The King Bee: A Biography of Adm Ben Moreell the Founder of theU.S. Navy Seabees

By Allen N Olsen

Ben Moreell was the first non-Naval Academy graduate to be awarded the four stars of an Admiral. He is still the only staff corps officer to be promoted to Admiral. The history of the U.S. Navy Seabees and the biography of Admiral Ben Moreell are inseparable. Immediately after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he began forming the construction units that ultimately became known as the Seabees. The first battalion of Seabees deployed from the U.S. on 27 Jan. '42. This instantaneous effort to recruit, train, organize, equip and deploy a military unit is still recognized as an amazing achievement. Ultimately over 300,000 Seabees were involved during WW II. The Seabees built and operated the equipment needed to get troops, equipment and supplies ashore in every amphibious landing of WW II. Beginning in North Africa and continuing to Sicily, Italy and Normandy, they were an essential element of the invasions of Europe. But their island-hopping campaign throughout the Pacific with the Marines really made their reputation. They participated in every Pacific invasion together with the Marines with the exception of Guadalcanal, where they arrived about three weeks after the First Marines went ashore. Following the invasions, the Seabees built every sort of facility required by the Marines and the Navy; piers, runways, fuel storage, hospitals, ammo storage, dry docks, and more. The accomplishments of the Seabees continued through Korea, Viet Nam and the middle east. The unique aspect of the fighter-builder Seabees generated a need for a command structure that could respond to both elements at any time. Recognizing this critical feature Moreell achieved a major change to Navy Regulations and obtained the authorization for Civil Engineer Corps officers to be given command of the Seabees. They are still the only staff corps officers who enjoy the privilege of commanding fleet units. Moreell also directed the massive mobilization and construction effort for the Navy and Marine Corps throughout the war as well as dealing with unions, congress, manufacturers, and an ever-growing federal bureaucracy. His open and honest dealings were recognized by all and contributed to the successful accomplishments of the Bureau of Yards and Docks during that time. But it Seabees remain his crowning military achievement. Their success in WW II was recognized by Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz in a Seabee birthday anniversary letter to Moreell in which he stated, "....without them we could not have beaten the (Japanese)." An advisor to four Presidents, Ben Moreell's actions forever placed the Civil Engineer Corps and the Seabees solidly in Navy history and tradition

• Language: English
• Publisher: Naval Institute Press
• Release date: Nov 24, 2011
• ISBN: 9781612511085

Book preview

CHAPTER I

COMMAND

That’s not going to work. As usual the comments of Rear Admiral Ben Moreell, the Chief of the Navy’s Bureau of Yards and Docks, were straight forward and unequivocal. But this time the other Civil Engineer Corps officers together with the senior Bu Docks civil service employees in the office recognized that this was considerably more than a standard non-concur position on an issue. It was early 1942 and the Chief plus a small but energetic group of senior officers were dedicating the lion’s share of their working hours to the hundreds of tasks involved in organizing, staffing and training the Navy’s new construction force—the Seabees.

Ever since his appointment as Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and Chief of Civil Engineers by President Roosevelt on 1 Dec. ‘37, Ben Moreell had been on a fast track.¹ Even though many Americans and their political representatives were vocal and genuine in their desires to keep us out of Europe’s wars, the War and Navy departments had essentially been on a war time footing since 1938. Most of that year had been devoted to developing cost estimates and back-up justification for the legislation for an interrelated group of projects in the Pacific. Sixty three million dollars were appropriated and signed into law in May 1939. Some projects were in Hawaii, Alaska and the west coast but a large portion of the Navy funds were for the development of airfields on islands in the Pacific. The first group included Pearl Harbor and Palmyra, Johnston and Midway islands. Later Wake island would also be approved and funded. At BuDocks this program was named the Pacific Naval Air Bases project.² (PNAB)

Accelerated production of ships, aircraft, tanks, etc. had been underway for some time but now the means to support a war in the Pacific were beginning to take shape.

Prior to the construction of the Pentagon, practically all of the administrative offices of the Navy Department were housed in two buildings on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. They were known as the Munitions building and Main Navy. Along with the other Navy bureaus, Yards and Docks maintained their offices in Main Navy. Both buildings had been constructed in the World War I era and over time had accumulated more and more functions and personnel. The term rabbit warren was frequently used in describing either building. But that was of little consequence now as the BuDocks area was a bee-hive of activity. Particularly so now that the United States was at war with Germany and Japan.

Following the loss of many of the civilian construction workers on Wake Island and other PNAB project sites after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Chief quickly decided the only logical alternative would be to continue the work using experienced construction men with military training and organized as part of the fleet. These construction battalions would be commanded and directed by Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) officers who were graduate engineers or architects and already experienced in construction. The idea made sense and was accepted across the board, or so everyone at BuDocks thought.

