Kalk, Stanton F.
Stanton Frederick Kalk was born in Alabama on 14 October 1894. He received his higher education at the U.S. Naval Academy, from which he graduated in 1916. Service in the battleship Florida followed. In September 1917 he was assigned to the destroyer Jacob Jones, which was then performing convoy escort duties as part of the Anglo-American effort to control the serious threat of German U-boats. On 6 December 1917, Kalk was officer-of-the-deck when his ship was torpedoed by the submarine U-53. After Jacob Jones sank, he exhibited "extraordinary heroism" while helping move survivors among life rafts in an effort to equalize their loads. As a result of his exertions in the chilly water of the North Atlantic, Lt(JG) Kalk died from exhaustion and exposure. He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.
The Navy has named two destroyers in honor of Lieutenant (Junior Grade)
- Kalk: USS Kalk (Destroyer # 170, later DD-170), 1919-1940; and
- USS Kalk (DD-611), 1942-1969.
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