Rear Admiral Emory Arden Grantham

Rear Admiral Emory Arden Grantham. Arden Grantham moved to Albany as a small child and grew up here. In 1930, he was considered one of the most brilliant students ever to graduate from Albany High School. Albany Congressman Thomas L. Blanton secured him an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1933. He also excelled academically there, graduating with distinction as third in a class of 323 members in 1937. His senior year he was regimental commander. After graduation, he was sent to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Cambridge for further study in ship design and received a Master of Science Degree in 1941. He was appointed Assistant Hull Superintendent for new construction at the Puget Sound Naval Ship Yard at Bremerton, Washington until 1944 when he became Assistant Planning Officer at the Pearl Harbor Naval Ship Yard. In that wartime capacity, he was decorated for Meritorious Achievement in returning damaged ships to action. In 1948, he completed a course in advanced management at Harvard Business School and then served in various capacities before returning to the Bureau of Ships as head of the Hull Arrangements, Armament and Structural Branch in 1955. In 1967, he became Deputy Commander for Fleet Maintenance Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. For this service he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. In 1972, he was assigned as Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics and Management to the Commander in Chief, U.S. Naval Forces, Europe. In that capacity he was awarded a gold star in lieu of a second Legion of Merit medal. He retired in 1974 after 37 years of faithful service to his country and died in Hawaii in 1998. Throughout his Naval career, he listed his home address as Albany, Texas.