Spring, Arthur F.

United States Naval Academy
1971

When Arthur F. Spring was 16, he represented Laconia, N.H., in the State Oratorical High School Championship and was awarded first prize, which consisted of a gold medal and his choice of an appointment to the Naval Academy or the Military Academy. Having never previously heard of either institution, he selected the Naval Academy based on an encyclopedia's description of its summer cruises to Europe. In preparation for Annapolis, he enrolled at the Severn School in 1926, where he lettered in football, basketball and baseball, but did not play lacrosse.

Spring entered the Naval Academy with the class of 1930. In his Plebe year, he lettered in football, basketball and baseball. In his sophomore year, he acquired national prominence as Navy's starting halfback when he scored the first Navy touchdown ever scored against Notre Dame. This game marked the inception of the Navy-Notre Dame football series which today, for both schools, is their longest continuous football rivalry. He received Honorable Mention All-American honors in football in 1927. In the spring of 1928, Spring began to play lacrosse. In his first year of playing the game, he was selected a First Team All-American for the first defense position and led Navy to the National Championship. He earned First Team All-American honors again in 1929 and 1930.

A career officer, Spring's early career consisted of tours in destroyers, cruisers, and post graduate school. He was Executive Officer, USS Missouri (BB-63), at the end of World War II, and later commanded USS Mount Katmai (AE-16), USS Renvill (APA-227) and the USS Helena (CA-75). In 1958, as Chief of Staff of the Seventh Fleet, he was selected for Rear Admiral. His first flag tour was as Commander Naval Base, Subic Bay, Philippines, which he assumed in the spring of 1959. Spring and his wife, the former Clare Murphy, were killed in an airplane accident in the Phillipines on November 14, 1960.

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