But now there was an objection. And a formidable one at that. It boiled up from the bowels of the Navy Department itself and was wrapped in Navy history and tradition since the days of John Paul Jones. No one but an unrestricted line officer could command a fleet unit.

Line officers in the U.S. Navy are those who wear a star on their cuff just above their stripes. These are the officers who command ships and submarines and fly airplanes as opposed to the staff corps officers such as Civil Engineer Corps, Supply Corps, Doctors, Dentists, Nurses, Medical Service Corps, Chaplains and eventually Judge Advocate Generals Corps who each have their own specialty. In the case of U.S. Navy staff corps officers each specialty is represented by a unique corps device, usually made up of oak leaves and acorns in a distinctive design.

Since the Seabees were to be operating in forward areas in support of the Navy and Marine Corps they would be classified as fleet units and would have to be included in the chain- of-command. As they were also construction organizations it was logical that Civil Engineer Corps officers would direct their operations. But the senior officer of a unit would be a commanding officer (C.O.) therefore common sense, tradition and Navy regulations dictated that the C.O. be a line officer. Or so the line Navy felt. But they acknowledged that it probably would not be a good idea for the line officer C.O. to be making construction related decisions every day. Consequently the line officers working the issue proposed that the C.O. be a line officer and all the other officers, including a class B C.O., or officer in charge, be Civil Engineer Corps officers. This was perfectly logical from a line officer’s standpoint, and it conformed to the existing Navy regulations, but it was quite impractical.

Even so, this was to be the day-to-day operational organization. But then when the outfit was attacked or became involved in any military or combat situations the real C.O.—the line officer—would assume command. That’s when Big Ben weighed in and said That’s not going to work.

The initial organizational format for the Seabees was similar to a Marine Corps infantry battalion; four companies plus a headquarters company. Each construction battalion had a complement of 1073 men and 32 officers.³ The officers were all Civil Engineers Corps officers except for two Medical Corps officers (doc-ors), one dentist, two Supply Corps officers and one Chaplain. And of course, the Commanding Officer would be a line officer as required by Navy Regulations. This organization was developed and defined by the BuDocks staff and totally in compliance with the policies, procedures and regulations then in effect. But such a staffing recommendation never made it out of the BuDocks building. The command question was to be a part of the original plan—not something to be fought over after the fact.

But getting hide-bound battleship admirals to back off from the line only command relationship would not be easy. For any line officer to even consider a staff corps officer being in a command position and being in charge of Navy enlisted personnel was not only absurd but totally out of the question. The line position was basically: God made line officers to command and staff corps officers to do what we tell them. This was not just a flag officer position but shared by every line officer down to the most recently commissioned ensign. Of course engineers, business majors, agriculture graduates and others were part of the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps at Colleges and Universities as well as admitted to Officer Candidate School. Most of them graduated with line officer commissions. After completing the course of study they were well indoctrinated with the philosophy that the line runs the Navy. That’s true, and it still applies today. Now it was wartime and certain changes and accommodations would have to be accepted in order to press on with the thousands of tasks necessary to prosecute the war—but allowing staff corps officers to become commanding officers? Never!

Both custom and tradition were elements supporting the line position but more importantly Navy Regulations of 1920—the most current version at that time—said in black and white that the line position on the matter was well defined and considered inviolate. Navy regulations then in effect defined the authority to exercise military command as follows:

"Art. 150-(1) --- Officers of the line exercise military Command.

"Art. 150-(10) --- When serving on shore with a mixed detachment...the senior officer of the line of the Navy, or of the Marine Corps...shall command the detachment.

"Art 153-(1)-----Officers of the staff shall, under the Commanding Officer, have all necessary authority within their particular departments for the due performance of their respective duties...

"Art. 181-(a) ---Officers entrusted with the command...of any military expedition or duty, whatever their rank must...have full command, authority, and precedence over all officers and persons, of whatever rank, serving on such... expedition.

"Art. 181-(c) --- Officers of the staff corps of the Navy shall on all occasions be treated with the same respect as officers of the corresponding rank of the line not in command, under like circumstances...if they are at any time subordinated ...to the exercise of authority delegated by law to their juniors in actual rank. It is for reasons growing out of the necessities of military service. The right of military command...is restricted by law.

