World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseNorman Scott was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. He was appointed to the Naval Academy in 1907 and graduated four years later. After serving aboard battleship Idaho and several destroyers, he entered WW1 as the executive officer of destroyer Jacob Jones. In Dec 1917, the destroyer was sunk by a German submarine, and Scott was transferred to the Navy Department as Naval Aide to President Woodrow Wilson. In 1919, he commanded a division of Eagle Boats.

ww2dbaseDuring the inter-war years, Scott had both extensive sea-going experience as well as land duties. He took part in the naval mission to Brazil in 1937-1939 aboard light cruiser Cincinnati. When the United States entered WW2 in Dec 1941, Scott held the rank of captain.

ww2dbaseDuring the first months of 1942 Scott was assigned to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. In May, he was given the war time rank of rear admiral and was sent to the South Pacific. In that role, he supported the invasion of Guadalcanal and Tulagi in Aug 1942. In Oct 1942, during the Battle of Cape Esperance, he could not determine whether the blips on the radar screen were his own destroyers or Japanese ships. Furthermore, he was involved in an episode of miscommunication in which he mistakenly gave the go-ahead for his ships to open fire on the Japanese before he was ready; he tried to stop the firing a minute later, and then ordered to resume firing four minutes after the ceasefire order, all of which created confusion. Luck, however, remained on his side, thus he secured a small tactical victory at the Battle of Cape Esperance. The victory made him a hero in the theater. A month later, in the early hours of 13 Nov 1942, his ship cruiser USS Atlanta was struck by enemy shells near the bridge, which took his life. Atlanta eventually sank. Scott was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. The citation read as follows:

Photographs

Norman Scott Timeline

Visitor Submitted Comments

Show older comments