Stanley C. Norton
{{Infobox military person
|honorific_prefix =
|name = Stanley Cook Norton
|honorific_suffix =
|image = Stanley_C._Norton.png
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|birth_date = {{birth date|1894|11|19}}
|birth_place = Falmouth, Maine
|death_date = {{death date and age|1978|04|04|1894|11|19}}
|death_place = Portsmouth, New Hampshire
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|allegiance = United States of America
|branch = 20px United States Navy
|branch_label = Branch
|serviceyears = 1914-1947
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|rank = 20px Rear Admiral
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|unit =
|commands = {{USS|Pampanga|PG-39|6}}
{{USS|Twiggs|DD-127|6}}
{{USS|Salinas|AO-19|6}}
Destroyer Division 54
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|awards = File:Navy_Cross_ribbon.svg Navy Cross
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|alma_mater = United States Naval Academy
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Stanley Cook Norton (19 November 1894 – 4 April 1978), was an American naval officer who served during World War II and reached the rank of Rear Admiral in the United States Navy.
Early life and education
Stanley Cook Norton was born November 19, 1894, in Falmouth, Maine, to Frank K. and Flora Norton (née Cook).{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}
Military career
In 1914 he was accepted to the United States Naval Academy as a midshipman. While at the academy, Norton participated both football and basketball. "On March 4, 1917, the U.S. Congress authorized the academy to reduce its four-year program to graduating and to commissioning new Navy and Marine Corps officers in three years." Because of this authorization, Norton and the rest of the class of 1918 graduated June 28, 1917.
Upon early graduation from Annapolis, Norton was commissioned as an Ensign and assigned to the {{USS|Montana|ACR-13|6}}. Due to the Act of May 22, 1917, he, along with many service men, received a temporary promotion to Lieutenant in June 1918. After his service on the Montana, he spent the next several years on various submarines, including the {{USS|R-23|SS-100|6}}, {{USS|O-16|SS-77|6}}, {{USS|S-49|SS-160|6}} and {{USS|S-31|SS-136|6}} as a prospective submarine commander. In 1924, he was assigned to the submarine base at New London; by 1927, he was commanding the gunboat {{USS|Pampanga|PG-39|6}} stationed in Hong Kong. In 1932, he was assigned to command of {{USS|Twiggs|DD-127|6}}; in 1934 he was a lieutenant commander and the gunnery officer of {{USS|Richmond|CL-9|6}}. In 1938, he was promoted to Commander and was assigned as a naval reserve instructor in 1939.
Norton was a "brusque, no non-sense commander" known for his command of Destroyer Division 54.{{rp|}} Aboard his flagship, the {{USS|Roper|DD-147|6}}, he led Destroyer Division 54 in the successful attack and sinking of U-85, "the first German submarine sunk in World War II by a United States man-of-war." For this action, he, and the Roper{{'}}s captain, were awarded the Navy Cross. Norton was promoted to Captain on 15 June 1942 and commanded the {{USS|Trenton|CL-11|6}} from June 1943 to June 1944.
Norton retired from the Navy after 30 years of service in July 1947, whereupon he was "placed, or advanced, upon the retired list to Rear Admiral in recognition of having been specially commended by the Secretary of the Navy or head of another executive department for performance of duty under in actual combat."{{cite book|title = Register of Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps|chapter = Retired – Rear Admirals|publisher = U.S. Government Printing Office|year = 1953|pages = 456|author = United States Bureau of Naval Personnel|chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2spn86A-65kC&pg=PA2599}}
Family
Norton's son, Stanley C. Norton Jr., was born while Norton was stationed in Hong Kong and died in 2016.{{cite news|title = Stanley C. Norton Jr|newspaper = Rochester Democrat and Chronicle|date = August 11, 2016|access-date = December 11, 2021|via = legacy.com|url = https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/democratandchronicle/name/stanley-norton-obituary?id=20881206}}{{cite news|title = Stanley C. Norton Jr|newspaper = The News Journal|date = August 10, 2016|access-date = December 11, 2021|via = legacy.com|url = https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/delawareonline/name/stanley-norton-obituary?pid=181021998}}
References
{{reflist|refs=
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86565930/two-submarines-of-axis-are-sunk/
| date = 1943-02-23
| page = 4
| title = Two Submarines Of Axis Are Sunk
| newspaper = The Sacramento Bee
| location = Sacramento, California
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86565835/big-battle-against-submarine-menace/
| date = 1943-02-23
| page = 2
| title = Big Battle Against Submarine Menace
| newspaper = The Chico Enterprise
| location = Chico, California
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86565737/ninety-three-lieutenant-commanders-to-be/
| date = 1938-02-20
| page = 39
| title = Ninety-Three Lieutenant Commanders To Be Promoted
| newspaper = The Honolulu Advertiser
| location = Honolulu, Hawaii
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86565564/gets-cross-for-successful-action/
| date = 1942-09-01
| page = 2
| title = Gets Cross for 'Successful Action'
| newspaper = The Miami Herald
| location = Miami, Florida
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86565514/naval-orders/
| date = 1939-05-17
| page = 10
| title = Naval Orders
