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[1] [2]	[1] - 59k [2] - 206k	Floyd Bennett was born in Warrensburg, Warren County, N.Y., on 25 October 1890. With the entry of the United States into World War I, he enlisted in the Navy on 15 December 1917, in Burlington, Vt., and was ordered to the Naval Air Station, Bay Shore, N.Y. In March 1918 he was transferred to the Naval Training Station, Norfolk, Va., where he received the rating of machinist's mate 2d class, aviation. May 1918 saw Bennett at the Naval Air Station, Hampton Roads, Va. Promoted to machinist's mate 1st class, aviation, in September 1918, he was made chief machinist's mate, aviation, in February of the following year. Honorably discharged on 30 July 1919, he immediately reenlisted and served continuously until 1927. In December 1919, he received orders to the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Fla., where he took the aviation course for enlisted pilots. He returned to Hampton Roads a year later and remained on duty there until September 1924 when he transferred to the cruiser Richmond (CL-9). He was one of the pilots from Richmond who conducted a landing site reconnaissance in Greenland for Army around-the-world pilots in 1924. It was while serving in Richmond that he was re-rated as an aviation pilot. In April 1925, he moved to the Naval Air Station, Anacostia, in Washington, D. C., for duty in the naval air detail of the MacMillan Arctic expedition. The officer in charge of the air detail was Lt. Comdr. Richard E. Byrd. The mission of the air detail was to survey areas designated, to test equipment and to gain more experience in the problems of air navigation in the northern latitudes. During this expedition, the three amphibian planes flew over Greenland, Baffin Bay and Baffin Island. On November 17, 1925 the Secretary of the Navy commended Bennett for his "Efficiency, indefatigable energy and courage while engaged on duty in connection with operations of the air unit, MacMillan Polar Expedition, summer of 1925." He next saw duty with the Byrd Arctic expedition and was the pilot with Byrd in the famous first flight over the North Pole on 9 May 1926. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal on 6 August 1926 for his "Exceptionally Meritorious service to the Government; his courage and ability contributed largely to the success of the first heavier than air craft flight to the North Pole and return." By act of Congress of 5 January 1927, Bennett was promoted to warrant officer rank, warrant machinist. On 19 February 1927, Congress awarded him the Medal of Honor for the North Pole flight, the award personally bestowed upon him by President Calvin Coolidge. Subsequently, Bennett made a successful tour of 44 American cities in the same plane in which he flew over the North Pole and for this very trying tour he received a letter of commendation from the Secretary of the Navy. Although Byrd selected Bennett to accompany him in America in a transatlantic flight, serious injuries suffered on a test flight accident in April 1927 prevented his participation in the enterprise. Byrd's next venture called for an aerial expedition to the South Pole, and he chose Bennett to be his second in command. Meanwhile, Bennett flew to the relief of Capt. Hermann Koehl and Baron Günther von Hünfeld of Germany and Commandant James Fitzmaurice of Ireland, who together made the first westbound transatlantic flight from Dublin, Ireland, to Greenly Island, Newfoundland. It was during this operation that he contracted pneumonia. In an attempt to save Bennett's life, Byrd flew serum from New York to Quebec and was at his side when he died on 25 April 1928. Floyd Bennett was buried at the National Cemetery, Arlington, Va. [1] - Photo: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. [2] - Photo, President Coolidge awarding Medal of Honor to Warrant Officer Floyd Bennett as Commander Richard Byrd stands next to the President. Digital ID: cph 3c31298, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.		Bill Gonyo
THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY WASHINGTON The Secretary of the Navy takes pleasure in commending the THE UNITED STATES SHIP BENNETT for service as follows: "For outstanding heroism in action as a Fighter Direction Ship on Radar Picket Station Number 4, sixty miles northeast of Okinawa Transport Area, April 6-7, 1945. Fighting valiantly against more than fifty enemy aircraft making repeated savage attacks, the U.S.S. BENNETT sent up barrages of antiaircraft fire during a prolonged and furious air-sea battle commencing on the early morning of April 6. When two of our destroyers on near-by radar picket stations were severely damaged and left in a sinking condition on the evening of April 6, the BENNETT closed them to assist in combing the area for survivors. While continuing her rescue work, she beat off repeated attacks throughout the night and, with her own gunfire and that of the fighter aircraft which she was directing, destroyed a total of seventeen enemy aircraft, successfully avoiding damage to herself until the following morning. With her supply of ammunition seriously reduced, she was crashed by a fiercely burning Kamikaze whose bomb exploded with devastating effect and, although badly holed below the waterline and in the engineering spaces, succeeded in returning to port under her own power. A seaworthy, fighting ship, the BENNETT, her officers and men rendered invaluable service during a hazardous mission and upheld the finest traditions of the United States Naval Services." All personnel attached to and serving on board the U.S.S. BENNETT on April 6-7, 1945, are authorized to wear the NAVY UNIT COMMENDATION Ribbon. /s/ James Forrestal Secretary of the Navy
	72k	Launching April 16 1942 at Boston.		Ron Reeves
	88k	Mrs. Cora L. Bennett, widow of Floyd Bennett and sponsor of USS Bennett (DD-473), just prior to ship’s launch, 16 April 1942. (U.S. Navy photograph, Boston National Historical Park Collection, NPS Cat. No. BOSTS-10423)		Stephen P. Carlson, Boston NHP, Charlestown Navy Yard
	101k	Launch of USS Bennett (DD-473) from Shipways 2 of the Boston Navy Yard, 16 April 1942. (U.S. Navy photograph, Boston National Historical Park Collection, NPS Cat. No. BOSTS-10423)		Stephen P. Carlson, Boston NHP, Charlestown Navy Yard
	97k	Launching at Boston on April 16 1942.		S. Dale Hargrave
	74k	USS Bennett (DD-473) at the Boston Navy Yard, 17 March 1943. (Boston Navy Yard photograph 1053-43, Boston National Historical Park Collection, NPS Cat. No. BOSTS-10422)		Stephen P. Carlson, Boston NHP, Charlestown Navy Yard
	63k	USS Bennett (DD-473) in Boston Harbor, 7 May 1943. (Boston Navy Yard photograph 1996-43, Boston National Historical Park Collection, NPS Cat. No. BOSTS-10422)		Stephen P. Carlson, Boston NHP, Charlestown Navy Yard/Joe Radigan, MACM, USN, Ret.
	135k	May 7 1943, location unknown.		Ed Zajkowski
	89k	USS Bennett (DD-473) under fire from a Japanese shore battery of 3" guns, when destroyers of DesRon 45 shelled the Shortland Islands. Bennett was their target at ranges of between 1,900 and 6,000 yards, and Halford (DD-480) also came under heavy fire. Photo from "United States Destroyer Operations in World War II" by Theodore Roscoe.		Robert Hurst
	93k	USS Halford (foreground) and the destroyer Bennett (background) open fire on a wooden watchtower on the Shortland Islands south if Bougainville, in early 1944. Admiral Halsey later sent the " naughty boys" a message saying the installation was already known and did not pose a threat. National Archives and Records Administration. Photo # 80-G-K-1638.		Robert Hurst
	118k	December 11 1944 at Hunters Point.		Ed Zajkowski
	231k	December 11 1944 at Hunters Point.		Ed Zajkowski
On Brazilian Service
	284k	Four Brazilian Navy Fletcher - class destroyers and the light cruiser Tamandare (C 12, ex-USS St Louis, CL-49) underway heading northwards in formation, during the so-called Lobster war with France in 1961. The four destroyers are from bottom to top: Paraiba (D 28, ex-USS Bennett (DD-473); Para (D 27, ex-USS Guest, DD-472); Parana (D29, ex-USS Cushing (DD-797) and Pernambuco (D 30,ex-USS Hailey (DD-556). Brazilian Navy photo.		Robert Hurst

CDR Edmund Battelle Taylor    Feb 9 1943 - Jul 31 1944 (Later VADM)

LCDR Philip Frederick Hauck    Jul 31 1944 - Nov 5 1944

CDR Jasper Newton McDonald Jr.    Nov 5 1944 - Apr 18 1946

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