Mervyn Sharp Bennion was born in Vernon, Utah, on May 5, 1887. After attending high school in Salt Lake City, he received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1906, where he graduated near the top of his class. His first tour of duty was in the engineering section of the USS California.
USS CALIFORNIA BB-
The young officer eventually specialized in ordnance and gunnery, and he commanded the 1-inch batteries aboard the battleship USS North Dakota during World War I.
USS NORTH DAKOTA BB-
His first command was the destroyer USS Bernadou.
USS BERNADOU
This was followed by a tour as commander of Destroyer Division One. After a shore tour as a student and instructor at the Naval War College, Bennion assumed command of the West Virginia, on July 2, 1941.
USS West Virginia (BB-48), 1923-1959
The "Wee Vee," as she was affectionately called, was moored with other vessels at Battleship Row along the southeast side of Ford Island in Pearl Harbor on a quiet Sunday morning, December 7, 1941. When the first wave of Japanese planes descended on Pearl Harbor the 8 A.M. muster and flag raising ceremonies were well underway on most of the big battleships neatly lined up on the southeast side of Ford Island. With Zeroes weeping in from three directions, chaos erupted all around. As the first torpedo was striking the USS Utah on the northeast side of Ford Island, torpedo bombers were releasing their lethal charges against the Navy's big battleships on "Battleship Row".
USS West Virginia (BB-48), 1923-1959
Almost immediately, the USS Oklahoma and USS West Virginia began taking deadly hits. The mighty battleships shook violently as torpedoes slammed into their hulls, ripping metal as if it were tinfoil. Water rushed through the gaping wounds in their sides and oil spread outward on the surface of the harbor. Bombs continued to fall, striking the other big ships moored beside the West Virginia and Oklahoma. The oil on the surface of the water ignited to send towering pillars of smoke into the blue morning skies.
From the bridge Captain Bennion quickly took control, ignoring the crash of bombs around him and the hail of bullets spewed by the strafing zeroes. He ordered flooding on the side of the West Virginia opposite the torpedo strikes to balance the weight caused by flooding from the gaping wounds and turn his ship upright.
The counter measures worked, the West Virginia sinking lower in the water but leveling out. Then more torpedoes were unleashed, followed by bombs dropped from high above. Captain Bennion moved to the starboard side of the bridge, barking out orders and doing everything in his power to save his ship.
As intent as the intrepid Naval officer was in keeping his battleship afloat, the Japanese pilots were equally determined to send the West Virginia to the bottom of the harbor. A bomb falling from 20,000 feet above made a direct hit on the West Virginia, while a simultaneous strike was made on the neighboring USS Tennessee. Fiery eruptions filled the air with flying shrapnel. On the bridge, ragged pieces of hot metal ripped into Captain Bennion's abdomen. Struggling against unbearable pain, the ship's Captain refused to be evacuated. Fire broke out all over the West Virginia and secondary explosions shook the bridge. Little more could be done to save her. Captain Bennion ordered others on the bridge to get out before it was to late. As they departed to find shelter away from the rapidly sinking battleship, Captain Bennion fought off his pain to receive reports and issue orders as long as he could think clearly. At last his horrible wounds became too much for human endurance and he collapsed...unconscious.
The smoke of battle filled the heavens as the USS West Virginia slipped beneath the surface of the water. In all, 106 of her crew were killed including the captain who refused to give up trying to save his ship...or spare his men...until he went down with his ship. Through the smoke little could be seen above the surface of the water to indicate that a once proud Naval vessel had floated peacefully in that location on Battle Ship Row. In its own stirring way however, when the West Virginia settled into the mud at the bottom of the harbor, the United States Flag could be seen through the smoke, still waving from its fantail.
1943-1972
was named in honor of Captain Bennion.
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