US Navy Officer, Author, and Historian. A highly decorated submarine officer during World War II, he is best remembered for his best-selling novel, "Run Silent, Run Deep" (1955), that gave an account of his service on a submarine during World War II, and was subsequently made into the 1958 movie by the same name. He was born in New York City, New York, the son of a career US Navy officer, and raised in Palo Alto, California. In 1935 he received an appointment to the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland and graduated second out of his class of 576 cadets in 1939. For the first two years he performed sea duty on the heavy cruiser USS Chester and the newly-recommissioned destroyer USS Lea, which participated in the neutrality patrol in the Atlantic, the escort of the German passenger liner Columbus, the initial American occupation of Iceland, and convoy duty in the North Atlantic. In September 1941 he was selected to undergo accelerated training at the Submarine Training School at the New London Submarine Base in Connecticut, graduating first in his class in December 1941 shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. During World War II, he served in the Pacific Theater aboard the USS Trigger and USS Tirante, and took command of the USS Piper just as the Pacific War was ending in 1945. While on the USS Tirante, he participated in the Battle of Midway and 12 war patrols that damaged or sank 45 enemy vessels. He held several shipboard positions, including communications officer, engineering officer, navigator, co-approach officer, and executive officer. In December 1945 he was assigned to the Department of the Navy in Washington DC to serve as the personal aide to Vice Admiral Louis E. Denfeld, the chief of the Bureau of Naval Personnel. In March 1947 he was attached to the Atomic Defense Section (OPNAV 36) under Rear Admiral William S. Parsons. In May 1948, he was given command of the USS Amberjack, a GUPPY II modified submarine. The Amberjack gained the nickname "Anglejack" because of its pioneering use of steep diving and surfacing angles, which was immortalized in the January 1950 edition of the National Geographic magazine. His tour was soon cut short as he was ordered to return to Washington DC to serve as Naval Aide to US Army General Omar Bradley, the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Upon completing his tour of duty as Bradley's aide in March 1951, he was named prospective commanding officer of the new submarine USS Trigger II, then under construction. Upon commissioning of Trigger II, which was named for the USS Trigger lost during World War II, he became commanding officer of the first submarine to be completed in a new class after World War II. From 1953 to 1957 he served as Naval Aide to President Dwight D. Eisenhower and was promoted to the rank of captain in October 1956. From March 1957 until December 1957 he became command of the USS Salamonie, a Cimarron-class fleet replenishment oiler that was deployed to the US 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. In January 1958 he attended the US Navy's training program for atomic reactors in order to qualify for his next command, the nuclear-powered submarine USS Triton (the only US nuclear-powered submarine to be equipped with two nuclear reactors at the time), of which he took command in November 1959. Departing New London, Connecticut on what was supposed to have been a "shake-down" cruise in February 1960, the Triton began a circumnavigation of the earth in 84 days without surfacing, covering over 41,000 statute miles, an unprecedented feat. The route of the Triton followed roughly that of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan voyage from 1519 until 1522. After completing his tour of the Triton, he commanded Submarine Squadron Eight from July 1961 until August 1962. He then attended the National War College at Fort McNair, Washington DC, graduating in July 1963. At the same time he earned a Master of Arts degree in International Relations from George Washington University. From July 1963 to December 1966 he served in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington DC, preparing annual budget reports for Congress and preparing the Secretary of the Navy (Fred Korth, Paul B. Fay, and Paul H. Nitze) and the Chief of Naval Operations (George W. Anderson Jr. and David L. McDonald) for hearings before Congressional committees. He retired from the US Navy in December 1966 with 27 years of continuous military service. Among his military decorations and awards include the Navy Cross, the Silver Star with gold star, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star with a combat distinguished "V" and gold star, the Presidential Unit Citation (with special clasp for service on the USS Triton), the Navy Unit Commendation Medal, the American Defense Service Medal with Atlantic Fleet Clasp, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with three engagement stars, the World War II Victory Medal, and the National Defense Service Medal with bronze service star. After his retirement, he was appointed as the Stephen B. Luce Chair of Naval Science at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, the first person to hold that position. During his tenure there, he was the editor of the Naval War College Review. As an author, his first book was "Submarine!" (1952), a compilation of accounts of several wartime patrols made by his own as well as other submarines. He wrote two sequels to "Run Silent, Run Deep;" "Dust on the Sea" (1972) and "Cold is the Sea" (1978). Additionally, he wrote several more books on naval history, including "The Wreck of the Memphis" (1966), "United States Navy: 200 Years" (1986), "Scapegoats: A Defense of Kimmel and Short at Pearl Harbor" (1995), and "Salt and Steel: Reflections of a Submariner" (1999). His "Keepers of the Sea" (1983) is a pictorial record of the modern US Navy with photography by Fred J. Maroon. In addition to his books, he frequently contributed articles and book reviews for periodicals ranging from Blue Book Magazine to National Geographic, and Naval History to American Heritage. His last work, completed shortly before his death, was to prepare for publication his father's manuscript of his own distinguished service in the US Navy. Titled "From Annapolis to Scapa Flow: The Autobiography of Edward L. Beach, Sr" (2003), it is his father's personal account of the US Navy from the age of sail to the age of steam. He received several honors and awards for his naval achievements. The Naval Historical Foundation History Prize has been renamed The Captain Edward L. Beach Prize and The Beach Award for non-technical writing or documentation that promotes personal submarines presented by the Personal Submersible Organization is named in his honor. He died in Washington DC at the age of 84.