Maynard W. Tollberg

Tollberg was born at North Branch, Minnesota, on February 17, 1904. He enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve on September 24, 1923 and was honorably discharged on September 15, 1927.

After the beginning of World War II, Tollberg reenlisted on June 23, 1942 with the same rating. He was assigned duty on board the destroyer USS La Vallette (DD-448).

On the afternoon of January 30, 1943, during the second day of the Battle of Rennell Island, La Vallette was screening the damaged heavy cruiser USS Chicago (CA-29) when 11 Japanese torpedo planes attacked. La Vallette received a torpedo hit in her forward engine room which killed 22 members of the crew.

Watertender Second Class Tollberg, although fatally scalded by high-temperature steam, painfully climbed up the fire room ladder and emerged on the main deck through a hatch which had been blown open by the detonation. Despite severe pain and partial blindness, he expended his dying strength trying to close the control valve through which fuel oil was pouring into the fireroom below, where a number of his helpless shipmates were trapped. Tollberg then collapsed and soon died of his wounds.

Watertender Second Class Tollberg was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously.

The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Tollberg (DE-593) was named for Watertender Second Class Tollberg. She was converted during construction into the high-speed transport USS Tollberg (APD-103), and was in commission as such from 1945 to `1946.

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.