Sponsored by:

Navy Federal Credit Union
Francis
Joseph
McManus
POW (WWII) KIA
January 18, 1905

–

December 15, 1944

Born:

Cleveland

, 

Ohio

Home:

Cleveland

, 

Ohio

Buried: 

Manila

, 

Philippine Islands

Cemetery:

A.B.M.C. Manila

Francis McManus attended Catholic grade schools and attended Saint John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio, where he received his B.A., and then attended Niagara University, Buffalo, New York. After post-graduate studies at Innsbruck, Austria, he was ordained a Catholic Priest in 1930 at the College Chapel, Canisianum, Innsbruck, Australia, in April 1930. His first assignment was as assistant pastor of the Church of Saint Mary in Lorrain, Ohio, where he served until October 1936 when he was appointed a U.S. Navy chaplain. Sea service followed with assignments aboard the U.S.S. Salt Lake City, the U.S.S. Maryland, and in 1940 he was assigned to the U.S.S. Canopus in the Philippine Islands. After the Canopus was severely damaged on December 29, 1941, and subsequently scuttled to prevent the vessel from falling into enemy hands, he and his surviving comrades joined the ground forces in defense of Bataan and Corregidor. He was subsequently captured and interned as a Prisoner of War. He died when a U.S. Submarine torpedoed the Japanese ARISAN MARU on October 24, 1944.

Awards Received

  • Silver Star

    Service:

    United States Navy

    Rank:

    Lieutenant (ChC)

    Division:

    U.S.S. Canopus (AS-9)

    Action Date:

    December 10, 1941
    Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 309 (December 1942)

    The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Lieutenant (ChC) Francis Joseph McManus (NSN: 0-77981), United States Navy, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in connection with military operations against the enemy while serving as Chaplain of the U.S.S. CANOPUS (AS-9), during the bombardment on Cavite, Philippine Islands, on 10 December 1941. When an armor- piercing bomb exploded in the vicinity of the after magazine crushing or exploding 70 rounds of ammunition, killing 6 men and wounding 6 others, and starting fires in adjacent compartments, Chaplain McManus, with complete disregard for his own safety, entered the smoke and steam filled engine room, assisted in removing the wounded and administered the last rites to the dying. His courageous action, beyond the call of duty and in the face of grave danger, is in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

  • Prisoner of War Medal

    Service:

    United States Navy

    Rank:

    Lieutenant

    Division:

    Prisoner of War (Philippine Islands and Japan)

    Action Date:

    May 6, 1942 – December 15, 1944
    NARA Database: Records of World War II Prisoners of War, created, 1942 – 1947

    Lieutenant (ChC), Francis Joseph McManus (NSN: 0-77981), United States Navy, a former crewman of the U.S.S. CANOPUS (AS-9), was captured by the Japanese after the fall of Corregidor, Philippine Islands, on 6 May 1942, and was held as a Prisoner of War until his death while in captivity on or about 15 December 1944.

  • Legion of Merit

    Service:

    United States Navy

    Rank:

    Lieutenant (ChC)

    Division:

    Prisoner of War (Philippine Islands)

    Action Date:

    December 3, 1941 – December 15, 1944
    Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 351 (June 1946)

    (Citation Needed) – SYNOPSIS: Lieutenant (ChC) Francis Joseph McManus (NSN: 0-77981), United States Navy, was awarded the Legion of Merit (Posthumously) for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States as Chaplain for the U.S.S. CANOPUS (AS-9), at Mariveles Harbor, Manila Bay, and at Fort Mills, Corregidor from 3 December 1941 to 6 May 1942, and as a Prisoner of War at Corregidor and at Philippine Military Prison Compound 1, Cabanatuan, and on a Japanese prison ship sunk off Olongapo, Philippine Islands, 3 December 1942 to 15 December 1944.