Commodore Leroy J. Alexanderson was the third and last Master of the liner S.S. UNITED STATES serving from 1965/1969. I first met him in Philadelphia circa 1950 when he was commanding a U.S. Lines freighter S.S. AMERICAN FORWARDER on the Liverpool/Dublin/Glasgow run. During WWII he commanded an attack transport USS GAGE which saw action landing Marines in Okinawa. And at war's end brought our troops home via Suez. In 1955 he became Captain of the S.S. AMERICA and shortly thereafter joined COMMODORE ANDERSON as his Executive Officer on the BIG U where they became a team until "Alex" relieved Anderson and remained her Master until 1969 when she was decommissioned. He later commanded the container ship S.S. AMERICAN LEGION on the Far East run. He was an adviser and consultant to the new owners of the BIG U. And he retired as a two-star rear admiral in the Naval Reserve. (You will note that he was fastidious in his choice of cologne.")
tjs
Next - F.W.E. (Mon.)
Brilliant career.
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