Maynard W. Tollberg

Maynard W. Tolberg
Born	February 17, 1904(1904-02-17) North Branch, Minnesota
Died	January 30, 1943(1943-01-30) (aged 38) Pacific Ocean, near Guadalcanal
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Naval Reserve
Years of service	1923–1927 1942–1943
Rank	Watertender Second Class
Unit	USS La Vallette (DD-448)
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of Rennell Island
Awards	Navy Cross

Maynard W. Tollberg (1904–1943) was a United States Navy sailor killed in action during World War II who received a posthumous Navy Cross for his actions.

Naval career

Tollberg was born at North Branch, Minnesota, on February 17, 1904. He enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve on September 24, 1923 and was honorably discharged on September 15, 1927.

After the beginning of World War II, Tollberg reenlisted on June 23, 1942 with the same rating. He was assigned duty on board the destroyer USS La Vallette (DD-448).

On the afternoon of January 30, 1943, during the second day of the Battle of Rennell Island, La Vallette was screening the damaged heavy cruiser USS Chicago (CA-29) when 11 Japanese torpedo planes attacked. La Vallette received a torpedo hit in her forward engine room which killed 22 members of the crew.

Watertender Second Class Tollberg, although fatally scalded by high-temperature steam, painfully climbed up the fire room ladder and emerged on the main deck through a hatch which had been blown open by the detonation. Despite severe pain and partial blindness, he expended his dying strength trying to close the control valve through which fuel oil was pouring into the fireroom below, where a number of his helpless shipmates were trapped. Tollberg then collapsed and soon died of his wounds.

Awards

Watertender Second Class Tollberg was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously.

Commemoration

The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Tollberg (DE-593) was named for Watertender Second Class Tollberg. She was converted during construction into the high-speed transport USS Tollberg (APD-103), and was in commission as such from 1945 to `1946.

United States Navy portal

References

• This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

Persondata
Name	Tollberg, Maynard W.
Alternative names
Short description	United States Navy Navy Cross recipient
Date of birth	February 17, 1904
Place of birth	North Branch, Minnesota
Date of death	January 30, 1943
Place of death	Pacific Ocean near Guadalcanal