BREMERTON — Chief Gunner’s Mate John “Dick” Turpin may have died more then 50 years ago, but his memory and sacrifice has not been forgotten.
The Navy recently honored Turpin on Friday, March 30, at Ivy Green Cemetery. The Pacific Northwest Chief Petty Officer Association and Mick Hersey, a retired senior chief and local military preservationist, hosted the event at Ivy Green Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The unveiling of Turpin’s marker coincides with the Navy’s celebration of the 125th anniversary of the official establishment of the rank of chief petty officer on April 1, 1893. Kitsap County Commissioner Ed Wolfe and Bremerton Mayor Greg Wheeler proclaimed March 30 as “GMC John Henry (Dick) Turpin Memorial Day” in Kitsap County.
Turpin was born Aug. 20, 1876, and enlisted in the Navy in New York City on Nov. 4, 1896. He would later become one of the first African American chief petty officers in the Navy.
Turpin spent 20 years in the military before leaving active duty in 1916. During that 20 years, he was aboard USS Maine (ACR 1) when it exploded in Havana under mysterious circumstances on Feb. 15, 1898. Turpin continuously returned and rescued sailor after sailor, including the commanding officer, C.D. Sigsbee, until Turpin himself was rescued. Turpin was one of 90 officers and men aboard Maine that night to survive the explosion, out of 350.
Turpin then saw action in China during the 1900 Boxer Rebellion. By mid-1905, Turpin had been assigned to the gunboat USS Bennington (PG-4). When that ship was raising steam for a departure July 21, 1905, from San Diego, California, it suffered a boiler explosion that sent men and machinery into the air and killed 66 of the 102 men aboard. Turpin is reported to have saved 11 of his shipmates by swimming them to shore one at a time.
Even though he was never officially recognized at the time for the acts of heroism, that did not distract him from his duty. He did it out of service, out of loyalty and out of admiration and love for his fellow shipmates. Eleven other men were awarded the Medal of Honor for “extraordinary heroism displayed at the time of the explosion,” but Turpin was not among them.
Turpin served on several other ships until leaving active duty in 1916.
After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, Turpin was recalled to active duty. On June 1, 1917, he became a chief gunner’s mate onboard the USS Marblehead (C-11), a cruiser, which made him among the first African American chief petty officers in the Navy.
Turpin served at that rank until he was transferred to the Fleet Reserve in March 1919. In October 1925, Turpin retired at the rank of chief gunner’s mate.
During his time in the Navy, he was the Navy boxing champion in several different weight classifications, and was a boxing instructor at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. When he was not on active duty, Turpin was employed as a master rigger at the Puget Sound Navy Yard in Bremerton. He was also qualified as a master diver in his civilian duties. During World War II, Turpin voluntarily toured Navy training facilities and defense plants to make “inspirational visits.”
During the ceremony March 30, Master Chief Trev Lawrence said, “Turpin was one of the Navy’s legendary chief petty officers, a great sailor, trailblazer, pioneer and a one-of-a-kind chief petty officer.”
As far back as the war of 1812, it was still U.S. policy to forbid recruitment of black sailors. However, a shortage of manpower forced the Navy to accept any able-bodied man, a decision that didn’t sit well with most, including Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, who had complained about black crew members. It wasn’t until Commodore Isaac Chauncey, who had called about 50 of his black crew sailors “excellent seamen that possessed a certain fierceness in battle” that people began to see the benefits of this added manpower.
Chauncey also said, “I have yet to learn that the color of skin, or the cut and trimmings of the coat, can affect a man’s qualification and usefulness.”
This led to the Navy being the first of the armed forces to integrate.
John Henry “Dick” Turpin died quietly in his sleep at home March 10, 1962, in Bremerton. After his cremation, his ashes were scattered at sea. Turpin’s memorial marker is now next to the gravesite of his first wife, Anna Turpin, at the Ivy Green Cemetery.
A ceremony honoring John Henry Turpin’s service was held March 30. Marion Hersey / Courtesy photo
Speakers honor John Henry Turpin’s service in the U.S. Navy at the Ivy Green Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Marion Hersey / Courtesy photo
