George Franklin Cooper

Capt. George Franklin Cooper Jr. was an American naval officer. He was a captain in the United States Navy; and was the commanding officer of the battleship from May 1914 to June 1916 and during World War I.

Biography

George Franklin Cooper was born on September 26, 1864, in Americus, Georgia. His father Dr. George Franklin Cooper Sr. was a physician, Baptist minister, and founder of the public school system in his hometown of Americus. In 1886, Cooper graduated from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
He was appointed to the United States Navy in 1872. He served in World War I in the Fourth Naval District, and was awarded the Navy Cross.
He died on May 6, 1953, in Philadelphia; and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.