Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description		Contributed By
	51k	Alfred Austell Cunningham was born on 8 March 1882 in Atlanta, Ga. and enlisted in a volunteer infantry regiment during the Spanish-American War, and served a tour of occupation duty in Cuba. He spent the next decade selling real estate in Atlanta, and during this time evinced an interest in aeronautics, making a balloon ascent in 1903. Commissioned a 2d lieutenant in the Marine Corps on 25 January 1909, Cunningham served in the marine guards of New Jersey (Battleship No. 16) and North Dakota (Battleship No. 29), and the receiving ship Lancaster, over the next two years. Promoted to 1st lieutenant in September 1911, Cunningham received orders to the Advanced Base School, at the Marine Barracks, Philadelphia, that November. Having retained an interest in aeronautics, he found at Philadelphia a likewise avid group of civilians and off-duty military men who harbored an interest in the same thing. He rented an airplane and gained permission from the commandant of the navy yard to use an open field at the Philadelphia Navy Yard for test flights. He also joined the Aero Club of Philadelphia, and commenced "selling" Marine Corps aviation to members of the Aero Club, who, through their Washington connections, began to pressure a number of officials, including Major General Commandant William P. Biddle, himself a member of a prominent Philadelphia family. On 16 May 1912, Cunningham received orders detaching him from the Marine Barracks, and ordering him to the Naval Academy, and its nearby aviation camp. He reported six days later, on 22 May 1912. Expeditionary duty, however, intervened, and by the time the young lieutenant returned to Annapolis, there were no planes available to fly. Possessing boundless enthusiasm, Cunningham got orders to the Burgess Co., and Curtiss factory at Marblehead, Mass.; there, following two hours and 40 minutes of instruction, he soloed on 20 August 1912. Between October 1912 and July 1913, Cunningham made some 400 flights in the Curtiss B-l, conducting training and testing tactics and aircraft capabilities. In August 1913, Cunningham sought detachment from aviation duty, on the grounds that his fiancee would not marry him unless he gave up flying. Although assigned duty as assistant quartermaster at the Marine Barracks at the Washington Navy Yard, the first marine aviator continued to advocate Marine Corps aviation and contribute significantly to its growth. In November 1913, he served on a board, headed by Capt. Washington I. Chambers, USN, tasked with drawing up a comprehensive plan for the organization of a naval aeronautical service. It was upon the recommendation of that board that the Naval Aeronautical Station at Pensacola, Fla., was established in 1914. The following February, Cunningham was assigned duty at the Washington Navy Yard, assisting Naval Constructor Holden C. Richardson in working on the D-2 flying boat. Ordered to Pensacola for instruction in April 1915 (his wife apparently having relented in allowing her husband to fly), Cunningham was designated Naval Aviator No. 5 on 17 September 1915. After heading the motor erecting shop at Pensacola, he underwent instruction at the Army Signal Corps Aviation School at San Diego, whence he was assigned to the Commission on Navy Yards and Naval Stations. Cunningham received orders on 26 February 1917, to organize the Aviation Company for the Advanced Base Force, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. Designated as the commander of this unit, Cunningham soon emerged as de facto director of Marine Corps aviation. He sought, and got, enthusiastic volunteers to become pilots, and soon embarked on a determined campaign to define a mission for land-based marine air. In addition, he served on a joint Army-Navy board that selected sites for naval air stations in seven naval districts and on the east and gulf coasts. Detailed to Europe to obtain information on British and French aviation practices, he participated in a variety of missions over German lines. Returning to the United States in January 1918, he presented a plan to use marine aircraft to operate against submarines off the Belgian coast and against submarine bases at Zeebrugge, Ostend, and Bruges. The Northern Bombing Group emerged from these plans—four landplane squadrons equipped and trained in five months' time. On 12 July 1918, 72 planes, 176 officers and 1,030 enlisted men sailed for France on board the transport DeKalb, arriving at Brest on 30 July 1918. The marines were sent to the fields at Oye, Le Fresne, and St. Pol, France; and at Hoondschoote, Ghietelles, Varsennaire and Knesselaere, Belgium. Despite shortages of planes, spare parts, and tools, the marines participated in 43 raids with British and French units, as well as 14 independent raids, and shot down eight enemy aircraft. Planes of the group also dropped 52,000 pounds of bombs, and supplied 2,650 pounds of food in five food-dropping missions to encircled French troops. For his service in organizing and training the first marine aviation force, Cunningham was awarded the Navy Cross. After World War I, Cunningham returned to the United States to become officer-in-charge of Marine Corps aviation, a billet in which he remained until 26 December 1920, when he was detailed to command