Louis Dreller (March 6, 1897 – May 8, 1970) was an American sailor and engineer. He served 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 ...

from 1918 to 1951, rising to the rank of

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

. Dreller was commissioned in 1918 as an engineering duty officer during

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 ...

. For much of

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 ...

, he was stationed for several years at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, working on designing and building ships for the war effort. For his efforts there he was awarded the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued to members of the eight ...

by the United States and the

Order of the Southern Cross Emperor Pedro I of Brazil founded the National Order of the Southern Cross ( pt, Ordem Nacional do Cruzeiro do Sul) as a Brazilian order of chivalry on 1 December 1822. The order aimed to commemorate the independence of Brazil (7 September 1822) ...

by Brazil. After the war, he served as Commander of the U.S. Navy Yard at

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

. Dreller was president of the

American Society of Naval Engineers The American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE) is a professional association of naval engineers. Naval Engineering includes all arts and sciences as applied in the research, development, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and logistic ...

in 1951.

Personal life

Louis Dreller (who was Jewish) was born March 6, 1897, in

Portsmouth, New Hampshire Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on the Piscataqua River bordering the state of Maine, Portsmou ...

. In 1918, he graduated from the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mo ...

with a degree in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

. He later earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. He married Edythe Maharam. They had two daughters, Rusty (Selma) Kerr and Doris Sosin. He died May 8, 1970, at Bethesda Naval Hospital, and was buried in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

Career

Upon graduating from the University of New Hampshire in 1918, Dreller was commissioned in the

as an ensign, initially for engineering duty only. During

, he received a temporary promotion to Lieutenant junior grade. He was commissioned in that rank on July 1, 1920. During his service in the Navy, Dreller served aboard the , , USS ''Preston'', USS ''Tingey'', , , , , and . Aboard these last two vessels, he was Base Force Engineering Officer and later Scouting Force Engineering Officer. He was a plankowner for the ''Lexington'' and the ''Ranger''. He also served several tours with the Bureau of Engineering. Dreller was serving aboard the ''Indianapolis'' on December 7, 1941, when the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

attacked 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 ...

. The ''Indianapolis'' was assigned to Pearl Harbor but was spared because it was out of port on an exercise at the time of the attack. The United States entered

the following day. At the time, Dreller was Force Engineering Officer with the Scouting Force. In 1942, he served briefly on the staff of the Commander Amphibious Force, Pacific, before being transferred in August of that year to the Philadelphia Navy Yard. He served the remainder of the war there working on the design and production of warships, holding at different times the roles of Design Superintendent, Planning Officer, and Production Officer. He was promoted to rear admiral on July 14, 1943. Dreller received the

for his work in the Navy Yard. Also, Brazil awarded him the

for his contributions in designing destroyers for the

Brazilian Navy ) , colors= Blue and white , colors_label= Colors , march= "Cisne Branco" ( en, "White Swan") (same name as training ship ''Cisne Branco'' , mascot= , equipment= 1 multipurpose aircraft carrier7 submarines6 frigates2 corvettes4 amphibious warf ...

while serving in the Philadelphia Navy Yard. His other decorations included the (World War I) Victory Medal, the

American Defense Service Medal The American Defense Service Medal was a military award of the United States Armed Forces, established by , by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, on June 28, 1941. The medal was intended to recognize those military service members who had served ...

, the Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal, the

American Campaign Medal The American Campaign Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was first created on November 6, 1942, by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was intended to recognize those military members who had perfo ...

, and the World War II Victory Medal. After World War II, Dreller served again at

, in the office of the

Naval Inspector General The Office of Naval Inspector General for the United States Department of the Navy was established during World War II to make investigations as directed by the Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations. The current mission of the Na ...

, as Assistant Chief of Naval Material, and as Commander of the U.S. Naval Shipyard. He retired from the Navy on July 1, 1951, due to disability. Dreller joined the

in 1920. He served as the society's president in 1951. He remained active in the society until falling ill before his death in 1970.

Publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dreller, Louis 1897 births 1970 deaths University of New Hampshire alumni Columbia University alumni People from Portsmouth, New Hampshire United States Navy rear admirals (upper half) Jewish American military personnel American military engineers Military personnel from New Hampshire United States Navy personnel of World War I United States Navy personnel of World War II Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Recipients of the Legion of Merit 20th-century American Jews