Captain Marion Frederic Ramirez de Arellano (August 5, 1913 – May 15, 1980) was a

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

commander in the United States Navy and the first Hispanic submarine commanding officer."The Submarine Forces Diversity Trailblazer - Capt. Marion Frederick Ramirez de Arellano"; Summer 2007 Undersea Warfare magazine; pg.31 He was awarded two

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an e ...

s, 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 ...

, and a Bronze Star for his actions against the Japanese Imperial Navy during World War II.

Early years

Ramirez de Arellano (birth name: Marion Frederic Ramírez de Arellano Kimerer ) was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Rafael Ramirez de Arellano and Lucille Josephne Kimerer. When he was just a child, his parents moved for a short period of time to Athens, Georgia where he began grade school. The family soon returned to the island and both his parents Rafael W. de Arellano and Lucille Kemmerer Ramirez de Arellano found employment as professors at the

University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

. Ramirez de Arellano continued his education in Puerto Rico and after he graduated from high school, he attended the University of Puerto Rico for two years.

U.S. Naval Academy

In 1931, 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 ...

Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. Theodore Roosevelt III ( ), often known as Theodore Jr.Morris, Edmund (1979). ''The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt''. index.While it was President Theodore Roosevelt who was legally named Theodore Roosevelt Jr., the President's fame made it simple ...

who served as

Governor of Puerto Rico The governor of Puerto Rico ( es, gobernador de Puerto Rico) is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and commander-in-chief of the Puerto Rico National Guard. The governor has a duty ...

from 1929 to 1932. Ramirez de Arellano excelled in sports in the Academy, earning varsity letters in

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, tennis, and gymnastics. He also won the

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prize for highest standing in the course for the Department of Languages. He graduated from the Academy in 1935. Upon his graduation, he was commissioned an Ensign and assigned to the , the first ship of the United States Navy to be designed and built from the keel up as an

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

. He served aboard as Gunnery Officer from 1935 to 1937. From 1937 to 1938, he attended Submarine School at Groton, Connecticut.

World War II

In 1938, Ramirez de Arellano was assigned as Division Officer of the , a Porpoise-class submarine. The ''Pickerel'' was training near the Philippines when on December 8, 1941 the islands were attacked by

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The ''Pickerel'' was ordered to patrol the coast of the islands and on her second war patrol she sank the ''Kanko Maru'', a Japanese vessel, in the

Gulf of Davao Davao Gulf is a gulf situated in the southeastern portion of Mindanao in the Philippines. It has an area of or about 520,000 hectares. Davao Gulf cuts into the island of Mindanao from the Philippine Sea. It is surrounded by all five provinces i ...

off Mindanao. He participated in five war patrols with the ''Pickerel'' and led the effort to rescue five Navy pilots and one enlisted gunner off Wake Island. He also contributed to the sinking of two Japanese freighters and damaging a third. For his actions, he was awarded a

Medal and a

Medal. After a brief stint at the Navy Yard on Mare Island, he was reassigned to the USS ''Skate'', a Balao class submarine. He participated in the ''Skate'''s first three war patrols and was awarded a second Silver Star Medal for his contributions in the sinking the Japanese light cruiser ''Agano'', on his third patrol. The ''Agano'' had survived a previous torpedo attack by submarine . In April 1944, Ramirez de Arellano as named Commanding Officer of the , thus becoming the first Hispanic submarine commanding officer. He participated in his ship's war patrols 5, 6 and 7. On July 5, 1944, Ramirez de Arellano led the rescue of three downed Navy pilots in the Palau area. On December 4, 1944, the ''Balao'' departed from Pearl Harbor to patrol in the Yellow Sea. The ''Balao'' engaged and sunk the Japanese cargo ship ''Daigo Maru'' on January 8, 1945. Ramirez de Arellano was awarded a Bronze Star with Combat V and a

Letter of Commendation Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

. In February 1945, Ramirez de Arellano worked with submarine relief crews in Submarine Division 202 and he served as Commander of Submarine Division 16.

Post-World War II

In May 1946, Ramirez de Arellano was named Commanding Officer of Submarine Base,

Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands Saint Thomas ( da, Sankt Thomas) is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea which, together with Saint John, Water Island, Hassel Island, and Saint Croix, form a county-equivalent and constituent district of the United States Virgin ...

. With the exception of his other two ship commands, the (1952–1954) and of the (1954–1955), Ramirez de Arellano held various administrative and teaching positions — among them Assistant to War Plans Officer, Caribbean Sea Frontier, 10th Naval District (1947–1949) and in the Department of Languages, U.S/ Naval Academy (1949–1952). He was War Plans Officer, Joint U.S. Military Group in Madrid, Spain from May 1955 to June 1957 and the Deputy Director of the Inter-American Defense Board in Washington, D.C. from July 1957 to July 1961. On July 1, 1961, Captain Ramirez de Arellano retired from the Navy.

Personal

Ramirez de Arellano was married to Isabel Judson Mysie with whom he had three sons. He died on May 15, 1980 at

Andrews Air Force Base Andrews Air Force Base (Andrews AFB, AAFB) is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews, which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force. In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form Joint B ...

near Washington, D.C.

Miscellaneous

Ramirez de Arellano is described in Rick Riordan's young-adult novel The Blood of Olympus as being a great-great-uncle of the major character Reyna Ramirez-Arellano.Rick Riordan,''The Blood of Olympus'',p.285.

Awards and decorations

Among Ramirez de Arellano's military decorations were the following: Commander Ramirez de Arellano

Notes

References

External links

*
UNDERSEA WARFARE Magazine article on Capt. Ramirez de Arellano
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramirez De Arellano, Marion Frederic 1913 births 1980 deaths United States Navy personnel of World War II Burials at Arlington National Cemetery People from San Juan, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican United States Navy personnel Puerto Rican military officers Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Silver Star United States submarine commanders United States Navy officers United States Naval Academy alumni