Arthur Philip Fairfield – Vice Admiral, United States Navy

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Vice Admiral Arthur Phillip Fairfield (29 October 1877-1946) was an officer in the United States Navy.

Born in Saco, Maine, his commands included the destroyers McDougal (DD-54), 1915-1917 and Gregory (DD-82) in 1918. Fairfield commanded a special squadron in 1936 to rescue American nationals from the Spanish Civil War. In 1939, he took command of Battleship Division Three of the United States Fleet.

He was awarded the Navy Cross for his service in command of McDougal.

Bowdoin College:

ARTHUR PHILIP FAIRFIELD, for two years a member of the Class of 1899, later a graduate of the United States Naval Academy; a distinguished officer at the outbreak of the World War in command of the destroyer McDougal attached to the First Naval Division taking part in the conflict, whose Commander when asked by the British Admiral how soon he could be ready for active service gave the world famous reply, “We are ready now, sir”; recipient of the Navy Cross for distinguished service in operations in the war zone; Assistant Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Naval forces in European waters; for some time able and popular instructor in the Naval Academy at Annapolis; brave, modest, and loyal representative of that branch of the service that the State of Maine particularly delights to honor; Captain in the United States Navy. Honoris Causa, MASTER OF ARTS

Fairfield, Arthur Philip
Commander, U.S. Navy
Commanding Officer, U.S.S. McDougal
Date Of Action: September 8, 1918

Citation:

The Navy Cross is awarded to Commander Arthur Philip Fairfield, U.S. Navy, for distinguished service in the line of his profession as commanding officer of the U.S.S. McDougal, operating in the war zone and protecting vitally important convoys of troop and cargo ships through the area of submarine activity, and for prompt and efficient action in contact on September 8 with a submarine which attempted an attack upon a convoy.

ADMIRAL FAIRFIELD, OPERATIONS EX-AIDE

WASHINGTON, December 15, 1946 – Vice Admiral Arthur Philip Fairfield, formerly Assistant Chief of Naval Operations, died yesterday in the Bethesda, Maryland, Naval Medical Center of a heart ailment aggravated by pneumonia.  His age was 69.

Born in Saco, Maine, the officer who had retired from active duty in 1941, was recalled during the recent war to serve as an adviser to the Maritime Commission.

He leaves a widow, Mrs. Nancy Duval Fairfield, and a brother George A. Fairfield of Mineola, Long Island.

A general service will be held at Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday.

After two years at Bowdoin College, Vice Admiral Fairfield left to become a Naval Cadet and, in that capacity, he served on USS Columbia in the war with Spain.  In 1901 he received a degree from Annapolis.  In the First World War he commanded the McDougal and the Gregory and was on Admiral Sims’ staff at Queenstown.

The Vice Admiral was sent to Europe in 1936 in command of a squadron, composed of the cruiser Raleigh and the destroyers Claxton and Manley, to assist in the evacuation of American refugees from Spain.

apfairchild-gravesite-photo-july-2007-001

FAIRFIELD, NANCY DOUGLAS WID OF FAIRFIELD, ARTHUR PHILIP

  • DATE OF BIRTH: 10/31/1874
  • DATE OF DEATH: 04/12/1947
  • BURIED AT: SECTION 2  SITE 4935
    ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
  • WIFE OF AP FAIRFIELD, VICE ADMIRAL USN RET

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