Full Name: REMBRANDT CECIL ROBINSON
Date of Birth: 10/2/1924
Date of Casualty: 5/8/1972
Home of Record: CLEARFIELD, PENNYLVANIA
Branch of Service: NAVY
Rank: RADM
Casualty Country: NORTH VIETNAM
First Commanding Officer of the USS CHARLES BERRY was Lieutenant Commander R.C. Robinson, USN. He commanded the ship since its commissioning at Charleston, South Carolina on 25 November 1959, and headed the nucleus crew in Avondale, Louisiana.
The Captain came to USS CHARLES BERRY from duty with the Strategic Plans Division in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations at the Pentagon.
Commissioned during World War II, the Captain saw action in the Pacific with the FIFTH Amphibious Force and later joined the amphibious forces in the Atlantic Fleet, service on five ships. In 1948 he was ordered to the USS ENGLISH (DD-696), serving as her Engineer Officer for nearly 40 months, thirteen of which were in action in Korea.
His first tour of shore duty came in 1952 with the Bureau of Naval Personnel, where he headed the NROTC program. He directed the nation-wide competition for NROTC appointments and was responsible for the direction of many phases of the college training program for regular and reserve officers.
Next he served for two years as Executive Officer of the destroyer USS Walker (DD-517), and then attended the Armed Forces Staff College. He was assigned to the of CNO upon graduation.
Captain Robinson puts on three stripes when he leaves the CHARLES BERRY. He wears the Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V”.
Just as our first year ended the Captain was relieved by LCDR Harrison C. Murray, USN.
The readiness skills and dedication of the men who maintain the boats was demonstrated on the night of May 9th, when the Duty Lifeboat Crew rescued four survivors of a downed helicopter at approximately 2200 hours off the Providence fantail in the Tonkin Gulf. Rear Admiral Rembrandt C. Robinson, his Chief of Staff, Captain Edmund B. Taylor and the Operations Officer, Commander John M. Leaver died that night.
GENERAL / PERSONAL
Home Clearfield, Pennsylvania
Birth Date 1924-10-02
Sex Male
Race Caucasian
Married/Single Married
Religion Protestant – No Preference
MILITARY
Service Navy
Rank RADM
Serial Number 195160373
Component Regular
Grade O7
MOS 1110
Length of Service 26
CASUALTY
Casualty Date 1972-05-08
Casualty Type Non-Hostile, Died Other
Reason Air Loss, Crash – Sea
Air or Ground Helicopter – Noncrew
Country North Vietnam
Posthumous Promotion No change
Body Recovered Body recovered
Click Here To Visit The Admiral’s Son’s Tribute
ROBINSON, REMBRANDT C
RADM US NAVY
WORLD WAR II, KOREA, VIETNAM
DATE OF BIRTH: 10/02/1924
DATE OF DEATH: 05/08/1972
BURIED AT: SECTION MF SITE 30-5
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.
Reviewed by: Michael Howard