27 SEPTEMBER 1917 – 27 JULY 2011
Navy Cross, Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Navy Commendation Medal
Today we pay our respects to a Submarine Force pioneer and hero. Rear Admiral Maurice “Mike” H. Rindskopf passed away on July 27, 201 I. A World War II Commanding Officer, he helped to herald a new era of submarine warfare and forged many of the traditions the Submarine Force observes today. Born on September 27, 1917, in Brooklyn, New York, he entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1934 at the age of 16. After receiving his commission in 1938 he reported to the battleship USS COLORADO (BB-45) for two years. In 1940, he completed submarine training and reported to the new fleet submarine, USS DRUM (SS-228). After nine war patrols, he assumed command of USS DRUM and, at the age of 26, completed two more patrols as the youngest Commanding Officer of a fleet submarine in the pacific. USS DRUM was credited with sinking 15 enemy ships and damaging another 11 for a total of 80,000 tons. After World War II, RADM Rindskopf assisted in the development of modem submarine fire control and tactics. During the Cold War he commanded two submarine flotillas and pioneered the concept of hydrofoil craft while directing harbor defense for the Navy and also served as Director of Naval Intelligence. RADM Rindskopf retired from active duty in 1972 and continued to lead an extremely active life serving the Naval Academy and the Annapolis Community. I have appended a very nice article from the ANNAPOLIS CAPITAL, as well as his obituary, below. I had the privilege of meeting RADM Rindskopf at the last two Submarine Birthday Balls at the Naval Academy. In 2009, he was invited to the podium to say a few remarks, and proceeded to give one of the most inspirational speeches I have heard – extempora-neously! He was a true officer and gentleman, and will be sorely missed from our ranks. Please take a moment to observe the passing of RADM Mike Rindskopf, a submarine legend and hero on eternal patrol. Our thoughts and prayers will be with his family as they navigate this challenging time.
Very respectfully, VADM John Richardson, USN
The following appeared in the ANNAPOLIS CAPITAL, 31 JUL 11 by Tina Reed.
‘This Guy Was A Real Hero’ Rear Adm. Rindskopf sank 15 enemy ships, served community.
Best known for being the youngest officer in history to command a submarine, Annapolis resident and retired Navy Rear Adm. Maurice Rindskopf died Wednesday after a short illness. He was 93. Rindskopf is remembered for his leadership and his contributions to the community long after he retired from the Navy. In 2007, he received the elite honor of being named a Naval Academy Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate, placing him among ranks that include a president, a Super Bowl champion quarterback and an astronaut “This guy was a real hero,” said Retired Adm. Leighton W. Smith Jr., who was honored as a distinguished graduate the same year Rindskopf received the honor. “You can’t say enough about him as an officer, as a gentleman, as a businessman, as a friend, as a person who contributed and who had such a love for the Naval Academy.” Rindskopf came to the Naval Academy as a 16-year-old in 1934. After being commissioned four years later, he soon was assigned to USS DRUM, a submarine stationed in the Pacific Ocean. He was soon at war.
And when the submarine’s commanding officer suffered an attack of gallstones, Rindskopf found himself commander of the sub at age 26. He led patrols in the Pacific and was responsible for sinking 15 enemy ships and damaging 11 others. He later was a leader in antisubmarine warfare during the Cold War and eventually became the director of Naval Intelligence. After retiring in 1972, Rindskopf and his wife, Sylvia, moved to Severna Park and he began working as an international marketing manager for Westinghouse. He also became active on county and state library boards. He put so much preparation and dedication into activities such as the Anne Arundel County Public Library Board of Trustees that president Joan Beck said she had no idea how distinguished a background he had. Beck said she was floored when she learned what he’d accomplished during his Naval career. “I guess the troubles you’d face on the library budget committee are quite small compared to commanding a submarine,” Beck said. Rindskopf was never one to boast about his record, but dedicated time trying to positively influence young people and give back to his community, Smith said. He was instrumental in creating a Class of 1938 endowment to support an annual forum to train midshipmen about being leaders in the military and the civilian world. “The way he lived his life, he was such a balanced individual that really made him a role model for others,” Smith said. “We may never know how many lives he influenced. That’s his legacy.” Sylvia, his wife of 68 years, died last March. Together, they’d traveled throughout his career to duty stations in Washington, Long Beach, Calif., and New London, Conn., and overseas to Panama, Hawaii and Naples, Italy. Friends say Rindskopf was heartbroken by the loss of his wife. Rindskopfs only granddaughter, Amy Rindskopf, remembers we11 the stories she’d hear from her grandfather.
“I remember as a kid, he’d take me to the Naval Academy to skate there or to a basketball game,” she said. He’d tell stories about commanding “the DRUM” and how it was the first submarine to reach Pearl Harbor after it was attacked by the Japanese in 1941, she said. Just this past winter, Amy Rindskopf said she was her grandfather’s date to the annual Submarine Ball. He energetically introduced her to handfuls of people. “He just loved to be involved,” she said. She was in Annapolis last week and said she was struck by a common theme about her grandfather as she went through what people wrote in some of his old yearbooks. “Everyone said he was well-liked, easy to get along with. It’s a very special gift he had,” she said. “He really believed if you are going to do something, you should do it right.” A funeral service was held at 9 a.m. on I August at the Levy Chapel of the Naval Academy. Rindskoprs ashes will be scattered from a submarine in the Pacific Ocean.
RINDSKOPF, MAURICE HERBERT Rear Admiral Maurice H. Rindskopf USN (Ret.) passed away on July 27, 2011, at BayWoods of Annapolis after a short illness. He was predeceased by his wife of 69 years, Sylvia Lubow Rindskopf in 2010, and by his only son Peter Eric Rindskopf, Yale University (1964) and Yale Law School ( 1967) in 1971. He is survived by his granddaughter, Amy Kathryn Rindskopf, her husband James V. Schultz, and two great grandsons, Jasper and Ian Schultz of Winchester, MA, and by his daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker of Sacramento, CA. Memorial contributions may be made to the Poly Prep Country Day School, 9216 Seventh A venue, Brooklyn, NY 11228.