Even though Navy Regulations were the major stumbling block in the command problem there were other considerations that had to be addressed. One such item was precedence. During World War I a Navy construction regiment was formed at Great Lakes Naval Training Station. During that period the supply of civilian construction and maintenance personnel in the area was inadequate to meet the needs of the Navy activities in the region. This particular construction regiment was formed to alleviate that deficiency. Unlike the WWII Seabees most of the men in the outfit were inexperienced construction men but had been given some training at construction related schools at Great Lakes. During the time the regiment was activated they worked at Great Lakes with only one exception. A small detachment was shipped to France to assist in the erection of steel framed radio towers at a communication station at Croix d’Hins. Civil Engineer Corps officers were assigned to supervise and direct the efforts of the unit during working hours but when not engaged in construction the regiment was under the command of line officers, as was required by Navy Regulations.⁴

While these forerunners of todays Seabees broke new ground with respect to the Navy having its own militarily organized construction capability, their concept of operations was a far cry from what was planned for the WWII Seabee. Specifically the Great Lakes regiment was essentially a uniformed public works organization with little or no military responsibilities—certainly no combat training since they were employed only in the continental U.S.

Ben Moreell and the other CEC officers working the problem recognized quickly that these planned Seabee battalions would be exposed to combat conditions wherever they happened to be deployed. Whenever one invades an island held by an opposing force or makes an amphibious landing together with the Marine Corps it’s for sure not going to be a walk in the park. Even though construction is the raison d’etre of Seabee units their planned use was certain to involve defensive and in some cases offensive combat. No one could say or forecast when and how often such situations would arise. The seamless transition from construction to combat and later back to construction would be essential. To have the leadership of the unit handed back and forth at such critical times was, at best, impractical and at worst, catastrophic. Of course no such problems had to be addressed with the Great Lakes regiment.

One other significant element of this command problem developed into a major advantage for Rear Admiral Moreell . Although it was unknown at the time, the total number of Seabee battalions to be formed was expected to be considerable. The post WW II count of battalions, maintenance units, regiments and brigades numbered close to 250. For the line Navy to come up with that number of mid-grade (Lt. Cdr and senior) officers, even on an incremental basis, was out of the question. At the same time the number of ships being commissioned was growing exponentially as was the number of aircraft. Consequently the requirement for line officers to command ships and squadrons was growing at a pace faster than the promotion system could satisfy. Even with accelerated promotions and lowered grade requirements for commanding officer billets (squadron C.O.’s were frequently Lts. And Ensigns were known to command LST’s in the latter part of the war.) the Bureau of Navigation, later the Bureau of Naval Personnel, was having a difficult time filling them.

Although a commanding officers assignment is the goal of most every line officer, to be a C.O. of a Seabee battalion when you were actually a seagoing sailor would be a major disappointment. There is a saying that it is better to be the C.O. of a garbage scow than to be the X.O. (Executive officer or second in command) of the carrier Enterprise, but to be a line officer in charge of anything but a ship or squadron would be an ego deflater of gigantic proportions. Fortunately for both the line and the CEC this new requirement for Seabee commanding officers was able to be met by resources not otherwise accounted for in the Navy’s personnel numbers. (i.e. by the direct commissioning of construction managers/superintendents, engineers and architects who already had the necessary technical background and experience). A principal concept in the plan to staff the new Seabee organization was to recruit technically skilled and experienced construction personnel (both officer and enlisted), assign them a pay grade appropriate to their background, provide them with some level of military training, organize them into battalions and send them to war. Following these guidelines the supply of Seabee commanding officers was practically guaranteed. Construction company officers and managers, project superintendents, consulting engineers, architects, engineering professors and project engineers were eager to join up. Particularly so if they were assured of being able to work in construction.

Even though senior line officers did not give much ground on the command issue they were occupied by other more pressing issues during those early days of the war. Ben Moreell’s writings and official correspondence from that period do not reflect any major opposition to that issue but it was still a major obstacle for the Admiral and BuDocks.

And there was still the issue of Navy Regulations. Changes to Navy Regs are not quite as involved as amendments to the U.S. Constitution, but in some instances they are just as rare. At that time the Secretary of the Navy (SecNav) was a cabinet position so he was the approving authority for any such revision. Rear Admiral W.B. Sal Woodson was the Judge Advocate General of the Navy and as such he would review and provide recommendations to SecNav on any proposed changes.

By this time Ben Moreell had been the Chief of BuDocks for over four years. He was well known around Washington and knew his way around the Navy Department. His straight forward, professional and cooperative approach to problems had earned him many friends, including Rear Admiral Woodson. Ben Moreell approached Admiral Woodson with his problem and told him how he though Navy Regs should be amended, and also why. He also requested the Admirals help in developing a justification for such a change.⁵ This was typical Ben Moreell; Instead of presenting a problem to an official and requesting a decision he enlisted that individual as an ally and worked together with him to develop the desired action. That approach probably did not work perfectly in all instances but it worked superbly well in this case. Admiral Woodson reportedly made an exhaustive study of all phases of the command authority elements as contained in Navy Regulations. He also developed a convincing argument for the need for such authority for Seabee commanders.

