Edward L. Beach
Edward L. Beach Jr. was a distinguished naval officer, author, and historian, born in New York City in 1918. Coming from a naval family, he graduated second in his class from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1939 and first from submarine school in 1941. During World War II, Beach commanded several submarines, notably the USS Piper and later the USS Trigger, and contributed significantly to naval operations in the Pacific. His literary contributions include the best-selling novel "Run Silent, Run Deep," which recounts his wartime experiences and was adapted into a film, as well as "Around The World Submerged," detailing the Triton's historic underwater circumnavigation of the globe in 1960.
After his naval service, Beach held various advisory roles, including as aide to President Dwight Eisenhower and as a political advisor in the Senate. He authored several works that contributed to historical narratives and the rehabilitation of figures involved in significant military events, such as the Pearl Harbor attack. Beach received numerous military and civilian awards for his service and writing, including the Navy Cross and the Samuel Eliot Morrison Award. He passed away in Washington, D.C., in 2002, leaving a legacy as a versatile figure in both military and literary circles, honored by the naming of Beach Hall at the Naval Academy.
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Subject Terms
Edward L. Beach
Writer
- Born: April 20, 1918
- Birthplace: New York, New York
- Died: December 1, 2002
- Place of death: Washington, D.C.
Biography
Born in New York City in 1918, Edward Latimer Beach Jr. was the son of a prominent naval officer, Edward Latimer Beach, and Alice Fouche, a homemaker. Like his father, Beach attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, graduating second in his class in 1939. In 1941, he graduated first in his class from submarine school. During World War II, Beach served as an officer on several submarines and other ships in the Pacific, becoming commander of the submarine USS Piper by the end of the war.
In 1944, Beach married Ingrid Schenck, with whom he had four children, Ingrid, Edward III, Herbert, and Inga. In 1948, Beach became commanding officer of the USS Amberjack, and in 1949 he served in Washington, D.C. as an aide to the joint chiefs of staff. In 1951, he went to sea as commander of the USS Trigger, one of the submarines on which he served during the war. He returned to Washington as an aide to President Dwight Eisenhower from 1953 to 1957. He was awarded the rank of captain in 1955, but it is generally thought that he did not rise above that rank because of a vendetta on the part of Admiral Hyman Rickover.
While serving in Washington, Beach published Submarine!, a history of the USS Trigger, and Run Silent, Run Deep, based on his experiences in the war. The latter book, a best-selling novel, was adapted for a film released in 1958, and some military academies assign the novel as a classroom text.
Beach went back to sea as commanding officer on two more ships from 1957 through 1961. Most notably, he commanded the Triton on its historic eighty-four-day submerged circumnavigation of the earth in 1960, following the route of the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan’s voyage in the sixteenth century and setting a speed and endurance record. Beach published a book about his experience on the Triton, Around The World Submerged, in 1962.
Beach became commander of the eighth submarine squadron in 1961. He earned a degree at the Naval War College in 1963, the same year he received his M.A. from George Washington University. He was an adviser to the Senate Republican minority from 1969 to 1977 and later served briefly as an aide to U.S. Senator Jeremiah Denton of Alabama, a former admiral and prisoner of war in Vietnam. Beach also continued his writing career. In 1966, he published The Wreck of the Memphis, a defense of the two naval officers blamed for the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor; Beach’s book was considered instrumental in their official rehabilitation.
During his retirement, Beach appeared in numerous documentaries about submarines. His final book, published posthumously in 2003, was an edition of his father’s memoirs with his own commentary. Beach died in Washington, D.C., on December 1, 2002.
Beach combined three careers; he was a naval officer, a political and military advisor, and a novelist and historian. He also was one of the few twentieth century figures to possess the versatility of the many nineteenth century mariners who were also men of letters. The much-decorated Beach was awarded the prestigious Navy Cross for service in World War II, the Silver Star, the Legion of Valor, and other military awards of merit. Among his civilian awards were the Samuel Eliot Morrison Award for Naval Literature, the Magellanic Premium Award from the American Philosophical Society, and the Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Literary Achievement. Beach Hall at Annapolis is named in honor of both Beach and his father.