Lawson P. Ramage

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Lawson P. Ramage bigraphy, stories - United States Navy Medal of Honor recipient; submariner; U.S. Navy admiral

Lawson P. Ramage : biography

19 January 1909 – 15 April 1990

Lawson Paterson "Red" Ramage (19 January 1909 – 15 April 1990) was a vice admiral in the United States Navy and a noted submarine commander during World War II. Ramage was decorated with the Medal of Honor and several other combat decorations during the war. He also served during the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

Post-World War II

After the war, he continued to serve in command of submarines, being commander of Submarine Division Two and then Commander of Submarine Squadron Six. From 1953–1954, he was commanding officer of the amphibious cargo ship . Following ascent to flag rank in July 1956, Admiral Ramage was on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations, and then commander of Cruiser Division Two. In 1963, serving as Deputy Commander of Submarine Forces, Atlantic Fleet, Admiral Ramage led the search operations for the nuclear submarine that sank in the Atlantic Ocean near Boston, MA. That same year he was promoted to vice admiral, and became Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for fleet operations and readiness. Vice Admiral Ramage was Commander, First Fleet, from 1964 to 1966 during the buildup to the Vietnam War. In 1967, he become Commander, Military Sea Transportation Service. He retired from the Navy in 1969.

Early life and career

Taking his nickname from his hair color,Moore (2011) p. 21 Ramage was born on 19 January 1909, in Monroe Bridge, Massachusetts. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1931, having injured his right eye while wrestling, and was subsequently commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Navy. From 1931 to 1935, he served aboard several surface ships. He was the navigator of , the engineering officer of , and the radio officer of . Unable to pass the submarine physical examination because of his eye injury, Stephen Moore quotes Ramage: "I took the opportunity to memorize the eye chart so that when I returned I had no problem reading off the eye chart" and getting his approval. Confronted with a subsequent eye examination, Ramage relates he passed the eye examination "by just exchanging the card before my right eye and reading with my left eye in both instances." In January 1936, Lieutenant (jg) Ramage reported to the ; he would then spend most of his career on submarines.Moore (2011) p. 22

In 1938, Ramage returned to the Naval Academy for postgraduate education. In September 1939, Ramage became executive officer of , serving until February, 1941. Subsequent duty took him to Hawaii as the force communications and sound officer on the staff of Commander, Submarines Pacific Fleet (ComSubPac).Moore (2011) p. 23

Posthumous honors

The guided missile destroyer was named for him in 1994. Several submarine-related facilities were also named after him including the administrative building (Ramage Hall) of the Submarine Training Facility in Norfolk, Virginia and the headquarters building at Naval Submarine Base New London on August 20, 2010.Buildings Honor SubmarinersSub base dedicates HQ building to WWII hero

World War 2 Summary

Trout|SS-202}} and War Patrols
  Departing From Date Days Wartime CreditShips/Tonnage JANACJoint Army-Navy Assessment Committee. Blair rounded entries in his tables (see Blair p. 900, bottom) while Roscoe’s tables are an accurate transcription of the JANAC report. CreditShips/Tonnage Patrol Area
Trout-5 Pearl Harbor, TH August 1942 47 1/8,200Blair (1975) p. 918 1/863Roscoe (1949) p. 562 –>BrisbaneVia Truk
Trout-6 Brisbane, Australia October 1942 28 zero/zeroBlair (1975) p. 920 zero/zero Solomons
Trout-7 Freemantle, Australia December 1942 58 2/10,800Blair (1975) p. 922 2/4,895 Indochina
Trout-8 Freemantle, Australia March 1943 42 zero/zeroBlair (1975) p. 925 zero/zero South China SeaLaid minefields
Parche-1 Pearl Harbor, TH March 1944 56 3/23,900Blair (1975) p. 944 2/11,719 Luzon Strait
Parche-2 Pearl Harbor, TH June 1944 59 4/34,300Blair (1975) p. 951 2.5/19,204 Luzon StraitShared 1/2 credit with Steelhead
Parche-3 Pearl Harbor, TH September 1944 77 zero/zeroBlair (1975) p. 958 zero/zero Luzon Strait