The Visor Cap of Rear Admiral and Navy Cross Recipient Henry E. Eccles

The visor cap is in excellent condition and it makes a very fine appearance. The interior retains the card of Rear Admiral Henry Effingham Eccles. Born in 1898, Eccles graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1922. After his first assignments to battleships, Eccles attended Submarine School and served in two submarines before being ordered to Columbia University, where he earned a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering in 1930. He commanded two submarines, then served as engineer and repair officer at the Submarine Base at New London, Connecticut; then served for nearly three years as engineer in the heavy cruiser USSSalt Lake Cityand two years in the Design Construction Division of the Bureau of Engineering in the Navy Department, Washington, D.C. In 1940, he was ordered to command the destroyer USSJohn D. Edwardson the Asiatic Station, based in the Philippines. He was in command when the Japanese simultaneously attacked Pearl Harbor as well as American and British positions in Southeast Asia on December 7, 1941. He and his ship participated in the battle of Badung Strait, and shortly after, while assigned to the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDA), the battle of the Java Sea. Wounded in action, Eccles was later awarded the Navy Cross,the Silver Star, and The Netherlands Order of the Bronze Lion.