Harris Laning

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Harris Laning
1873-1941
Admiral Harris Laning
Place of birth	Petersburg, Illinois
Service/branch	U.S. Navy
Years of service	1895-1937
Rank	Admiral
Other work	Governor, Naval Home

Harris Laning, born October 18, 1873 in Petersburg, Illinois, graduated from the United States Naval Academy on June 7, 1895. He served in the Philippines during the Philippine insurrection, and served as captain of the U.S. rifle team which won the Gold Medal in Stockholm, Sweden, at the 1912 Olympic Games. His first command was USS Cassin (DD-43), which operated off Vera Cruz during the 1914 Mexican Campaign. As Chief of Staff to Commander Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet in 1919 he supported the first successful transatlantic flight, made by Navy seaplane NC-4 in May.

As a rear admiral, he commanded a battleship division, and was president of the Naval War College in the early in the 1930’s; as vice admiral, he commanded Cruisers, Scouting Force. As admiral, he commanded Battle Force, U.S. Fleet, from April 1, 1935 to April 20, 1936. He was Commandant, New York Navy Yard, and 3rd Naval District from April 20, 1936 to October 1, 1937. Laning retired from the Navy on November 1, 1937, then served as Governor of the Naval Home in Philadelphia, until his death on February 2, 1941. He was buried in the United States Naval Academy Cemetery.^[1]

The Naval War College published his memoirs in 1999.^[2]

[edit] References

1. ^ Find-a-grave entry
2. ^ Laning, Harris (1999), An Admiral's Yarn, Newport, RI: Naval War College Press 

This article incorporates text from [1], a public domain work of the United States Government.