Benjamin Vaughan McCandlish (June 3, 1886 – October 16, 1975) was a United States Navy Flag officer who served as the 36th Naval Governor of Guam. McCandlish was born in Petersburg, Virginia, the third of four children of James McCandlish, and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1909.[1]
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As an ensign, McCandlish served aboard the USS New York (ACR-2), an armored cruiser that was renamed USS Saratoga in 1911.[2] During World War I, he commanded the USS Davis, a Sampson class destroyer, during its mission to escort troops to Europe through waters infested by German u-boats. For his actions, he received the Navy Cross as a lieutenant commander.[1]. McCandlish commanded a number of different-class vessels during the 1920s and 1930s until 12 August, 1938, when he assumed his last sea-going command, becoming the first captain of the USS Boise (CL-47), a Brooklyn class cruiser.
McCandlish served as Naval Governor of Guam from March 27, 1936 to February 8, 1938.[3] Along with others in the U.S. Naval Command, he placed emphasis on basic hygiene education for the island's children, often in a dictatorial manner resented by some Chamorro.[4] He discouraged a mission of the Guam Congress to the federal government, instead instructing them to look toward the numerous welfare agencies he had set up on the island. The Congress sent the mission regardless, and ceased to accept funds from the Navy.[5]
In 1940, prior to World War II, Capt. McCandlish was selected to serve as Captain of the Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia, was promoted to flag rank as Commodore(pay grade 0-7) in April, 1943, and led the Moroccan Sea Frontier from October 13, 1943 to August 1, 1945.[6]
McCandlish retired a Commodore,[1] settled in and became a well-known society figure in Darlington, South Carolina, and died there on 16 October, 1975. He was buried in Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, Virginia.
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