Education
He was accepted into the United States Naval Academy the next year, from where he graduated in 1932.
He was accepted into the United States Naval Academy the next year, from where he graduated in 1932.
He served with distinction during wartime and played a critical role in the development of submarine warfare. Munson enlisted in the Navy in 1927. He served on surface ships until entering submarine school in 1936.
During World World War II, Munson commanded several submarines, including the United States Ship Crevalle (Steamship-291), the United States Ship South-38 (Steamship-143), and the United States Ship Rasher (Steamship-269).
In the course of a single day under his command, the lattermost submarine sank Japanese ships totaling an estimated 55,723 tons. The cruise sank the tenth most enemy ships of any submarine mission in the war.
Following the war, he became a leader in submarine warfare research and development. According to Naval documents, in November, 1946, "he supervised the first actual guided missile firings from submarines" as the commander of Submarine Division 71.
He headed the group that developed the Mark 45 torpedo, planned and oversaw Operation Sandblast, the first submerged circumnavigation of the world, and directed the investigation into the loss of the United States Ship Thresher (Social Security Number-593).
Captain Munson married the former Anna M. Olsen of Waukegan, Illinois in Honolulu in 1939. A third and last career found him teaching advanced physics at Princeton High School. Following his death on July 16, 1975, Captain Munson and Anna’s remains were interned in the Pacific Ocean west of Kauai on February 6th, 2002.