Admiral Woodson submitted his recommendation to Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox who ultimately issued an order on 19 March’42, which amended Navy Regulations to provide command authority to Civil Engineer Corps officers. Other related changes resulting from experiences in combat in World War II resulted in the current regulation to read as follows:

"Art. 1305—Precedence of an Officer in Command

An officer, either of the line or of a staff corps, detailed to command by competent authority...has precedence over all officers or other persons attached to the command of whatever rank and whether they are of the line or of a staff corps."

"Art. 1321—Authority of an Officer in Command

An officer, either of the line or a staff corps, detailed to command by competent authority, has authority over all officers or other persons attached to the command, whatever their rank, and whether they are of the line or of a staff corps."

As currently written the regulations do not limit staff corps command to the Civil Engineer Corps. This wording opened the door for staff officers in charge of hospitals, depots, schools etc. to also become commanding officers. But such commands are not fleet units as are the Seabees.

Admiral Moreell wrote of his personal indebtedness to Rear Admiral Woodson for his research and support. There were other significant factors involved in the development of this effort but they were never fully disclosed. In a 1967 letter to Rear Admiral L.B. Lewie Combs CEC, USN (Ret.), the former assistant Chief of BuDocks under Ben Moreell he wrote: Some day I will tell you the complete story of how I got Sal Woodson to approve that command order for Secretary Knox’s signature. It has some elements of humor, but it was deadly serious.⁶ Unfortunately the details of Ben Moreell’s comments to Lewie Combs were never recorded.

Probably the best illustration of how the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps view the Civil Engineer Corps after the creation of the Seabees came during a conversation with a Marine Captain during my year at the Navy Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. As was frequently the case, this Marine was bitching about the way they were treated by the rest of the Navy (under duress Marines will reluctantly admit they are part of the Navy). In this instance the captain was complaining about the sorry performance of the Public Works Department, particularly the family housing operation. During a career in the Civil Engineer Corps, an officer normally receives assignments to three types of duty: Contracts, Public Works and Seabees. Since the captain was bad mouthing my corps I felt obligated to respond. As is frequently the case arguing with a Marine is similar to peeing in the ocean: i.e. it makes you feel better but in the overall scheme of things there is no noticeable difference. Nevertheless when the captain complained about the performance of the Public Works Officer being so sorry I asked him what he thought he would do if given the opportunity to make a change. The captain shot back immediately that he would throw out the PWO and replace him with a Seabee officer. My initial response was a quick laugh as both are CEC officers, but in different assignments. I was about to go into an explanation of how CEC officers are assigned and give him a short course on the funding, civil service, union, command, etc. limitations on officers in a PWO billet when he said he knew they both wore the crossed bananas (CEC corps device) on their collar but the Seabee officers always found a way to get the job done.

Fortunately or unfortunately that is the case. Many a Seabee officer gets transferred to a PWO assignment for shore duty and quickly realizes he can’t burn and turn like he did in the battalion. The system and the government regulations have evolved over the years to insure that procedures are followed and controls are observed. The same holds true for Seabees but there is some latitude incorporated for military construction units. Since practically all Seabee work is outside the continental United States (ConUS), and much of it these past sixty some years in a combat or contingency environment, many of the ConUS restrictions do not apply. In addition, the work force of the enlisted Seabees has never met its match when it comes to production.

Everything taken into consideration, I had to admit to myself that in some ways the captain was right. Of course I never admitted it in so many words. But I was pretty self satisfied to learn from a relatively junior Marine Corps colleague that the Seabees and Seabee officers were well thought of. This elevation of Seabee officers above the rank and file of CEC officers in other assignments is well known in the corps. There are some officers who for whatever reason avoid assignment to the Seabees. That is not usually a good move when it comes time for promotion but there have been quite a number of non-Seabee officers who have risen to Captain. For the most part, however, all CEC officers enjoy the increased respect given to those in command positions, or who are eligible for command. But within the corps there are Seabee officers and non Seabee officers and we all know the difference. The Marine Captain was right!

This marked the breakout by the Civil Engineer Corps (CEC) from the rest of the Navy’s staff corps clerks and jerks. They were now a part of the fleet and incorporated into their chain of command. The designation of CEC officers as commanding officers of Seabee units and the foundation of the Naval Construction Forces themselves was the beginning of a new element within the Navy. Ben Moreell’s foresight and dogged insistence on establishing a complete CEC command structure led to the respected position they enjoy today throughout the Navy, Marine Corps and other services.