the First Air Squadron in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Ordered thence to general duty at Marine Corps Schools, Quantico, Major Cunningham then served as assistant adjutant and inspector, and then division marine officer and aide on the staff of Commander, Battleship Division 3. On temporary detached duty in Nicaragua from June 1928, he served with the 2d Brigade of Marines as executive officer of the Western Area at Leon, Nicaragua. Subsequently, becoming executive officer and registrar of the Marine Corps Institute from 1929 to 1931, he finished up his career as assistant quartermaster at the Marine Barracks, Philadelphia. His health failing, Cunningham was retired on 1 August 1935; promoted to lieutenant colonel while on the retired list, he died at Sarasota, Fla., on 27 May 1939. Photo from the USMC History Division.		Bill Gonyo
	95k	Artist's conception of the Cunningham as she appeared after the early 1950's conversion by the renowned graphic illustrator John Barrett with the text written by naval author and historian Robert F. Sumrall. Their company Navy Yard Associates offers prints of most destroyers, destroyer escorts, submarines and aircraft carriers in various configurations during the ship's lifetime. The prints can be customized with ship's patches, your photograph, your bio, etc. If you decide to purchase artwork from them please indicate that you heard about their work from NavSource.		Navy Yard Associates
	98k	Artist's conception of the Cunningham as she appeared after FRAM II overhaul by the renowned graphic illustrator John Barrett with the text written by naval author and historian Robert F. Sumrall. Their company Navy Yard Associates offers prints of most destroyers, destroyer escorts, submarines and aircraft carriers in various configurations during the ship's lifetime. The prints can be customized with ship's patches, your photograph, your bio, etc. If you decide to purchase artwork from them please indicate that you heard about their work from NavSource.		Navy Yard Associates
	64k	Undated, location unknown.		-
	38k	Undated postcard image.		Al Kaplan
	90k	Undated, location unknown. US Navy photo.		Bill Gonyo
	191k	Undated, location unknown.		Ed Zajkowski
	108k	Undated, location unknown.		Richard Miller BMCS USNR RET
	217k	June 1944, location unknown.		Ed Zajkowski
	71k	Bow on view of USS Alfred A. Cunningham (DD 752) departing Mare Island on 7 January 1947.		Darryl Baker
	83k	Broadside view of USS Alfred A. Cunningham (DD 752) departing Mare Island on 7 January 1947. She was at the yard for deactivation from 7 Jun 46 to 7 Jan 47.		Darryl Baker
	84k	Stern view of USS Alfred A. Cunningham (DD 752) departing Mare Island on 7 January 1947.		Darryl Baker
	183k	USS Alfred A. Cunningham (DD 752) off Mare Island on January 7, 1947. Photo from the collection of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum.		Darryl Baker
	58k	Circa 1950's, location unknown.		Marc Piché
	104k	Photo of First Division from 1951.		Bill Gonyo
	112k	Photo of Second Division from 1951.		Bill Gonyo
	107k	Photo of "S" Division from 1951.		Bill Gonyo
	71k	Circa 1959, location unknown.		Richard Miller, BMCS, USNR (Ret.)
	55k	USS Alfred A. Cunningham (DD-752) passes in review for President John F. Kennedy, on 6 June 1963. In this picture, taken by Photographer 2nd Class R.D. Fennell, the attack carrier Oriskany (CVA-34) is in the background. U.S. Naval Historical Center photo # NH USN 1072947.		Robert Hurst
	147k	USS Alfred A. Cunningham (DD-752) passes in review for President John F. Kennedy, 6 June 1963. In this picture, taken by Photographer 2d Class R. D. Fennell, the attack carrier Oriskany (CVA-34) is in the right background. Official U.S. Navy Photo from DANFS. Photo # USN 1072947.		Robert Hurst
	177k	USS Bennington (CVS-20) refueling at sea from USS Mispillion (AO-105), 20 August 1963. USS Alfred A. Cunningham (DD-752) is taking on fuel from off the oiler's starboard side. Photographed by PH2 Hobbs.		Fred Weiss
Scenes from the 1964 movie Mr. Limpet. (note: the first 3 destroyer images are an unknown Fletcher Class with the Cunningham's Hull Number)				Tommy Trampp
	107k	Ship's patch.		Mike Smolinski
	73k	Ship's patch.		Don McGrogan, BMCS, USN (Ret.)
	100k-120k	Uniform Ship's name shoulder patch.		Al Grazevich
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CDR Floyd Bertram Thomas Myhre    Nov 23 1944 - Jan 27 1946
LCDR Robert Marvin Brownlie    Jan 27 1946 - Aug 10 1946
LCDR Rupert Dexter Hawley    Aug 10 1946 - May 12 1947
CDR Jack Joffre Hughes    Jan 1949 - Sep 1949
LCDR Robert Samuel Salzer    Sep 1949 - Oct 5 1950 (Later VADM)
CDR Louis Piollet Spear     Oct 5 1950 - Nov 1951
CDR Asa Alan Clark III    Nov 1951 - Dec 1953
CDR Burton Lagerquist Bikle    Dec 1953 - Nov 1955
CDR Oliver Doty Compton     Nov 1955 - Nov 12 1957
CDR Bennie West Jones Jr.    Nov 12 1957 - Oct 3 1959
CDR John Farris Ackerman    Oct 3 1959 - Nov 8 1961
CDR Royal Wilbur Baker    Nov 8 1961 - Jul 18 1963
CDR John Oliver Bachert II    Jul 18 1963 - May 28 1965
CDR John Thompson Wells    May 28 1965 - Mar 29 1967
CDR John Halvor McKay    Mar 29 1967 - Mar 3 1969
LCDR John Jarell Cashmere    Mar 3 1969 - Mar 4 1969 (Acting)
CDR John Clark Uehlinger    Mar 4 1969 - Jul 4 1070
CDR Jack Herbert Mosman    Jul 4 1970 - Sep 25 1970
LCDR John Duffie Cooper    Sep 25 1970 - Feb 24 1971