{{Short description|United States naval officer (1881-1946)}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Otto Carl Dowling | honorific_suffix = | image = | alt = | caption = | office = [[Governor of American Samoa]] | term_start = April 17, 1934 | term_end = January 15, 1936 | lieutenant = | predecessor = [[Thomas Latimore]] | successor = [[Thomas Benjamin Fitzpatrick]] | birth_date = February 28, 1881 | birth_place = | death_date = {{Death date and age|1946|4|14|1881|2|28|df=yes}} | death_place = [[Trumbull, Connecticut]] | party = | spouse = Ora Dowling | alma_mater = [[United States Naval Academy]] | occupation = Naval officer | signature = | signature_alt = <!--Military service--> | nickname = | allegiance = {{flag|United States|1912}} | branch = {{nowrap|[[File:United States Department of the Navy Seal.svg|30px|United States Navy Seal]]}} [[United States Navy]] | service_years = | rank = [[File:US-O6 insignia.svg|30px]] [[Captain (United States)#U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Public Health Service, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|Captain]] | unit = | commands = Naval arsenal at [[Iona Island (New York)|Iona Island]]; [[Lake Denmark Powder Depot]] | battles = | awards = [[Distinguished Service Cross (United States)|Distinguished Service Cross]] }}
'''Otto Carl Dowling''' (February 28, 1881 – April 14, 1946) was a [[United States Navy]] [[Captain (United States)#U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Public Health Service, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|Captain]], and the [[governor of American Samoa]] from April 17, 1934, to January 15, 1936. He graduated from the [[United States Naval Academy]] in 1903. Dowling served in [[World War I]], before retiring. He was re-commissioned in [[World War II]], serving as the commander of a naval ammunition depot on [[Iona Island (New York)|Iona Island]] in [[New York (state)|New York]]. He commanded the [[Lake Denmark Powder Depot]], and was in charge when lightning struck the location, causing a large explosion of millions of dollars' worth of ammunition. A board of inquiry recommended him for the [[Distinguished Service Cross (United States)|Distinguished Service Cross]] for his bravery in the situation.
He was Governor of American Samoa from 1934 to 1936. As Governor, he discriminated against the [[Samoan people]], believing they had little ability to plan or administer, and were generally lazy. He abandoned a project on the island to train people in [[agriculture|agricultural]] and [[sawmill]] skills.<ref name=PPG/> He shut down some local occupational training facilities, and outlawed the sale of alcohol to men under 18, and to all women.
Governor Dowling denied a resolution from the [[Eastern District, American Samoa|Eastern District]] that sought to establish a legislative assembly known as the [[American Samoa Fono|Fono]]. However, this request was later approved by Governor [[Vernon Huber]].<ref>Sunia, Fofō Iosefa Fiti (2001). ''Puputoa: Host of Heroes - A record of the history makers in the First Century of American Samoa, 1900-2000''. Suva, Fiji: Oceania Printers. Page 23. ISBN 9829036022.</ref>
==Naval career== Dowling attended the [[United States Naval Academy]] from [[New York (state)|New York]], beginning in 1898<ref>{{cite news|title=The Naval Academy Opening|date=11 September 1898|work=[[The New York Times]]|pages=15|location=[[New York City]]}}</ref> and graduating in 1903.<ref name=obit/> Dowling served in both [[World War I]], where he obtained his [[Captain (United States)#U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Public Health Service, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|Captain]] rank.<ref name=obit>{{cite news|title=Capt. O. C. Dowling: Former Governor of American Samoa Dies Driving Auto|date=15 April 1946|work=[[The New York Times]]|pages=27|location=[[New York City]]}}</ref> Soon after the war, he retired from the [[United States Navy]], but returned to active duty in [[World War II]], and was placed in command of the Naval arsenal on [[Iona Island (New York)|Iona Island]].<ref name=obit/> He served as the senior member of the Naval Alaskan Coal Commission.<ref>{{cite book|last=United States Department of the Interior|author-link=United States Department of the Interior|title=Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year|publisher=[[United States Government Printing Office]]|location=[[Washington, D.C.]]|year=1920|volume=2|pages=89|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HR0ZAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Otto+c+Dowling%22&pg=RA3-PA89|access-date=17 March 2010}}</ref>
