Joseph Gainard

Who was Joseph Gainard?

Joseph Aloysius Gainard was a Captain in the United States Navy who served during World Wars I and II.

Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, he enlisted in the U.S. Naval Reserve Force on 23 November 1917. He received the Navy Cross for distinguished service while Master of the American merchant steamer SS City of Flint, seized by a German cruiser on the high seas on 9 October 1939 but returned to him in a Norwegian fjord on 3 November.

Recalled to active duty on 30 July 1941, he commanded the submarine decoy ship USS Big Horn in the Caribbean, then commanded the attack transport USS Bolivar in the Pacific. Illness took Captain Gainard from this duty and he died in the U.S. Naval Hospital at San Diego, California, on 23 December 1943.