It was reassuring to read an article by Admiral Moreell written in 1967 in which he said: I concluded long ago that conferring on Civil Engineer Corps officers the lawful right to exercise command authority is the most significant occurrence during my tenure as Chief of Civil Engineers of the Navy.⁷

CHAPTER II

UTAH, NEW YORK & MISSOURI

Based upon the informal Norwegian guidelines we sometimes use to stir up family arguments, Ben Moreell must have come from a poor family. How could that be determined? It is obvious. They could not afford a middle name for him. And to add emphasis to the argument he even had an abbreviated first name, just Ben, not even Benjamin. Ben Moreell was born on 14 September 1892 in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was the youngest of six children having three brothers and two sisters.

Both the Moreell family and his mothers family, Sossnitz, had emigrated from Germany to the United States in the 1800’s and settled in New York City. His father, Samuel Moreell, was born in New York in the 1860’s.¹ His mother Sofia Sossnitz was apparently born in Germany but emigrated to the United States via Vilnius, Lithuania. Writings refer to her coming from Vilna, the Russian version of Vilnius.² Samuel and Sofia met and married in New York City and made their home there for several years. Samuel Moreell spent most of his life in the merchandise business but he also had interests in real estate. The real estate interests resulted in Samuel moving the family to Salt Lake City but that ended up being a brief stay. When Ben was two years old the family returned to New York City. But four years later they again relocated, this time to St. Louis, Missouri.³ Ben received his elementary and high school education in the St. Louis public school system. By age twelve he had completed the eight years of primary education as well as kindergarten. Always ambitious, he found a summer job working in a shoe factory that year. But his first encounter with the business world did not go too smoothly. His job in the shoe factory was to apply cement to the shoes at a certain stage in their manufacture. At the end of the first day he came home with more cement in his hair than he had managed to brush onto the shoes! And he also supplemented the family income by getting up early every Sunday and selling newspapers.⁴ Ben Moreell’s dedication to his mother was evident early on. After a weeks work at the shoe factory he drew his pay of $3.00. He spent it in a ten-cent store on the way home—for pins, needles and thread for his mother!⁵

The old saying that opposites attract may have some application relative to Ben Moreell’s parents Samuel and Sofia. His father at times showed his sometimes violent temper and in Moreell’s words; He never had the quality of mastery of his emotions.⁶ And while he was not exactly a perfectionist he clearly expected top level performance from his children. When Ben brought home his high school report card for one grading period he had seven A’s and one B. As might be expected the father reserved all his comments for the sole B.⁷ On the other hand his mother Sophie was a very learned and talented lady who had inherited her fathers gentleness.⁸ Sophie’s father, Ben’s grandfather, was Rabbi Joseph L. Sossnitz. He was a teacher, scholar, a student of languages, history, philosophy and religion.⁹ He authored many very scholarly books on science and religion as well as philosophy, astronomy, geometry, physics and even chess. He also developed a perpetual calendar that could be used by Christians, Jews and Muslims.¹⁰ For several years he served as the chief cataloguer for the Astor Library. The Astor library provided one of the major collections for what later became the New York Public Library.

Ben Moreell only met his grandfather Sossnitz one time after he was old enough to recall. He was in high school, about age 14, when his grandfather payed a visit to the family in St. Louis in 1906. His mother had told him much about his grandfather but this was essentially their first and only meeting. He said he was greatly impressed by his wisdom, his modesty, his mastery of himself and his gentleness.¹¹ He felt his mother had inherited all of those same qualities from her father. After meeting him Moreell said he understood why his mother idolized him so.

It so happened that just prior to the grandfather’s visit Ben had received a commendation at school for his solution to a rather complex problem in algebra. Sophia was quite proud of her sons’ accomplishment and recognition and she urged Ben to tell his grandfather about the problem. But there was a significant obstacle to doing so. It was on a Saturday and writing was not permitted on the Sabbath. But the grandfather suggested that Ben describe the problem to him orally, which he did. Describing even a simple algebra problem without the aid of a pencil and paper is quite a chore. And this particular problem was apparently considerably more complex. However, Ben laid out the problem verbally and was amazed at his grandfather’s ability to retain all the details. And then the grandfather suggested a method of solution—which surprisingly was the same method he had used!¹²

The Sossnitz family interest in literature and music was carried on by his mother and passed on to him. Sophie read extensively and urged her children to do the same. Ben read all of Dickens’ works and together with his sister Caroline they became known as regulars at the second hand bookstores throughout St. Louis. Buying second hand books for pennies was a sure way to stretch their reading budget but they also did a considerable amount of reading while they were in the book stores. That was not always popular with the owners who wanted to sell books not provide a free reading library for neighborhood children. Years later in telling this story Ben liked to say that he and is sister were thrown out of more second hand book stores than any other people in St. Louis.¹³ Even though his mother urged him to read the classics he also managed to find time to read the popular Nick Carter stories and other even more grisley works such as some gory Chinese Tong murder mysteries.¹⁴

Ben Moreell’s mother, Sophia (Sossnitz) Moreell.

