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. Christening of USS Kwajalein (CVE-98) with daughter Susan Ann, 4 May 1944.jpg, Christening of USS ''Kwajalein (CVE-98) with daughter Susan Ann, 4 May 1944

Decorations

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallin, Homer N. 1893 births 1984 deaths People from McLean County, North Dakota Military personnel from North Dakota United States Navy admirals United States Naval Academy alumni University of North Dakota alumni United States Navy personnel of World War I United States Navy World War II admirals United States Navy engineering officers Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit American people of Swedish descent Burials at Willamette National Cemetery