Clarence Arnold Washburn
Military Career

Clarence Arnold Washburn was the youngest child of Samuel and Eliza Dillon (Gullion) Washburn. He was born in 1892, in English, Carroll Co., Kentucky. He died in 1979 at the Veterans Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. He married Elizabeth Ann Hicks in 1919 in Vevay, Switzerland Co., Indiana. Elizabeth was the daughter of James and Lucy Gay (Tingle) Hicks. She was born in 1899 near Port Royal in Henry Co., Kentucky. Clarence and Elizabeth lived most of their lives near English, Carroll Co., Kentucky. In the 1920s they lived in Cincinnati, Ohio and upon moving from Cincinnati to English, they lived for a while in Worthville in Carroll Co, Kentucky.

He operated a grocery and furniture store. He tended several acres of garden at his home in English up until near his death at age 87.

He served in the navy during World War I and tried to re-enlist during World War II, but was turned down for active duty. He enlisted in the Navy on July 28, 1911 in Cincinnati. He served on the USS Constellation through December 13, 1911, when he transferred to the USS Nashville. He served on the USS Nashville until he was transferred to a hospital in New York City on June 30, 1913.

The USS Constellation was a training ship in for the Naval Training Center in Newport, Rhode Island.The USS Nashville was a gunboat built with a length of 233 feet 8 inches and a beam of 38 feet 1 inch. She was armed with eight .40 caliber guns, two 6-pounders, two 3-pounders, and two 1-pounders. During World War I, USS Nashville escorted convoys in the Mediterranean to and from Europe and North Africa.

He was on general detail in New York until transferring to the USS Washington on September 30, 1913. He served on the USS Washington until July 28, 1915, when he was honorably discharged in Norfolk, Virginia.

The following is a history of The USS Washington while Clarence was assigned to her. The USS Washington, also referred to as "Armored Cruiser No. 11", and later renamed Seattle. The USS Washington was inactive when Clarence was transferred to here in September 1913. On October 8, 1913 she sailed for New York to participate in the naval review held there between October 10-15 and then resumed her reserve status at Portsmouth on October 17. Shifted subsequently from Portsmouth to the New York Navy Yard - via President Roads, Mass., and Tompkinsville, Staten Island - Washington was assigned duty as receiving ship at the navy yard on July 20, 1913.
The armored cruiser was placed in commission again on 23 April 1914, Capt. Edward W. Eberle in command. Later that spring, the armored cruiser took on board drafts of men from Norfolk and Port Royal, South Carolina, on April 30 and May 2; touched at Key West, Fla.; and proceeded to Santo Domingo.

Once again there was unrest in the Dominican Republic. A revolution in the northern province of Santiago, against the rule of Provisional President Jose Bordes Valdes, had been quelled; but one in the province of Puerto Plata -- near the capital of Santo Domingo itself - continued unchecked and was marked by severe fighting, fighting so severe that "marked apprehension" existed in Washington.

On May 1, the Petrel (Gunboat No. 2) had been ordered to Dominican waters, but a further show of force seemed to be in order. Accordingly, Washington was chosen to "show the flag" in those troubled waters. She departed Key West on May 4 and arrived at the beleaguered city of Puerto Plata on May 6 to protect American interests, joining the gunboat Petrel. Six days later, Capt. Eberle invited representatives of both warring parties - the insurgents and the government - out to his ship, in an attempt to persuade both sides to come to an amicable settlement.

Unfortunately, the attempt failed, and the fighting continued. The insurgents were aided by a recent large consignment of guns and ammunition smuggled across the Haitian border that had given them new blood. The revolutionaries soon recaptured the key city of Le Vega and were successfully holding Puerto Plata. Government forces, laying siege to that port and shelling the insurgents, clearly endangered the lives of the neutral citizens still living in the city. Capt. Eberle objected to the bombardment and warned President Valdes repeatedly.
Washington departed Puerto Plata on June 6 with the conflict between the insurgents and the government of President Valdes still unresolved. Her place had been taken by Machias (Gunboat No. 5). Washington coaled ship and took on stores at Guantanamo Bay from June 7 to 10 before she sailed for Veracruz, Mexico. She then remained in Mexican waters between June 14 and 24 before she shifted to Cape Haitien, Haiti, to protect American interests there during an outbreak of violence that summer.

Washington remained at Cape Haitien into July. In the meantime, the situation in the Dominican Republic had worsened when government shellings of rebel positions in Puerto Plata resulted in an inevitable "incident." On 26 June, a stray shell killed an English woman in Puerto Plata causing the gunboat Machias to shift to a berth in the inner harbor and shell one of President Valdes' batteries, silencing it with a few well placed shots. During early July, Machias again fired her guns in anger when stray shots hit the ship.