(Courtesy Marion Moreell Jordan)

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Ben Moreell’s father, Samuel Moreell Sr. ca.1915

(Courtesy Fred G. Shaw)

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Ben Moreell about ten months old. 1893

(Courtesy J. Louis Smith Jr.)

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Ben Moreell’s family in 1890, before his birth. From left: Max (4), Caroline (3), mother Sophia, Anna (8), Fred (1), father Samuel Sr, and Samuel Jr. (5). Ages are approximate.

(Courtesy J. Louis Smith Jr.)

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In high school he carried five subjects his first two years and six courses his last two. Even with that academic load he found time to stay after school once a week to take a college course in algebra, trigonometry and geometry and added another after hours session of college Latin. In all his courses he earned high marks, including the college level subjects. But his school records from the St. Louis public school archives also revealed another side of Ben Moreell. In his sophomore and junior years he was given not satisfactory markings in deportment. Apparently some teen aged rebelliousness surfaced during this period. But it had no impact on his grades as most all of his marks were in the 90’s. No such deportment markings were entered on his record for the senior year so maturity and/or parental guidance seem to have prevailed. ¹⁵ On the days he was not taking extra courses he would drop his books off at home and rush off to play ball. This usually generated a degree of grumbling from his father who chided him for his lack of scholastic diligence and warned him of failing. Ben probably did not think the possibility of failure was too likely as he graduated from Central High School at the head of his class at age 16. As a result of his being the class valedictorian he was awarded a four year academic scholarship to Washington University in St. Louis. ¹⁶

Ben’s three brothers and two sisters were equally influenced by their mother’s interest in literature and learning, but to different degrees. Both sisters, Anna and Caroline, became teachers. Caroline remained unmarried and taught in the St. Louis schools. Anna earned both Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in education from the University of Missouri and moved to Louisiana with her husband J. Louis Smith Sr. In addition to her teaching she was appointed to the Louisiana State University board of governors and served on that panel for eight years.¹⁷

The three older brothers had varied but interesting backgrounds. Fred worked as a jockey and at some point he was seriously injured in a racing accident. He was the only member of the family who died early, passing away in Chicago in 1922 while still in his 30’s.¹⁸ The oldest brother Samuel Jr. was the chief structural engineer for the Chicago Sanitary District. He is credited with the design of several of Chicago’s most important bridges. At age 58 he volunteered his services and was commissioned a major in the Army Corps of Engineers. He was assigned to the 371st Engineers in Great Britain and was involved in the Normandy invasion. He was promoted to Lt. Col. during his service.¹⁹ Given his age and qualifications he could have applied for a commission as a Civil Engineer Corps Officer and he might well have been a Seabee. On the other hand, he probably would not have wanted to work for his little brother.

Brother Max also served in the military but not as an engineer like his two brothers. And he served much earlier. Max was a cavalry officer under General John Pershing along the Texas—Mexico border in 1916. This was during the period just prior to the U.S. entry into World War I and while Pancho Villa was making incursions and raids into U.S. territory in Texas and New Mexico. As the quartermaster of the cavalry unit, Max was charged with finding any lost, strayed or stolen horses. On one such round up he came across several horses being held by rustlers, all of them having the U.S. Army brand. When he began to corral the horses to return them to the Army camp he was fired on by one of the rustlers. Max immediately returned the fire and he was apparently a much better shot than the Mexican rustler as he killed him. When he returned to the camp with the stolen horses and reported the shooting he was surprisingly charged with murder and placed in the stockade. News of the incident quickly reached the family and the details of the shooting were explained to his uncle, Dr. Isaac Sossnitz, who was acquainted with several members of President Wilson’s administration. He traveled from New York to Washington, D.C. hoping to meet with the President and to intercede on behalf of his nephew. He did not meet the President but did meet with one of his top aides. He managed to have the situation reviewed which lead to the charges against Max being dropped.²⁰ Needless to say, Max did not make the Army a career.

Yearbook staff of Central High School, St, Louis, Missouri. 1909. Ben Moreell (second from right, standing) was the associate editor.

