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LOT 336
Extensive Historic
Collection of U.S. Naval
Artifacts Belonging
to World War II Rear
Admiral Morton L.
Deyo Including Flags,
Hats, Commissions,
and Logbooks - This lot
includes an extensive,
almost exhaustive,
collection of items
belonging to and related
to the legendary U.S.
Navy Admiral Morton L.
Deyo (1887-1973). Deyo’s
naval career began upon
graduating from the U.S.
Naval Academy in 1911,
taking his first assignment
aboard the battleship USS
Virginia. Prior to and during
World War I, Deyo served
on various ships in various
roles in the Caribbean as
well as in a training role,
preparing naval officers
and crews for escort duties
in the Atlantic, countering
German U-boats. During the inter-war period, Deyo took on various rolls, including serving aboard USS Seattle, teaching seamanship at the Naval Academy, Assistant Chief of Staff under Admiral Chester Nimitz, command of USS Sloat, on the staff of the Naval War College, and
as Executive Officer on USS Milwaukee. Early in World War II, then captain Deyo was escort commander of Task Unit 4.1.1 and commodore of Destroyer Squadron 11. His group was tasked with the escort of a 44 ship convoy, many of which were outdated and in ill-repair, across the North Atlantic to Great Britain. There was no U-boat attack during the crossing, however, one cargo ship sank in heavy seas, the whole crew being rescued. Upon return,
Deyo was said to have been very critical regarding the demands of anti-submarine warfare.
By the time of the Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944, Deyo was a rear admiral and was in command of the western Operation Neptune Force “U”, which supported the landings at both Utah and Omaha beaches. On 25 June 1944, Deyo was commander of Task Force 129, whose mission it was to suppress the German coastal batteries around Cherbourg and support the ground attack on the port city by the allied ground forces. The attack resulted in Deyo’s force knocking 22 of the 24 targeted gun emplacements out of action and by 29 June, all significant German resistance in the city had surrendered. All three of the ship’s flags including the two star admiral flag included in this lot are reported to have been aboard USS Tuscaloosa CA-37 with Deyo during the operations near Normandy and Cherbourg. Deyo was transferred to
the Pacific Theater and was in command of the naval gunfire support group for the assault on Okinawa, for which he received the Navy Distinguished Service Medal. Following the war, he directed the landing of occupation forces in Northern Japan. In 1946, Deyo was made commandant of First Naval District, headquartered in Boston, and in 1949 he retired from the navy with the rank of vice admiral after an illustrious career. He died at his home in Kittery Point, Maine on 10 November 1973. In March of 1980, a Spruance-class destroyer, USS Deyo DD-989 was commissioned in honor of Vice Admiral Morton L. Deyo.
Included in the lot is a vast amount of memorabilia and personal items related to the admiral. They include but are not limited to a size 6 rear admiral’s two star flag, two 48-star U.S. flags (34 x 62 inches and one 55 x 90 inches), a U.S. navy dress visor labeled for vice admiral Deyo on the interior, a pair of vice admiral 3-star shoulder boards, three earlier naval caps/bonnets, seven presidential commissions from midshipman to rear admiral, a huge captain’s logbook/ scrapbook containing photos, maps, notes, and other items, various photographs including one framed of Eisenhower and Deyo, various office type items and plaques, a 50 x 60 inch banner for USS Deyo, a photo and plaque commemorating the christening of USS Deyo, and other items. See the following lot for a flag from the USS Tuscaloosa, Deyo’s flagship during the D-Day invasion.
323
Rear Admiral Morton L. Deyo