Tyrone Gabriel Martin (born June 5, 1930) is a retired

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 ...

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

, and a naval historian, most notable as an authority on ("Old Ironsides"), of which he was the 58th commanding officer. Martin was born in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...

on 5 June 1930 and commissioned an officer through the

NROTC The Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) program is a college-based, commissioned officer training program of the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. Origins A pilot Naval Reserve unit was established in September 19 ...

in 1952. During his twenty-six years of navy service he commanded two

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s on tours of duty off

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

finally becoming the commanding officer (captain) of ''Constitution'' on 6 August 1974. In July 1976, during the

United States Bicentennial The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the United States of America as an independent republic. It was a central event ...

celebrations,

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during h ...

and

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...

, arrived for their

state visit A state visit is a formal visit by a head of state to a foreign country, at the invitation of the head of state of that foreign country, with the latter also acting as the official host for the duration of the state visit. Speaking for the host ...

and privately toured the ship for approximately thirty minutes with Commander Martin and Secretary of the Navy

J. William Middendorf John William Middendorf II (born September 22, 1924) is a former Republican United States diplomat and Secretary of the Navy. Education and military service John William Middendorf II received a Bachelor of Naval Science (BNS) degree from Col ...

. During the 1980s, he was a Senior Naval Science Instructor (SNSI) for the NJROTC program at

Boston Technical High School The John D. O'Bryant School of Mathematics and Science (abbreviated as O'B), formerly known as Boston Technical High School is a college preparatory public exam school along with Boston Latin School and Boston Latin Academy. The O’Bryant specia ...

. During Martin's tenure as Commanding Officer, several traditions were instituted that are still observed by the crew of ''Constitution'' such as the wearing of 1812 era uniforms and the practice of firing morning and sunset guns. ''Constitution'' received her first

Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or s ...

during his tour and Martin was the first Captain to be decorated for service since Charles Stewart. Martin turned over command of the ship to Commander Robert Leo Gillen on 30 June 1978. Now retired, Martin has written several books about "Old Ironsides", as well as numerous articles on various aspects of the ship and her times, plus the "Salty Talk" column in the journal ''Naval History''. In 2019, the Naval Historical Foundation awarded Martin the

Commodore Dudley W. Knox Naval History Lifetime Achievement Award The Naval Historical Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1926, has a broad mission to preserve and promote the naval history of the United States by supporting official Sea Services programs and institutions, meeting the needs of the pu ...

.''Pull Together: Newsletter of the Naval Historical Foundation'', vo. 58, no. 1 (Summer 2019), pp. 9-11.

Works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Tyrone G. American naval historians American male non-fiction writers United States Navy officers Living people 1930 births