(Courtesy St. Louis public schools archives)

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Ben enrolled in civil engineering upon entering Washington University. His academic excellence in high school continued in college but in addition to being an excellent student he also became an outstanding athlete, being awarded three letters in football and track. He started all three years for the Myrtle and Maroon football team, the first two as an end and his senior year as the fullback. He was the captain of the track team his senior year. He even managed to find time for intramural sports including baseball and basketball during his four years at Washington U.²¹ During his college years he was frequently referred to as Benny by the sportswriters. And their write ups were consistently laudatory. When coach Cayou shifted him from end to fullback in his senior year he recognized the fact that he was taking a chance because Moreell weighed only 163 pounds at that time. But he had lost his entire backfield through graduation and had to fill the slots some way. The paper wrote that: Moreell was great as an end but even more brilliant as a fullback. He was a steadying influence in the backfield.------and succeeded in imparting a measure of his cool-headedness to his mates.²² He was also recognized as the hardest worker on the team and apparently their best all around player. He did the punting and was the primary passer as well as playing a great defensive game. The article went on to point out that he had never participated in any team sports during his four years at Central High School. Of course, in those days there was no such thing as two platoon football. The players on the field played both offense and defense. But that was actually a moot point for the Washington U. football team. They only had 13 players on the entire team!²³ In the Washington University Student Life newspaper their 27 Nov. 1912 edition contained a review of the football season. The article said Moreell was the most consistent player on the team. He could always be depended upon to gain the last few stubbornly contested yards, threw accurate forward passes and his tackling was of high calibre. His university yearbook The Hatchet indicates he was also a member of 13 a Washington University secret society, as well as Pralma a senior mens honorary society.²⁴ In addition, he was elected to membership in the honorary engineering societies of Tau Beta Pi and Sigma Xi.

Bennie Moreell. the senior fullback for Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri in the fall of 1912. From the St. Louis Republic newspaper of 1 December 1912

(Courtesy Marion Moreell Jordan)

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While he was still twenty years old he graduated from Washington University with a degree in Civil Engineering. He took a job with the Engineering Department of the City of St. Louis. He began his professional career as a design engineer in 1913. He later became a resident engineer supervising construction projects in the field.²⁵ This was the beginning of his appreciation of the individual and the value of involving the needs and concerns of the workers into the overall project plan. These views would be molded and tempered with time but would remain a part of Ben Moreell’s philosophy.

But World War I was underway in Europe and on 6 April 1917 the United States declared war on Germany. The U.S. was now in the fight and Ben Moreell wanted to be a part of it.

CHAPTER III

THE EARLY YEARS

Shortly after the United States entered the first World War Ben Moreell took a competitive examination for a commission in the Navy’s Civil Engineer Corps. In June of 1917 he was appointed a Lieutenant (junior grade) in the CEC. He had a brief indoctrination course at the Naval Academy and shortly thereafter he found himself on the way to the Azores. His first assignment was as the assistant to the Public Works Officer at the Naval Base, Ponta Delgada at Sao Miguel.¹

Being more or less in the backwater area of the war zone did not provide a lot of excitement for the new naval officer but it did set up a situation that would eventually be a defining moment for Moreell , the U.S. Navy and the country. And to make things even more interesting it developed into one of the more famous sea stories in the Civil Engineer Corps. Two large eight inch naval guns had been shipped to Sao Miguel and were to be used as a defense against German submarines. Ben Moreell was given the task of moving the guns from the dock to their designated locations and constructing the gun emplacements. One of the guns was to be erected just outside the town of Ponta Delgada which presented little or no problems. But the second gun was to be installed on a 3,000 foot mountain top about ten miles out of town. And to complicate things, the route to the peak was both rough and narrow. The gun was disassembled and with the exception of the gun barrel the parts were more or less of manageable size. But the barrel itself was something else again. Besides being 32 feet long it weighed 15 tons.

Moreell easily handled the engineering aspects of the problem. After reducing the weight as much as possible he modified the gun carriage by adding steel plates to widen it and distribute the load over a greater area. This was a crucial factor considering the narrow and rutted roadway they would have to travel. The next big problem was how to actually move the gun. Bulldozers or other tracked equipment did not exist on the island and the few large trucks which were suitable for towing such a heavy load were all committed and unavailable. The only other towing capability that existed on the island consisted of teams of bulls that were normally used to haul huge carts laden with sugar beets. He figured if two bulls could tow a cart full of sugar beets weighing close to two tons around the island, twenty teams could easily move the 15 ton gun uphill on a crude roadway and still have a substantial safety factor. It did not take long before he had arranged to hire the twenty teams. Each two bull team was complete with harness and their native driver who provided direction by using a long bamboo pole with a sharpened metal tip. The teams were hitched in tandom and fixed to the gun carriage

Just prior to the day set for the big haul Ben Moreell had a brilliant inspiration. He figured if incentive schemes were a means to increase productivity in humans it could be just as productive for animals. And he knew just how to provide an incentive for the bulls. A heifer! When the teams of bulls were harnessed and ready to go he had another native handler parade a young heifer close along side each rank of bulls and then he stationed her at the head of the column. A shot was fired to commence operations and at that signal the drivers all jabbed the bulls in the rump with their pikes.

