Rafael Celestino Benitez
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Rear Admiral Rafael Celestino Benitez (March 9, 1917-March 6, 1999) born in Juncos, Puerto Rico was a highly decorated submarine commander who led the rescue effort of the crew members of the USS Cochino during the Cold War. After retiring from the Navy, he was Pan American World Airways' vice president for Latin America. He was associate dean at the University of Miami Law School and Dean of the university's Graduate School of International Studies.
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[edit] Early years
Benitez was born in the town of Juncos, where he received his primary and secondary education. He applied and was accepted in the United States Naval Academy after he finished high school. He graduated from the academy in 1939 and was assigned to submarine duty.
During World War II, Benitez saw action aboard submarines and on various occasions weathered depth charge attacks. For his actions, he was awarded the Silver and Bronze Star Medals. On January 29, 1946, Lieutenant Commander Benitez was given his first submarine command, the USS Trumpetfish. Benitez, inspired by his father who was a judge, attended Georgetown Law School and earned his law degree in June 1949.[1]
[edit] Cochino incident
During the latter part of 1949, in the era which is commonly known as the Cold War Era, Benitez was given the command of the submarine USS Cochino. On August 12, 1949, the Cochino, along with the USS Tusk, departed from the harbor of Portsmouth, England. Both diesel submarines were reported to be on a cold-water training mission. However, according to "Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage",[1] the submarines — equipped with snorkels that allowed them to spend long periods underwater, largely invisible to an enemy, and with electronic gear designed to detect far-off radio signals — were part of an American intelligence operation.
The mission of the Cochino and the Tusk was to eavesdrop on communications that revealed the testing of submarine-launched Soviet missiles that might soon carry nuclear warheads. This was the first American undersea spy mission of the cold war.
On August 25, one the Cochino's 4,000-pound batteries caught fire, emitting hydrogen gas and smoke. Unable to receive any help from the Tusk, Commander Benitez directed the firefighting. He ordered the Cochino to surface and had dozens of crew members lash themselves to the deck rails with ropes while others fought the blaze. Benitez tried to save his ship and at the same time save his men from the toxic gases. He realized that the winds were about to tear the ropes and ordered his men to form a pyramid on the ship's open bridge, which was designed to hold seven men.
The Cochino suffered two casualties, Lt. Cmdr. Richard M. Wright, who survived despite the fact that he was severely burned and Robert Philo, a civilian sonar expert, who attempted to reach the Tusk on a raft to report on the conditions of the Cochino, but was knocked overboard along with 11 of the Tusk's crew members. As a result, Philo and six of the Tusk's crew perished.
The ocean waters became calmer during the night and the Tusk was able to approach the Cochino. All of the crew, with the exception of Commander Benitez, boarded the Tusk. Finally, the crew members of the Tusk convinced Benitez to board the Tusk, which he did two minutes before the Cochino sank off the coast of Norway.
In 1952, Benitez was named chief of the United States naval mission to Cuba, a position which he held until 1954. In 1955, Rear Admiral Benitez was given the command of the destroyer USS Waldron. The Waldron resumed normal operations along the east coast and in the West Indies under his command after having completed a circumnavigation of the globe. Rear Admiral Rafael Celestino Benitez was the recipient of two Silver Star Medals.
[edit] Aftermath of the Cochino incident
According to the New York Times of April 5, 1997, "On September 20, 1949, the Soviet publication Red Fleet said the Cochino had been "not far from Murmansk" and suggested that it had been seeking military information. On September 23, President Harry S. Truman, confirming fears that had led to Commander Benitez's mission, announced that the Soviet Union had detonated its first nuclear device".
[edit] Post-Navy career
Benitez retired from the Navy in 1959, and became Pan American World Airways' vice president for Latin America. He taught international law and was associate dean at the University of Miami Law School and Dean of the university's Graduate School of International Studies. While a professor at UM Law, Benitez founded the Graduate Program for Foreign Lawyers, now known as the LL.M. Program in Comparative Law. He also inaugurated the Lawyer of the Americas (the predecessor of the Inter-American Law Review) and started the Masters Program in Inter-American Law for U.S. Lawyers. In 1978, he served as a board member of the US Foundation of the University of the Valley of Guatemala, located in Delaware. Benitez was also the author of "Anchors" (ISBN 1-884878-05-9), a compilation of ethical and practical maxims, published on August 1996. On March 15, 2000, the University of Miami School of Law launched a Rafael C. Benitez Scholarship Fund to support the studies of foreign graduate students. [2]
Benitez died on March 6, 1999, at the Memorial Hospital in Easton, Maryland. Benitez, who resided in Easton, Maryland, was married and had a son and two daughters.
[edit] Awards and Recognitions
Among Rear Admiral Benitez's decorations and medals were the following:
Silver Star Medal with a Gold Star in lieu of a second Silver Star Medal,
Bronze Star Medal,
American Campaign Medal,
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal,
World War II Victory Medal
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Sontag, Blind Man's Bluff.
- ^ Reunion to Draw UM Law's International Alumni. University of Miami School of Law (2001). Retrieved on 2006-10-10.
[edit] References
- Richard Goldstein (April 5, 1999). Rear Admiral R.C. Benitez, 81, Dies; Led Cold War Rescue. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2006-10-21.
- Sontag, Sherry, and Christopher Drew, with Annette Lawrence Drew (1998). Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage. Public Affairs. ISBN 006103004.
- R.C. Benitez Dies; UM Law Dean, Naval Hero. University of Miami School of Law (199). Retrieved on 2006-10-21.
[edit] External links
- Rafael C. Benitez. Wikinfo. Retrieved on 2006-10-10.
- USS Cochino. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy. Retrieved on 2006-10-10.
- USS Cochino. NavSource Naval History. Retrieved on 2006-10-10.
- USS Cochino. On Eternal Patrol. Retrieved on 2006-10-10.
[edit] Further reading
- Commander William J. Lederer, USN (1950). The Last Cruise: The Story of the Sinking of the Submarine, U.S.S. Cochino. Sloane. ASIN B0007E631Y.
