Thomas Benjamin Fitzpatrick (1896 – 1974) was a

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 the

governor of American Samoa This is a list of governors, etc. of the part of the Samoan Islands (now comprising American Samoa) under United States administration since 1900. From 1900 to 1978 governors were appointed by the Federal government of the United States. Since ...

for a brief time from January 15, 1936, to January 20, 1936. During

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 ...

, Fitzpatrick commanded , which landed troops and sustained damage during the

Battle of Tarawa The Battle of Tarawa was fought on 20–23 November 1943 between the United States and Japan at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, and was part of Operation Galvanic, the U.S. invasion of the Gilberts. Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, an ...

References

1896 births 1974 deaths Governors of American Samoa United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy officers {{US-navy-bio-stub