Edward Ackerman was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on 3 September 1915. He was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1935 and was commissioned in the rank of Ensign upon graduation in June 1939. Following brief service in the battleship Mississippi, in September 1939 he was assigned to help recommission the old destroyer Overton (DD-239), part of the Nation's response to the outbreak of World War II in Europe. In December 1941 Ackerman began submarine instruction at Groton, Connecticut. He then joined the precommissioning unit for the new submarine Grayback (SS-208) and remained with her until early 1944. He distinguished himself during several war patrols, while serving as Diving Officer, Assistant Fire Control Officer and Assistant Approach Officer.
In April 1944 Lieutenant Ackerman was sent to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, to take part in the outfitting of new submarines building there. He was assigned to USS Kete, commissioned in July 1944, and in February 1945 was given command of her. Lieutenant Commander Ackerman thus became one of the first members of the Naval Academy Class of 1939 to attain command of a combat submarine. The next month he was lost with Kete during her second war patrol, in the vicinity of Okinawa.
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Page made 26 January 2003