Maher, Arthur L.

Rear Admiral Arthur L. Maher was born on 1 August 1901 at Utica, New York. He entered the U.S. Naval Academy on 18 June 1919. Maher was the senior officer to survive the sinking of Houston, and was captured by the Japanese in the mountains of Java on 12 March 1942. First held in a native jail in Serang, Java, he was transferred to a Japanese military hospital on 25 March. On 5 April, he was taken to Batavia and put on a transport ship bound for Japan. The transport arrived on 4 May, and Maher was taken to the Japanese Naval Military Interrogation Camp at Ohuna. He remained there until 3 December 1943, when he was transferred to Camp Omori, near Tokyo. Maher was liberated from the Omori prisoner-of-war camp on 29 August 1945. Despite his wish to remain on active duty, Maher was transferred to the retired list on 30 June 1953 with the rank of Rear Admiral. Admiral Maher died on 7 February 1994 in Phoenix, Arizona, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.