He was in charge of the [[Lake Denmark Powder Depot]] when an explosion occurred there in 1926.<ref>{{cite news|title=Wilbur to Name Boards|date=13 July 1926|work=[[The New York Times]]|pages=3|location=[[New York City]]}}</ref> Both Dowling and a [[United States Marine Corps]] [[Private First Class]] were caught in the blast. Dowling was temporarily blinded, badly burned, and used a wheelchair for a time afterward.<ref>{{cite news|title=Dowling's Heroism in Navy Blast Told|date=22 July 1926|work=[[The New York Times]]|pages=21|location=[[New York City]]}}</ref> For his bravery during the situation, Dowling was awarded the [[Distinguished Service Cross (United States)|Distinguished Service Cross]].<ref>{{cite magazine|date=16 August 1926|title=Army & Navy: Report|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|publisher=[[Time Inc.]]|location=[[New York City]]|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,722300,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131190441/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,722300,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 31, 2011|access-date=17 March 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Back as Head of Arsenal|date=17 October 1926|work=[[The New York Times]]|pages=E1|location=[[New York City]]}}</ref>
==Governorship== Dowling was [[Governor of American Samoa]] from April 17, 1934, to January 15, 1936.<ref name=PPG>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=iQwpAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hWkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3827,6345729&dq=otto-dowling&hl=en|title=Sleepy Are Samoan Days|last=Associated Press|author-link=Associated Press|date=11 November 1936|work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]|publisher=[[Block Communications]]|pages=8|access-date=1 March 2010|location=[[Pittsburgh]]}}</ref> Dowling's administration continued certain policies of [[racism]] toward the native Samoans, who he believed had little work ethic or ability to plan for the future; as such, he treated the Samoan race as a people who needed safety nets. Dowling claimed, "Our policy of Samoa for the Samoans—no alienation of lands and no exploitation of natives—has been rigidly adhered to... as such a policy assures the existence of the Samoan race which otherwise could not stand competition from the energetic races."<ref name=PPG/> Dowling viewed the slow adoption of the [[English language]] after thirty-five years of occupation to be troublesome.<ref name=PPG/>
Dowling outlawed the sale of alcohol to all men below the age of eighteen, and to all women on the island.<ref name=PPG/> When asked if he would approve the formation of a legislative body for the island, he claimed that such a thing would require an act of the [[United States Congress]]; this stance was reversed when Governor [[Vernon Huber]] approved the [[American Samoa Fono]].<ref name="Fofó Iosefa Fiti Sunia">{{cite book|last=Sunia|first=Fofó Iosefa Fiti|title=The Story of the Legislature of American Samoa|year=1998|publisher=[[American Samoa Fono]]|isbn=982-9008-01-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3pKOAAAAMAAJ&q=%22vernon+huber%22|access-date=17 May 2010|location=[[American Samoa]]|page=68|author-link=Fofó Iosefa Fiti Sunia}}</ref>
==Death== Dowling died on April 14, 1946, in [[Trumbull, Connecticut]]. He was driving a car on [[Merritt Parkway]] when he had a [[heart attack]]; Dowling successfully pulled the car to the side of the road, but died a few minutes later.<ref name=obit/> At the time of his death, he had been living in [[Pelham (town), New York|Pelham, New York]].<ref name=obit/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Governors of American Samoa}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowling, Otto Carl}} [[Category:1881 births]] [[Category:1946 deaths]] [[Category:Governors of American Samoa]] [[Category:United States Navy personnel of World War I]] [[Category:United States Navy officers]] [[Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II]] [[Category:United States Naval Academy alumni]] [[Category:People from Pelham, New York]] [[Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States)]]