Herbert Victor Wiley
Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy

Herbert Victor Wiley was born on 16 May 1891 in Wheeling, MO.

A native of Missouri, Wiley graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1915 and was commissioned to the rank of Ensign. A veteran of World War One, Wiley was assigned to the Naval Airship Program in the 1920s with his first posting being aboard the USS Shenandoah. He served aboard the vessel until 2 September 1925, when the Shenandoah went down over Ohio killing 14 members of her crew. Surviving the crash, Wiley was reassigned to the USS Los Angeles and eventually served as her Commander until she was decommissioned in 1930.

In 1932, Lt. Commander Wiley was appointed Executive Officer of the airship USS Akron. On 4 April 1933, Akron crashed off the coast of New Jersey as a result of high winds, killing all but three men, with Wiley being the sole surviving officer among them. Also killed on the Akron was the Chief of the Airship Program, Rear Admiral William Moffett. In 1934, Commander Wiley was appointed Commanding Officer of the Navy's last airship, USS Macon, a post he held until 1935, when the Macon crashed off the coast of California, killing two members of her crew.

With the outbreak of World War Two, Captain Wiley commanded a Destroyer Squadron in the Pacific Theater until 1944, when he was appointed Captain of the USS West Virginia, a post he held until the end of the war.

He retired at the rank of Rear Admiral in 1947.

Death and Burial

Rear Admiral Herbert Victor Wiley died on 28 April 1954 in Pasadena, CA. He is buried at the Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, CA.