Role Military Officer Name Arthur III | Rank Captain Years of service 1896–1923 | |
Born June 1, 1876 ( 1876-06-01 ) Place of burial Arlington National Cemetery Allegiance United States of America Battles/wars Spanish–American War
Battle of Santiago
Philippine-American War
Boxer Rebellion
World War I
U-boat Campaign Died December 2, 1923, Washington, D.C., United States Spouse Mary H. McCalla (m. 1901–1923) Children Douglas MacArthur II, Arthur MacArthur, Mary Elizabeth MacArthur, Malcolm MacArthur, Bowman McCalla MacArthur Parents Mary Pinkney Hardy MacArthur, Arthur MacArthur, Jr. Siblings Douglas MacArthur, Malcolm MacArthur Similar People Douglas MacArthur, Arthur MacArthur - Jr, Douglas MacArthur II, Arthur MacArthur - Sr, Arthur MacArthur IV | ||
Service/branch United States Navy | ||
Arthur MacArthur III (June 1, 1876 – December 2, 1923) was a United States Navy officer, whose active-duty career extended from the Spanish–American War through World War I. He was the elder brother of General Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964).
Contents
Biography
The son of United States Army General Arthur MacArthur, Jr. (1845–1912), he chose a career in the Navy instead of following his father, graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 1896.
During the Spanish–American War, Ensign MacArthur served aboard the steam yacht USS Vixen (PY-4) in the Battle of Santiago. He later participated in naval operations during the Philippine–American War and the Boxer Rebellion.
On August 21, 1902, in Newport, Rhode Island, he married Mary Hendry McCalla (1877–1959), the daughter of Rear Admiral Bowman H. McCalla. His brother Douglas, a Cadet at the United States Military Academy at the time, was his best man. Arthur and Mary MacArthur had five children, Arthur (1904–1912), Bowman McCalla, Douglas (named in honor of his brother), Mary Elizabeth, and Malcolm (who died while attending the Naval Academy in 1933).
From 1901 to 1903, MacArthur commanded the torpedo boat Winslow. While in this capacity, he was involved in early submarine boat testing. While also commanding the USS Holland, he participated in Electric Boat's testing using their prototype Fulton, as a testbed for the Plunger-class submarines. In November 1901, he was aboard the Fulton when it set an underwater endurance record of 15 hours on the bottom of Peconic Bay, New York.
Later, he was injured when, on a run from New Suffolk, New York to Washington, D.C. to exhibit the submarine to naval committees of the House and Senate, the Fulton experienced a battery explosion off the Delaware Breakwater. By June 1903, he was at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in command of the submarine flotilla consisting of the Pike and Grampus.
He was transferred to the battleship Ohio prior to her commissioning in October 1904, making him a plank owner, and served aboard her until September 1906, when he was transferred to the United States Naval Academy. At the Naval Academy, he served initially as aide to the Superintendent, Admiral James H. Sands and subsequently on the staff for the Commandant of Midshipman. His other commands included destroyer USS McCall (DD-28), minelayer USS San Francisco (CM-2), armored cruiser USS South Dakota (ACR-9) and light cruiser USS Chattanooga (CL-18).
For distinguished service in protecting convoys from U-boats engaged in the Atlantic U-boat Campaign during 1918, he was awarded the Navy Cross and the Distinguished Service Medal. He was promoted to captain on January 1, 1921. MacArthur was a hereditary member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States by right of his father's having served as a Union officer in the Civil War. Captain MacArthur died in Washington, D.C. of appendicitis in 1923, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery near his parents.
Awards
Navy Cross Citation
"For distinguished service in the line of his profession as commanding officer of the U.S.S. Chattanooga engaged in the important, exacting and hazardous duty of transporting and escorting troops and supplies to European ports through waters infested with enemy submarines and mines."