1909 NAVY SHARPSHOOTER MEDAL
Ensign Harry George Skinner Jr.
|
United States Navy Officer Ensign Harry George Skinner Jr. was born on May 22nd 1889 in Baltimore, Maryland to the prominent shipbuilding Skinner Family. Three generations of the Skinner Family built ships in the Baltimore Harbor over 86 years.
June 29th 1909
|
|
Harry was admitted as a Midshipman in the United States Naval Academy on June 29th 1909. During his time at Annapolis Midshipman Skinner spent his time on the Rifle Range earning a Marksman Silver Medal and this Sharpshooter Medal, he spent 3 years on the Gymnasium Team, he also participated in the HOP & Class Pin Committee’s.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A few quotes directly from the 1913 Annapolis “Lucky Bag” yearbook:
|
|
“Who is that handsome, dark eyed man with the HOP Committee belt?” - “Why don’t you know Harry Skinner up in Baltimore”
|
|
“There isn’t a better comrade & shipmate to be found in the class”
|
|
June 1913
|
Soon after graduating from the Naval Academy, Ensign Skinner resigned from Active Duty on December 9th 1913 and was transferred to the Naval Reserve Force.
|
|
At the onset of World War I Ensign Harry was recalled to active service on May 3rd 1917 at the Brooklyn, New York Naval Yard.
|
|
|
Ensign Skinner joined the crew of the Armed Yacht U.S.S. Nahma on June 21st 1917 when it was put into commission as a warship. The U.S.S. Nahma performed convoy duty between the British Islands & Gibraltar escorting cargo vessels. |
|
Ensign Skinner was transferred to the Bainbridge Class Torpedo Boat Destroyer U.S.S. Chauncey on November 6th 1917.
|
|
Just 9 days later on November 19th 1917 the U.S.S. Chauncey was performing escort duty approximately 110 miles from Gibraltar, when it was involved in a accident being rammed by the British Merchantman cargo ship SS Rose, as both ships steamed ahead in war-imposed darkness. The U.S.S. Chauncey sunk in under an hour taking 21 of her crew with her including 19 enlisted, Ensign Skinner, The Captain, & the LT. J.G. |
|
|
|
|
Ensign Skinner’s body was never recovered, the U.S.S. Chauncey sunk in 1500 fathoms (9,000 feet) deep in the Atlantic. The SS Rose picked up 70 survivors from the U.S.S. Chauncey and carried them to port in Gibraltar. This tablet was made to honor the memory sacrifice the men who perished aboard the U.S.S. Chauncey.
|
Sources:
