Francis Cogswell

Francis Cogswell (19 August, 1887 - 22 September, 1939) was a captain in the United States Navy who served in World War I and was a Navy Cross recipient.

Early life

Cogswell was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the son of Rear Admiral James Kelsey Cogswell.

Navy career

He was appointed to the US Naval Academy in 1903, and graduated in 1908. Cogswell was awarded the Navy Cross for service during World War I, when he commanded the USS Fanning (DD-37) and USS McDougal (DD-54).

Cogswell's Navy Cross citation reads: "The Navy Cross is awarded to Lieutenant Commander Francis Cogswell, U.S. Navy, for distinguished service in the line of his profession as commanding officer of the U.S.S. Fanning and the U.S.S. McDougal, engaged in the important, exacting and hazardous duty of patrolling the waters infested with enemy submarines and mines, in escorting and protecting vitally important convoys of troops and supplies through these waters, and in offensive and defensive action, vigorously and unremittingly prosecuted against all forms of enemy naval activity."

In 1935, he commanded the USS Oglala, the flagship of a flotilla of minesweepers assisting the US Coast and Geodetic Survey in charting the Aleutian Islands.

Cogswell was Naval attaché in Paris, France in the late 1930s.

Personal life

Captain Cogswell died at Puget Sound Naval Hospital, Bremerton, Washington on 22 September, 1939.

He married Grace Phillips (born 1887) of New York City. She worked for the US Foreign Service and later for the Central Intelligence Agency until her retirement in 1954. They had no children.

USS Cogswell

The USS Cogswell (DD-651) was a Fletcher class destroyer in the United States Navy, serving in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The ship is named in honor of Rear Admiral James Kelsey Cogswell, who served during the Spanish-American War, and his son, Captain Francis Cogswell.

ee also

References

* [http://freepages.military.rootsweb.com/~cacunithistories/USS_McDougal.html USS McDougal page]
* [http://www.lib.uaa.alaska.edu/archives/CollectionsList/CollectionDescriptions/CtoF/Cogswellfg.html University of Alaska page]