Captain Daniel V. Gallery (1901 - 1977) Captured in 1944 the U-boat - U-505.

Captain Daniel V. Gallery, Captain of the escort carrier USS Guadalcanal, commanding US Navy Task Group 22.3 captured U-505 off the coast of West Africa on June 4, 1944.

Captain Gallery was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He was a graduate of the
United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland. In the 1920s, following which he underwent flight training at the naval flight school in Pensacola, Florida.

In 1942 he commanded the Fleet Air Base in Reykjavic, Iceland where he was
awarded the Bronze Star for combat operations against the U-boats.

In September 1943 he was appointed Commanding Officer and commissioned USS Guadalcanal. Under his command, the USS Guadalcanal Task Groups sank U-544, U-68, U-515, and captured U-505, for which the Task Group was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and Captain Gallery the Distinguished Service Medal.

In September 1944 he was appointed staff to the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations after which he served as Commanding Officer of the aircraft carrier USS Hancock. Attaining the rank of Rear Admiral, he became Asst. Chief of Naval Operations and held several other key commands, including Carrier Division Six during the Korean War. He retired in 1960.

He made his home in Oakton Virginia and was a prolific writer on naval subjects, both factual and fictional, having written 8 books and numerous magazine articles. He also carried on a lively correspondence with a number of his former opponents in the German U-boat arm.

He died at the Bethesda Naval Medical Center in January 1977 at the age of 75. He was buried with full military honors in Section 3 of Arlington National Cemetery, adjacent to his two brothers:

Philip Daly Gallery, Rear Admiral, USNA, WWII, Decorated Destroyer Commander
 William Onahan Gallery, Rear Admiral, USNA, Naval Aviator, WWII, DFC

BETHESDA, Maryland, January 19, 1977 - Rear Admiral Daniel V. Gallery, USN, retired, who commanded aircraft carriers and wrote eight books on Navy life, died Sunday at the Bethesda Naval Medical Cemter.  He was 75 years old and lived in Oakton, Virginia.

Survivors include his wife, the former Vera Lee Dunn; two sone, and a daughter.

A funeral service will be held Friday at 12:45 P.M. in the chapel at Fort Myer, Virginia.  Burial will be in Arlington National Cemetery.

 On Wednesday, June 7, 2000, at her residence, VERA D. GALLERY, wife of the late Rear Admiral Daniel V. Gallery. Mrs. Gallery was the first female U.S. Marshall. She is survived by her sons, James J. and Daniel V. Gallery, III; siblings, Bud Dunn of Fremont, NE, Beatrice Cady of Rehoboth Beach, DE, Marge Mayne of Detroit, MI and Vern Hoffman of Tampa, FL; grandchildren, Deborah Stemley, Susan Moyer, Patricia Ann Garnhart and Daniel V. Gallery, IV; and great-grandchildren, Brett Stemley, Tyler Stemley, Tabitha Garnhart and Richard Michael Garnhart. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Constance Moyer. Services will be held on Thursday, June 22, 2000, 10 a.m. at Arlington National Cemetery.

The colors, green and gold, and the rampant lions have been adapted from a personal device of the Gallery family. The lions, symbolic of courage and strength, face in different directions, indicating that the brothers, for whom this ship is named, RADM Daniel V. Gallery, RADM Philip D. Gallery, and RADM William O. Gallery, served in both theatres of operation during World War II. The stars allude to their many awards, and denote excellence and achievement. The crossed swords, adapted from the Officer and Enlisted badges, allude to Naval Combat Operations.

CREST

Blue and gold are the colors traditionally associated with the Navy. The upraised arm in green and gold is an adaptation from the Gallery family device. The collared and chained sea- wolf symbolizes the only capture of a U-boat from the German "wolf packs" during World War II. The crest also symbolizes the curbing and destruction of enemy sub activities in the Pacific Theatre. MOTTO: MANU FORTI "With a Strong Hand"

Rear Admiral Daniel Vincent Gallery (1901 - 1977) earned for himself a special niche in Navy history on 4 June 1944, when a task force he was leading captured the German submarine, U-505, off the West Coast of Africa. It was the only German submarine ever boarded and captured by U.S. Forces, and the first foreign man-o-war captured by the U.S. Navy since 1815.

Because of the havoc the dreaded U-boats had created for Allied Forces during World War II, the capture was hailed as a major coup for the Navy and American Intelligence.

Admiral Gallery was a former Assistant Chief of Naval Operations and former  Commander of the Hunter-Killer Force, Atlantic. During World War II, he earned the Bronze Star Medal for combat achievements as Commanding Officer, Fleet Air
Base Iceland, and the Distinguished Service Medal for daring and skillful command of an anti-submarine task group built around his escort aircraft carrier USS GUADALCANAL, which sank three enemy submarines in the Atlantic before capturing the German submarine, U-505. Task Group 22.3 was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation in recognition of this remarkable achievement.

The German submarine is now a major exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, llinois.

Admiral Gallery served on the staff of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations from September 1944 until June 1945. He subsequently commanded the aircraft carrier USS HANCOCK, and then served as Assistant Vice Chief of Naval Operations. He held several other key commands before retiring in 1960.

Admiral Gallery was also a writer, and during his lifetime wrote eight books and numerous articles, that combined his insight as a seasoned Navy veteran with humor. Not only did he write funny tales of the sea, but also penned serious essays and commentaries on the need for a strong Navy.

Famed American novelist Herman Wouk once said, "Daniel V. Gallery is a writer of humor and adventure, who somehow got diverted into becoming an admiral of the line in the United States Navy."

Admiral Gallery's "diversion" earned him the admiration and respect of his countrymen, and a permanent spot in history.

Webmaster: Michael Robert Patterson

GALLERY, DANIEL VINCENT
RADM   US NAVY
VETERAN SERVICE DATES: 10/01/1940 - 10/01/1960
DATE OF BIRTH: 07/10/1901
DATE OF DEATH: 01/16/1977
DATE OF INTERMENT: 01/21/1977
BURIED AT: SECTION 4  SITE 61-3
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY

GALLERY, VERA DUNN
DATE OF BIRTH: 03/17/1902
DATE OF DEATH: 06/07/2000
DATE OF INTERMENT: 06/22/2000
BURIED AT: SECTION 4  SITE 61-3
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
WIFE OF GALLERY, DANIEL VINCENT RADM US NAVY

Photo Courtesy of Ron Williams

Webmaster: Michael Robert Patterson