Retired Navy captain Joseph G. Finnegan (USN ret.) of Malden, who aided in breaking the Japanese naval code during World War II, died Monday in Boston.
He was 75.
Capt. Finnegan was awarded the Legion of Merit for his assistance in carrying out vital operations of the Division of Naval Communications in World War II. An article in the US Naval Journal praised him as "the most successful initial translator in all the Navy's communication intelligence stations . . . his contributions were essential, especially his intuition, during the critical Pearl Harbor-Guadalcanal period."
Between 1941 and 1945 he served in the combat intelligence headquarters of the 14th Naval District, Pacific Fleet Radio Unit. From 1937-39, he was the Japanese language officer of the Naval Communications Intelligence Unit in the Philippines. During this time he was also attached to the US Embassy in Tokyo as the Japanese language officer.
He commanded the USS Winston from 1947-50, and during the next two years was chief of the advisory council for the Central Intelligence Agency in Washington. He was placed in command of the USS Menard, an attack transport, in the Korean War.
Capt. Finnegan, a native of Dorchester, graduated in 1928 from the US Naval Academy.
He leaves four sisters, Mary F. Corbett, Katherine M. Walsh, Agnes F. McCravy and Barbara A. Sherlock; a brother, W. Leo King; A son, Gregory Alan Finnegan, PhD, of Evanston, Ill., and two grandsons, Seth and Noah Joseph Finnegan of Evanston.
Services and interment will be at 3 p.m. Thursday at Arlington National Cemetery, Washington.
Boston Globe Newspaper Sep 10, 1980
He was 75.
Capt. Finnegan was awarded the Legion of Merit for his assistance in carrying out vital operations of the Division of Naval Communications in World War II. An article in the US Naval Journal praised him as "the most successful initial translator in all the Navy's communication intelligence stations . . . his contributions were essential, especially his intuition, during the critical Pearl Harbor-Guadalcanal period."
Between 1941 and 1945 he served in the combat intelligence headquarters of the 14th Naval District, Pacific Fleet Radio Unit. From 1937-39, he was the Japanese language officer of the Naval Communications Intelligence Unit in the Philippines. During this time he was also attached to the US Embassy in Tokyo as the Japanese language officer.
He commanded the USS Winston from 1947-50, and during the next two years was chief of the advisory council for the Central Intelligence Agency in Washington. He was placed in command of the USS Menard, an attack transport, in the Korean War.
Capt. Finnegan, a native of Dorchester, graduated in 1928 from the US Naval Academy.
He leaves four sisters, Mary F. Corbett, Katherine M. Walsh, Agnes F. McCravy and Barbara A. Sherlock; a brother, W. Leo King; A son, Gregory Alan Finnegan, PhD, of Evanston, Ill., and two grandsons, Seth and Noah Joseph Finnegan of Evanston.
Services and interment will be at 3 p.m. Thursday at Arlington National Cemetery, Washington.
Boston Globe Newspaper Sep 10, 1980
Retired Navy captain Joseph G. Finnegan (USN ret.) of Malden, who aided in breaking the Japanese naval code during World War II, died Monday in Boston.
He was 75.
Capt. Finnegan was awarded the Legion of Merit for his assistance in carrying out vital operations of the Division of Naval Communications in World War II. An article in the US Naval Journal praised him as "the most successful initial translator in all the Navy's communication intelligence stations . . . his contributions were essential, especially his intuition, during the critical Pearl Harbor-Guadalcanal period."
Between 1941 and 1945 he served in the combat intelligence headquarters of the 14th Naval District, Pacific Fleet Radio Unit. From 1937-39, he was the Japanese language officer of the Naval Communications Intelligence Unit in the Philippines. During this time he was also attached to the US Embassy in Tokyo as the Japanese language officer.
He commanded the USS Winston from 1947-50, and during the next two years was chief of the advisory council for the Central Intelligence Agency in Washington. He was placed in command of the USS Menard, an attack transport, in the Korean War.
Capt. Finnegan, a native of Dorchester, graduated in 1928 from the US Naval Academy.
He leaves four sisters, Mary F. Corbett, Katherine M. Walsh, Agnes F. McCravy and Barbara A. Sherlock; a brother, W. Leo King; A son, Gregory Alan Finnegan, PhD, of Evanston, Ill., and two grandsons, Seth and Noah Joseph Finnegan of Evanston.
Services and interment will be at 3 p.m. Thursday at Arlington National Cemetery, Washington.
Boston Globe Newspaper Sep 10, 1980
He was 75.
Capt. Finnegan was awarded the Legion of Merit for his assistance in carrying out vital operations of the Division of Naval Communications in World War II. An article in the US Naval Journal praised him as "the most successful initial translator in all the Navy's communication intelligence stations . . . his contributions were essential, especially his intuition, during the critical Pearl Harbor-Guadalcanal period."
Between 1941 and 1945 he served in the combat intelligence headquarters of the 14th Naval District, Pacific Fleet Radio Unit. From 1937-39, he was the Japanese language officer of the Naval Communications Intelligence Unit in the Philippines. During this time he was also attached to the US Embassy in Tokyo as the Japanese language officer.
He commanded the USS Winston from 1947-50, and during the next two years was chief of the advisory council for the Central Intelligence Agency in Washington. He was placed in command of the USS Menard, an attack transport, in the Korean War.
Capt. Finnegan, a native of Dorchester, graduated in 1928 from the US Naval Academy.
He leaves four sisters, Mary F. Corbett, Katherine M. Walsh, Agnes F. McCravy and Barbara A. Sherlock; a brother, W. Leo King; A son, Gregory Alan Finnegan, PhD, of Evanston, Ill., and two grandsons, Seth and Noah Joseph Finnegan of Evanston.
Services and interment will be at 3 p.m. Thursday at Arlington National Cemetery, Washington.
Boston Globe Newspaper Sep 10, 1980
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