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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Online Library of Selected Images:
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Captain Mervyn Sharp Bennion, USN, (1887-1941)

Mervyn Sharp Bennion was born in Vernon, Utah, on 5 May 1887. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1910 and later specialized in naval ordnance. He was Commanding Officer of the battleship West Virginia (BB-48) at the time of the 7 December 1941 Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor and was mortally wounded on the ship's bridge when a bomb exploded nearby. Captain Mervyn S. Bennion was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

The destroyer USS Bennion (DD-662), 1943-1972, was named in honor of Captain Bennion.

This page features our only view of Captain Mervyn S. Bennion, USN.

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 56151 Captain Mervyn Sharp Bennion, USN Who was awarded the Medal of Honor, posthumously, for devotion to duty and courage during the Pearl Harbor attack, 7 December 1941, while serving as Commanding Officer of USS West Virginia (BB-48). U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 74KB; 515 x 765 pixels

Medal of Honor citation of Captain Mervyn Sharp Bennion (as printed in the official publication "Medal of Honor, 1861-1949, The Navy", page 156): "For conspicuous devotion to duty, extraordinary courage, and complete disregard of his own life, above and beyond the call of duty, during the attack on the Fleet at Pearl Harbor, by Japanese forces on 7 December 1941. As Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. West Virginia, after being mortally wounded, Captain Bennion evidenced apparent concern only in fighting and saving his ship, and strongly protested against being carried from the bridge."

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Page made 10 December 2000