Captain Costagliola graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1941 and was assigned to the USS PHOENIX (CL-46). He served on her throughout World War II in twenty-four operations or battles in the Pacific. Other sea assignments included command of a destroyer in the Korean War, gunnery officer of the USS SARATOGA, and command of the USS FIREDRAKE. Nearly all shore duty assignments were in the nuclear field, where he was a leading expert in nuclear physics. After retirement in 1968, he served on the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and in a multitude of major capacities dealing with nuclear energy.
In session #1 Costagliola comments on his background in Rhode Island and his experiences at the U.S. Naval Academy. He describes his service in the PHOENIX in 1941, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, operations out of Freemantle and other locations in Australia, encounters in the Java Sea, and involvement in operations off Guadalcanal.
In session #2 Captain Costagliola comments on his illness in Australia, and action by the PHOENIX in support of landings in the New Britain Islands, New Guinea, the Admiralty Islands, Leyte Gulf, Lingayen Gulf, Borneo, Balikpapen, and other locations in the South Pacific. For the post war period, he comments on nuclear ordnance assignments, sea duty on the USS BROWNSON (DD 868) and the collision of the BROWNSON with the ROAN, command of the USS HULSEY POWELL (DD 686), and duty along the coast of Korea.
Gift of Francesco Costagliola
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1930s-1952