News has arrived of the death of Cmdr. Charles Pendleton Trumbull (Retd.), a former US Naval Base Executive Director in Bermuda during the Cold War. Cmdr. Trumbull, who was known to his many friends in Bermuda as Charlie, died of a heart attack in Hillsborough, North Carolina. He was 87.

While in Bermuda, he served as head of the US Navy here from 1959 to 1961 ? the post from which he retired. Now one to be idle, he then became Administrative Manager of the Columbia University Geophysical Field Station, Bermuda, also known as the SOFAR (Sound Fixing and Ranging) Station.

SOFAR played an integral part in world security by tracking underwater sounds and signals from Russian submarines that frequented international and local waters during the Cold War years. Together with British Intelligence officer Cmdr. Leonard Spry and the team of St. David?s-based scientists and engineers, he worked to prevent the Russians from spying and to secure international safety and security.

It was at SOFAR that he worked closely with the late Frank Watlington ? the world-renowned Bermudian acoustical engineer who discovered and first recorded whale songs with the underwater hydrophones. Those sounds were, in fact, not spy signals at all, but those of humpback whale communication. These humpback sounds, which had for years baffled scientists and US Naval intelligence officers, were an important scientific discovery that was the catalyst for researching the huge migratory mammals.

Fascinated by underwater sound research, Cmdr. Trumbull travelled the globe to work on many classified underwater projects.

During his time on the Island, he was a member of the Rotary Club and an avid deep-sea fisherman, breaking more than one record ? the white marlin ? which still stands.

Born in Hartford, Connecticut, he grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. He attended Union College for one year, prior to his appointment to the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, from which he graduated in 1941.

He served his country in the Second World War, and his naval career ? which centred on the submarine service and intelligence ? took him to Hawaii, the South Pacific, Panama and the Mediterranean. Highlights were commanding a submarine and serving as US Naval Attache in Hong Kong.

In 1979, he moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and became active with the Orange Country Republicans, Civitan Club and the Navy League?s Triangle Council.

He started Chinese studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, eventually writing an authoritative book on the Chinese language ? 4,000 Years of Chinese.

He is survived by his wife, Jane; his son and daughter-in-law, William and Dianne Trumbull of Morgantown, West Virginia; his daughter and son-in-law, Kari and John Baldwin, of Raleigh, North Carolina; six grandchildren, Nicole Georgi, Charles, Andrew and Jacqueline Trumbull, and John and Will Baldwin; several cousins, nephews, nieces, including Marie McCann Johnson, Chas McCann and Siobhan McCann - all formerly of Bermuda.

Memorial services with military honours were held at St. Matthew?s Episcopal Church in Hillsborough, North Carolina on December 30.