Charles W. Rush

In November 2002, nearly 60 years later after Rush's heroic actions, he was awarded the Navy Cross in a ceremony at Naval Station Pearl Harbor. This was the first time the honor had been bestowed upon someone other than a commanding officer.

Rush was a member of the Royal Ocean Racing Club, Sons of the American Revolution, and United States Submarine Veterans of World War II. In October 1976, Rush married his wife LaVonne at the Naval Academy. They had homes in Washington, D.C., and Port Saint Lucie, Florida. In retirement, Rush and his wife sailed throughout the Bahamas and Caribbean.

In 1961, Rush retired from the United States Navy. He attended graduate school at Caltech in aeronautical engineering in Pasadena, California.

Rush wrote a handful of books, including The Complete Book of Submarines (with W. C. Chambliss, 1958) and a submarine-themed fiction novel, Striker's Men (1994).

On November 11, 1943, USS Billfish was attacked by three Japanese destroyers in the Makassar Strait over a period of 12 hours. One of the destroyers severely damaged USS Billfish with a depth charge attack of 650 feet (200 m), approximately 250 feet (76 m) below the submarine's test depth. The Billfish's aft pressure hull was ruptured and the boat began taking on water. The ship's batteries also began releasing poisonous gases throughout the ship, depleting the supply of fresh oxygen.

After graduation from the Naval Academy on February 7, 1941, Rush served on destroyers in the Pacific Ocean until he volunteered for submarine duty while in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. His first assignment as a Naval Officer was on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise as a torpedo officer.

Charles W. Rush, Jr. (March 18, 1919 – February 27, 2015) was a United States Navy captain who served during World War II and the Korean War. During World War II, Rush saved the entire crew of the submarine USS Billfish from a November 1943 depth charge attack by three Japanese destroyers. His actions remained hidden for nearly 60 years before he was honored with the Navy Cross in 2002 for his actions. Rush served on the USS Thresher, USS Carbonero, and USS Billfish and served in command of the submarines USS Queenfish and USS Blackfin before retiring from the Navy in 1961. Rush developed a number of submarine-launched missiles, including a notable high-speed wake-less torpedo.

"Charlie," son of Charles W. Rush, Sr. and Dorothy McFaddin, was born in Greensboro, Alabama on March 18, 1919. Rush spent his youth in Dothan, Alabama, where he attended public school. In 1935, he was awarded a scholarship to Gulf Coast Military Academy in Gulfport, Mississippi. He graduated from GCMA in 1937 with highest honors and received an appointment to the Naval Academy from the Secretary of the Navy.