In a way it worked even better than Moreell had anticipated—and in a way it didn’t. The bulls all sprang to action and literally ran up the hill, each of them trying to catch the heifer. The heifer, being pursued by forty amorous bulls, was doing her best to keep ahead of them so she lit out for the top of the hill at flank speed. The bulls were actually running away with the gun and moving so fast that the handlers had little or no control over them. Things had completely gotten out of hand and they were not yet out of town! Part way down the street from the harbor, where the guns had been off loaded, was a large ornamental fountain. Not being guided by their handlers the bulls did not attempt to swing around the fountain but went as close to a straight line as they could manage. The gun carriage itself ended up being pulled into the fountain where it broke through the concrete basin and became mired up to its axles. The line of bulls were stopped in their tracks and the heifer presumably got away. Ben Moreell mused years later that this might have been his one and only foray into what could charitably be termed biological warfare. Some time later the gun was towed to the mountain top by two British trucks. And the bulls went back to hauling sugar beets.²

In spite of a rather inauspicious beginning he soon managed to move the guns to their designated firing sites and directed the construction of impressive and functional supporting emplacement facilities. In fact, the end result turned into a showplace on the island. When Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin Roosevelt visited the island he was shown the gun sites and later complimented Moreell on his fine work.³ That early meeting proved to be exceptionally meaningful for Roosevelt, Moreell , the Navy and the nation. Presumably Moreell omitted the episode with the bulls in his talk with Roosevelt.

Following the German surrender in November 1918 the U.S. Naval Base at Ponta Delgada began to reduce their personnel complement. Even so, it was not until May of 1919 before Ben Moreell would transfer to his next duty, plant engineer and plant board member at the destroyer plant and Submarine Base at Squantum, Massachusetts and the Naval Shipyard at Quincy, Massachusetts.⁴ The two facilities were less than three miles apart just south of Boston by Massachusetts Bay. This was where Ben Moreell became familiar with Navy shipyards and developed a deep appreciation for their importance with respect to building, maintaining and supporting the fleet. But his tour in New England was somewhat brief. He was there only 15 months before being ordered to Haiti.

The U. S. Marines and certain Navy support personnel had been in Haiti since 1915. Following the murder of their president by a mob of disaffected citizens, President Wilson sent the Marines in to restore order and to protect U.S. interests in the country.⁵ The Navy support personnel consisted primarily of doctors, nurses, dentists and civil engineers. Ben Moreell arrived in September 1920. He was assigned as executive officer, ostensibly the number two man, to the Engineer in Chief of the Public Works Department of Haiti. His boss was Commander A.L. Parsons, another Civil Engineer Corps officer destined to become Chief of BuDocks.

His tour in Haiti proved to be one of the most life changing assignments he would experience. He developed friendships with other junior CEC officers that continued on throughout his time in the Navy and particularly during World War II. Some for a life time. He became fluent in French and was classified as an interpreter by the Navy.⁶ He saw first hand how the bureaucratic oppression of even a democratically elected government could transform a productive country into a barren wasteland.⁷ With variations, this evolvement would be witnessed again during his graduate school tour in Europe several years later. Probably the most significant element of his Haitian tour would be his attraction to a pretty young Navy nurse, also from Missouri, who would soon become his wife.

A picture taken in 1923 shows the small Public Works staff comprised of nine Civil Engineer Corps officers and one civilian engineer. This proved to be a most promising group. Two would become Chief of the Bureau of Yards and Docks (Parsons and Moreell ) and four would achieve flag rank. (Moreell as Admiral and Parsons, Combs and Cotter as Rear Admirals). Moreell , Combs and Al Ort, all Lieutenants, lived together in a rented house and developed a close friendship. They acquired a young German Shepard as their mascot and gave him the name Moc, for Moreell , Ort, Combs. Ben Moreell’s scrapbook of pictures taken during his tour in Haiti show numerous photos of the junior officers on the beach with the nurses and other photos of group parties on the patio of some of the rental houses. There were also many photos of the public works projects under construction and being dedicated, all of which the Public Works