Biography
Ellsberg - Edward W. Ellsberg (1891-1983) aka Rear Admiral Edward Ellsberg aka Commander Ellsberg aka Ned
Father: Joseph Ellsberg (1867-) – a dairyman Mother: Edna Stalarov Lavine (1867-) Birth Date: November 21, 1891 Born at: New Haven, Connecticut
Uncle of Daniel Ellsberg, known for releasing the Pentagon Papers
Significant Education: 1914: U.S. Naval Academy B.S. - graduated first in his class 1920: Massachusetts Institute of Technology M.S. – Postgraduate studies Naval Architecture 1929: University of Colorado – Honorary Eng. D.
Spouse Name: Buck - Lucy Knowlton (Buck) Ellsberg (1893-1978) Spouse Parents: William A. Buck (1866-1945) and Mary P. Knowlton (1867-) Wedding Date: June 1, 1918 Wedding Place: Norwich, Connecticut - at the home of the bride’s family.
Occupation: Naval Officer Commander Rear Admiral
Childhood Home: 1900: Denver, Colorado
Summer Home: 1939-1957: 25 Seawall Road, Southwest Harbor, Maine
Home: 1950-1984: Seth Higgins Clark House Clarence Clark House – 1st House Willowfield George D. Latimer Cottage Arthur B. Smith Cottage
Commander Edward Ellsberg House Windswept SWH – Cutler Road – 004
And: St. Petersburg, Florida
Death Date: January 24, 1983 – at the age of 91. Death Place: Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania - hospital Cemetery: Old Willimantic Cemetery, Willimantic, Connecticut
Vessels:
1914-1926: U.S. Navy
1925: Led the salvage efforts to raise the sunken submarine USS S-51 - first sailor to earn the Distinguished Service Medal in peacetime. Promoted to Commander by a special act of Congress and known as “Commander” ever since.
Entered civilian service, but remained in the naval reserve. 1927: Returned to active duty to assist with the salvage of the submarine USS S-4, which had been rammed and sunk off Cape Cod by a Coast Guard cutter.
1941 – December 8: Re-entered the Navy – distinguished service in Ethiopia, North Africa and invasion of Normandy. See his books Under the Red Sea Sun; No Banners, No Bugles; and The Far Shore.
Retired from the Navy with the rank of Rear Admiral. Became a consulting engineer, wrote and lectured.
Awards: Navy Distinguished Service Medal Legion of Merit Order of the British Empire
Edward W. Ellsberg as Author:
On the Bottom: An Epic of Deep-Sea Diving 1923 On the Bottom: The Raising of the U.S. Navy Submarine S-51 1929 Thirty Fathoms Deep 1930 Pigboats – movie – Hell Below 1931 S-54, Stories of the Sea 1932 Ocean Gold: Raising the Santa Cruz Treasure 1935
Spanish Ingots 1936 Hell on Ice: The Saga of the Jeannette 1938 Men Under the Sea 1939 Treasure Below 1940 Captain Paul 1941 I Have Just Begun to Fight!: The Story of John Paul Jones 1942 Under the Red Sea Sun 1946 Cruise of the Jeannette 1949 No Banners, No Bugles 1949 Passport for Jennifer 1952 Submarine Treasure 1953 Mid Watch - novel 1954 The Far Shore: An American at D-Day – Drawings - James MacDonald 1960 Melville: The Best of Moby Dick and Typee also Billy Budd Complete – Foreward by Rear 1964 Adm. Edward Ellsberg
See: http://www.edwardellsberg.com/index.htm - maintained by his grandson, Edward Pollard
See: Alden, John Doughty. Salvage Man: Edward Ellsberg and the U.S. Navy (Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 1997).
"Few American naval officers have been as unconventional as Edward Ellsberg and still managed to rise to the rank of rear admiral." – From an advertisement for the book.
See: Williams, Joseph A. Seventeen Fathoms Deep: The Saga of the Submarine S-4 Disaster (Chicago Review Press, 2015).
Author: Charlotte R. Morrill Date: 2016