Background
Hepburn, Arthur Japy was born on October 15, 1877 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States. Son of Samuel and Marie (Japy) Hepburn.
Hepburn, Arthur Japy was born on October 15, 1877 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, United States. Son of Samuel and Marie (Japy) Hepburn.
Dickinson College, 1892-1893. Doctor of Laws, 1938. Graduate United States Navy Academy, 1897.
He held a number of high posts in the years between the World Wars, including Director of Naval Intelligence (Office of Naval Intelligence), a United States. representative to arms control conferences, and Commander-in-Chief of the United States Fleet. He participated in the defeat of Admiral Cervera"s Spanish Squadron off Santiago, Cuba and was subsequently commissioned at the rank of Ensign. Thereafter, Hepburn assisted in surveys of the Pacific and performed a variety of other duties, until the First World War, where he commanded the seized German liner Kaiser Wilhelm II and as a submarine commander, until he was ordered to Europe in July 1918 to command the naval base at Queenstown, Ireland.
After the armistice, he served in the United States Ship Chester, inspecting German naval ships and aircraft as set out in the terms of the Armistice Treaty.
Thereafter, he served a wide variety of important posts. Between 1932 and 1933, he served as a naval member to the Geneva Conference (Limitations of Arms Conference) as Naval Adviser to the Geneva Delegation in Switzerland and as the American Representative at the London Naval Conference.
After commanding the 4th Naval District, and destroyers of the United States. Fleet, he became Commander in Chief of the entire United States. Fleet on June 24, 1936, at the rank of Admiral. In the years leading up to the Second World War, as it became increasingly clear that international relations were deteriorating, Hepburn was charged with the task of heading the board (eventually known as the "Hepburn Board") which reviewed the United States defense capabilities.
The "Hepburn Board Report" served as the basis for the massive United States. defense expansion of the late 1930s.
In 1942, Hepburn was appointed Chairman of the General Board of the Navy, serving in that capacity throughout the war. He also later served as a delegate to the Dumbarton Oaks meetings, which established guidelines for founding the United Nations. Hepburn retired in December 1945.
He died on May 31, 1964 at Marsalle nursing home in Washington, District of Columbia He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Member American Society Naval Engineers, Theta Delta Chirurgical Clubs: Army and Navy (Washington).
Married Louisa Lowndes Roman, June 15, 1899 (deceased. Married second, Agnes McMahon, June 3, 1950. Children: Arthur Japy, Philip Roman.