In view of those developments, Washington returned to Puerto Plata on 9 July and remained there into the autumn, keeping a vigil to protect American lives and property and standing by to land her landing force if the situation required it. That August, Capt. Eberle's attempts to bring about a conference finally bore fruit. The United States government sent a commission--consisting of J. F. Fort, the former governor of New Jersey, James M. Sullivan, the American Minister to Santo Domingo; and Charles Smith, a New Hampshire lawyer - to mediate a peace in the Dominican Republic.

Both sides ultimately accepted the American suggestions which provided for the establishment of a constitutional government and the institution of elections under United States "observation."
Washington left Santo Domingo on November 20; but, later that month, continued high feelings over the closely contested election resulted in further unrest--unrest met by the dispatch of additional Marines to Santo Domingo. For Washington, however, her part in the Dominican intervention of 1914 was over. She sailed for home and arrived at Philadelphia on November 24 and became flagship of the Cruiser Squadron.

 
Following an overhaul at the Portsmouth Navy Yard from December 12, 1914 to January 11, 1915, Washington sailed - via President Roads, Mass. (where she took on ammunition on January 11) - for Hampton Roads, arriving there on January 14. After a five-day visit, during which she took on stores and provisions and an expeditionary force of marines, Washington sailed for the Caribbean once more.

Two revolutions had rocked Haiti in 1914; a third, in January 1915, led by General Vilbrun Guillaume Sam, had resulted only in further unrest for that troubled nation. Washington arrived at Cape Haitien on January 23, a week after General Sam's troops had invested it. The armored cruiser, flying the flag of Rear Admiral Caperton and commanded by Capt. Edward L. Beach - the father of the future naval officer who would win fame as a famous submariner and author - stayed in port there until the 26th investigating "political conditions" before she shifted to the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, on January 27. There, she again observed local political conditions in the wake of General Sam's takeover of the government before sailing, via Guantanamo, for Mexican waters.

Washington conducted sub-caliber practices, observed political conditions, and conducted torpedo practices off the ports of Tampico, Tuxpan, Progreso, and Veracruz into the summer. Receiving provisions and stores from the supply ship Celtic off Progreso on June 26 and 27, the armored cruiser sailed for Guantanamo where she coaled and took on water on June 30. She sailed the same day for Cape Haitien, as all reports from the American minister there indicated that yet another crisis was brewing.

While Washington awaited further developments at Cape Haitien, events in Port-au-Prince deteriorated, moving American Charge d'Affaire Davis to send a telegram on July 27 to the Secretary of State, Robert Lansing, reporting the troubled conditions. He reported that President Sam and some of his men had been surrounded in the presidential palace and that the presence of American war vessels was desirable.

In accordance with that message, the Navy dispatched Washington to that port. Meanwhile, Sam took refuge in the French legation where he hoped that diplomatic immunity would prevail. The mobs of angry Haitians, however, were not concerned with such international niceties: they invaded the legation at 10:30 on July 28, 1915, forcibly removed former President Sam, killed and dismembered him, and paraded portions of his body on poles around the city.

Washington arrived at Port-au-Prince that day. Upon reviewing the situation, Admiral Caperton acted quickly. He ordered marines and a landing force ashore from his flagship to protect not only American interests but those of other foreign nations as well. Washington remained at Port-au-Prince into the winter. During that time, the United States effectively ran Haiti. On August 12, Philippe Sudra Dartinguenave was elected president; and his government was recognized by the United States on September 17, 1915.

Clarence served in the Fleet Naval Reserve, Class 1-B upon his return from active duty. He served as a fireman first class. There is a letter in the his military file commending him for bravery related to an incident that occurred while he was serving on the USS Kansas, apparently while in the reserves. Part of the report from the ships log is as follows:

30 September 1917, 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. at 7:55 Laker, J. M. S2c, while cleaning the 1st steamer fell overboard, slipping under the steamer. Not being a very good swimmer, he became confused and sank. Platt, W. D., S2c, acting coxswain of the boat, Washburn, C. A., F1c, and Schwartz, F. W. F2c, engineers of the boat, jumped overboard to rescue the downing man. Platt was dragged under by man, became exhausted and was picked up by the steamer, Washburn and Schwartz rescued the man, were aided by lines and life buoy and taken aboard. No one was injured. Signals as per signal book.

USS Kansas was a 16,000-ton Connecticut Class. After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Kansas served in training and escort roles until the conflict's end in November 1918. She made five round-trips to France from then until mid-1919, helping to bring home veterans of the "Great War". The USS Kansas arrived in York River from Philadelphia on July 10, 1917 and became a unit of the 4th Battleship Division, spending the remainder of the war as an engineering training ship in Chesapeake Bay occasionally making escort and training cruises to New York. This was the time when the above near drowning incident occurred.

On June 2nd 1919, Clarence returned to active duty to serve in the Mexican Campaign. He received an honorable discharge on November 5, 1920.

The information in this article on the Naval ships was taken from Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org.