| newspaper = News-Pilot
| location = San Pedro, California
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86565490/navy-chief-here-from-denver-on-inspectio/
| date = 1935-06-23
| page = 16
| title = Navy chief here from Denver on inspection trip
| newspaper = The Daily Sentinel
| location = Grand Junction, Colorado
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86565425/war-department-and-navy-orders/
| date = 1933-04-11
| page = 6
| title = War Department And Navy Orders
| newspaper = Daily Press
| location = Newport News, Virginia
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86565318/naval-orders/
| date = 1932-01-09
| page = 13
| title = Naval Orders
| newspaper = The Long Beach Sun
| location = Long Beach, California
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86565240/american-vessels-in-chinese-waters/
| date = 1927-04-04
| page = 8
| title = American Vessels in Chinese Waters
| newspaper = Des Moines Tribune
| location = Des Moines, Iowa
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86565158/to-report-here-soon/
| date = 1924-11-13
| page = 4
| title = To Report Here Soon
| newspaper = The Portsmouth Herald
| location = Portsmouth, New Hampshire
}}
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86565049/sixteen-enter-naval-academy/
| date = 1914-06-14
| page = 2
| title = Sixteen Enter Naval Academy
| newspaper = The Baltimore Sun
| location = Baltimore, Maryland
}}
| title = Stanley Cook Norton
| url = https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/21427
| website = Military Times Hall of Valor
| access-date = 24 September 2021
}}
| title = Rear Admiral Stanley C. Norton
| url = https://newspaperarchive.com/portsmouth-herald-apr-05-1978-p-3/
| access-date = 24 September 2021
| agency = Portsmouth Herald
| issue = 158
| date = 5 April 1978
| volume = 90
}}
| last = Hickam
| first = Homer
| title = Torpedo junction : U-boat war off America's East Coast, 1942
| publisher = Naval Institute Press
| year = 1996
| isbn = 1-55750-362-1
| url = https://archive.org/details/torpedojunction00home_0/page/398/mode
| pages = 138–9
}}
| title = Trenton II (CL-11)
| url = https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/t/trenton-ii.html
| website = history.navy.mil
| publisher = Naval History and Heritage Command
| access-date = 25 September 2021
}}
| title = Gets Cross For 'Successful Action'
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/image/617635495
| access-date = 24 September 2021
| issue = 272
| publisher = The Miami Herald
| date = 1 September 1942
}}
| title = The Lucky Bag
| date = 1918
| publisher = United States Naval Academy
| location = Annapolis
| page = 111
| url = https://archive.org/details/luckybag00unit_3/page/110/mode
| access-date = 24 September 2021
}}
| title = U.S. Naval Academy During World War I
| url = https://www.usna.com/news/wwi
| website = United States Naval Academy
| access-date = 25 September 2021
}}
| title = Register of the commission and warrant officers of the Navy of the United States
| date = 1919
| publisher = US Navy
| location = Washington DC
| pages = 84–85
| url = https://archive.org/details/registerofcommis1919wash
| access-date = 25 September 2021
}}
| title = Register of the commission and warrant officers of the Navy of the United States
| date = 1920
| publisher = US Navy
| location = Washington DC
| pages = 64–65
| url = https://archive.org/details/registerofcommis1920wash
| access-date = 26 September 2021
}}
| title = Register of the commission and warrant officers of the Navy of the United States
| date = 1921
| publisher = US Navy
| location = Washington DC
| pages = 60–1
| url = https://archive.org/details/registerofcommis1921wash
| access-date = 26 September 2021
}}
| title = Register of the commission and warrant officers of the Navy of the United States
| date = 1923
| publisher = US Navy
| location = Washington DC
| pages = 60–1
| url = https://archive.org/details/registerofcommis1923wash
| access-date = 26 September 2021
}}
| title = Register of the commission and warrant officers of the Navy of the United States
| date = 1924
| publisher = US Navy
| location = Washington DC
| pages = 72
| url = https://archive.org/details/registerofcommis1924wash
| access-date = 26 September 2021
}}
| title = Ordered to Cavite
| page = 5
| url = https://newspaperarchive.com/portsmouth-herald-may-26-1926-p-5/
| access-date = 26 September 2021
| agency = The Portsmouth Herald
| date = 26 May 1926
}}
| title = Fleet Oiler (AO) Photo Index
| website = NavSource Naval History
| date = 1941-10-30
| url = http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/19/19019.htm
| access-date = 2020-01-09
}}
| title = The Naval Academy
| url = https://archive.org/details/sim_armed-forces-journal_1919-07-12_56_45
| access-date = 26 September 2021
| agency = Army and Navy Journal
| volume = 56
| issue = 45
| page = 1582
| date = 12 Jun 1919
}}
| last = Bunch
| first = Jim
| title = U-Boats off the Outer Banks: Shadows in the Moonlight
| publisher = Arcadia Publishing
| year = 2017
| isbn = 9781467137676
| page = 138
}}
| last = Roscoe
| first = Theodore
| title = United States destroyer operations in World War II
| date = 1953
| publisher = United States Naval Institute
| isbn = 9780870217265
| pages = 74–75
| url = https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesdest0000rosc/page/74/mode
| access-date = 24 September 2021
}}
}}
Category:United States Naval Academy alumni
Category:United States Navy rear admirals (upper half)
Category:Military personnel from Maine
Category:Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States)