Ships
- USS Trenton (CL-11) Captain from 2 January 1941 · Relieved on 25 May 1942
Arthur Dewey Struble had the light cruiser Trenton (CL-11) from 2 January 1941 to 25 May 1942. She was moored at Balboa when the United States entered the war, and in February 1942 she helped take the Bobcat convoy out to Bora Bora. He left her for the Navy Department, and before the war was over he was a rear admiral in command of amphibious landings in the Philippines. He died in 1983, an admiral on the retired list, and was buried at Arlington.
He was born in Portland, Oregon, on 28 June 1894, the son of Walter Burr Struble and Hannah Wadsworth Fairchild. He attended Lincoln High School in Portland. He was appointed to the Naval Academy from the Second District of Oregon in 1911. As a midshipman he played lacrosse and soccer.
He was graduated and commissioned ensign on 5 June 1915. He served in South Dakota, St. Louis, and Glacier until September 1917, then fitted out the destroyer Stevens at Quincy and joined her as engineer officer when she was commissioned on 24 May 1918. In October 1919 he became executive officer of Shubrick and took part in the Haitian campaign. He later commanded her, and from April 1920 to September 1921 he was executive officer of Meyer. He taught marine engineering and naval construction at the Academy until June 1923, then served in California. From October 1925 to September 1927 he was aide and flag lieutenant on the staff of a battleship division and of Commander, Battle Fleet. He spent 1927 to 1930 in the Office of Naval Communications, two years as aide and flag secretary to Commander, Battleship Division Three, a year as gunnery officer of New York, and two years as district communication officer of the Twelfth Naval District. He was first lieutenant and damage-control officer of Portland from June 1935 to June 1936, then damage-control officer on the staff of Commander, Cruisers, Scouting Force, and then in the Central Division of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. He joined Arizona in June 1940 as executive officer.
He left Arizona in January 1941 and took Trenton. NavSource dates that command from 2 January 1941 to 25 May 1942 and ranks him captain. DANFS calls him captain and gives the same dates. Uboat.net's command table ranks him a commander for the tour and dates his promotion to captain on 1 July 1941. The same site's event line for 14 December 1941 calls him Capt. A. D. Struble, when Trenton and Richmond joined HMS Diomede with the Norwegian transport Ferncliff bound for Seymour Island. DANFS, which does not mention that escort, places Trenton at Balboa on 7 December 1941 with the Southeast Pacific Force. She and Milwaukee joined the Bora Bora convoy at the Panama Canal on 3 February 1942, and on 23 February the agreement for the naval station was signed on board.
He went back to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations as director of the Central Division and received a letter of commendation. In November 1943 he became chief of staff to Commander, Task Force 122, in the Twelfth Fleet. He was awarded the Legion of Merit with Combat "V" as chief of staff to the Western Naval Task Force for the Normandy assault of 6 June 1944. In August 1944 he took command of an amphibious group of the Seventh Amphibious Force, later Amphibious Group Nine. He directed the initial landings at the entrance to Leyte Gulf, the assault at Ormoc Bay, and the landing on Mindoro. On 29 January 1945 his force put the 11th Army Corps ashore in the San Narcisco area of Zambales, as the sketch prints that place. Forces under him took Subic Bay, Mariveles, and Corregidor, and he conducted further landings in the central Visayas. He received two more Legions of Merit and the Navy Distinguished Service Medal for the Philippine operations, and the Army Distinguished Service Medal for the period 30 August to 17 November 1944. Uboat.net dates a temporary rear admiral's rank to 19 October 1942. In September 1945 he took command of Minecraft, Pacific Fleet, and began clearing mines in the western Pacific.
He commanded the Amphibious Force, Pacific Fleet, from June 1946 until April 1948, including the amphibious exercises off southern California in November and December 1946. He was promoted to vice admiral on 26 April 1948 and served as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Operations) until May 1950. He then commanded the Seventh Fleet through the first year of the Korean War: the carrier operations of July 1950, the Inchon landing of 15 September, and the Wonsan landing. The Army awarded him the Distinguished Service Cross for 15 September to 19 October 1950, and he received a gold star in lieu of a second Navy Distinguished Service Medal. He commanded the First Fleet from 28 March 1951, then headed the Navy and military delegations to the United Nations Military Staff Committee. From June 1955 he was Commander, Eastern Sea Frontier, and Commander, Atlantic Reserve Fleet. He was transferred to the retired list on 1 July 1956 and advanced to admiral on the basis of combat awards. He died on 1 May 1983. Wikipedia gives his burial place as Arlington National Cemetery. The biographical sketch says he married Hazel L. Ralston of Portland, who died in April 1962, and that they had three children.