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Gravesite of Lt (jg) Thomas E Zellars -Namesake of USS Zellars DD 777
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By Dianne Wood, April 1, 2010 | |
| | | 1. Gravesite of Lt Thomas E Zellars -Namesake of USS Zellars DD 777 Marker | | |
Inscription. Grantville native Thomas E Zellars (1898-1924) graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1920 and reported for duty aboard the USS Mississippi. As turret commander he rose to the rank of lieutenant. In 1924, an explosion and fire engulfed his turret. Zellars and 47 others were killed but not before he opened a flood valve on the burning powder train - an act that saved the ship and its crew. In 1944 Naval Destroyer USS Zellars DD777 was launched in Zellars honor. It went on to serve in both WWII and the Korean War receiving five battle stars. The ship was decommissioned in 1971.
Erected 1999 by Georgia Historical Society and the City of Grantville. (Marker Number 38-1.)
Location. 33° 14.166′ N, 84° 49.734′ W. Marker is in Grantville, Georgia, in Coweta County. Marker is on Griffin Street west of Grantville Brown School Drive, on the right when traveling south. Click for map. Marker and gravesite are located at the Grantville City Cemetery. Marker is in this post office area: Grantville GA 30220, United States of America.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 10 miles of this marker, as the crow flies. Allen-Lee Memorial Church (approx. 4.4 miles away); William Hogan Plantation (approx. 6.4 miles away); Gen. Jos. Wheeler, C.S.A. (approx. 6.8 miles away); Battle of Brown's Mill (approx. 9.7 miles away); Coweta County (approx. 9.7 miles away); Governor William Yates Atkinson (approx. 9.7 miles away); Confederate Hospitals (approx. 9.7 miles away); Governor Ellis Gibbs Arnall (approx. 9.8 miles away). | | | | 
By Dianne Wood, April 1, 2010 | |
| | | 2. Gravesite of Lt Thomas E Zellars -Namesake of USS Zellars DD 777 Marker | | |
Regarding Gravesite of Lt (jg) Thomas E Zellars -Namesake of USS Zellars DD 777. Bio notes about Thomas Edward Zellars, II, taken from Cradled by the Massanutten: The Zellers-Sellers Family by Mary Marie Koontz Arrington:
"Thomas Edward Zellars II attended Culver Military School in Indiana. He won a cadetship at the U.S. Navel Academy, Annapolis, MD, and became a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy. He was killed June 12, 1924, on the U.S. Battleship Mississippi during battle practice at San Pedro, California while commanding Turret #2, following an explosion causing fire. He was found with his hand grasping the lever that shut off the powder magazine and flooded the turret with water. The disaster killed forty eight men, but his actions preserved the lives of 1400 ship mates. A memorial tablet at the Naval Academy erected in 1927 commemorated his death."
Thomas E. Zellars born Aug 11, 1898 in Georgia and died in San Pedro, CA Jun 12, 1924. He was the son of Thomas M. and Clara E. Fuller Zellars.
He is the grandson of Thomas and Mary Ella Moreland Zellars, who owned and operated a store in Grantville.
Also see . . .
1. Photographic History of the United States Navy. Biographical information and photos of Thomas Zellars and the USS Zellars(DD-777). (Submitted on April 17, 2010.)
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By David Seibert, June 19, 2010 | |
| | | 3. Gravesite of Lt (jg) Thomas E Zellars -Namesake of USS Zellars DD 777 Marker | | |
2. USS Mississippi. Commissioned in December 1917. Operated in the western Atlantic area until July 1919, when she transited the Panama Canal to the Pacific. Over more than a decade, she operated with the fleet's other battleships, conducting exercises and training operations in the Pacific and in the Caribbean. During gunnery practice on 12 June 1924, she suffered a turret fire that took the lives of 48 of her crew. Mississippi steamed to Australia on a U.S. Fleet good will tour in mid-1925. (Submitted on April 17, 2010.)
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By David Seibert, June 19, 2010 | |
| | | 4. Gravesite of Lt (jg) Thomas E Zellars -Namesake of USS Zellars DD 777 Marker | | |
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Credits. This page originally submitted on April 11, 2010, by Dianne Wood of Newnan, Georgia. This page has been viewed 1,056 times since then. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on April 11, 2010, by Dianne Wood of Newnan, Georgia. 3, 4. submitted on June 20, 2010, by David Seibert of Sandy Springs, Georgia. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.
Editor’s want-list for this marker. Photo of the monument located at the US Naval Academy. •
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