R.H. Bass; War Hero, Olympic Gold Medalist

Retired Rear Adm. Raymond H. (Ben) Bass, Olympic gold medalist and gymnastics Hall of Fame member as well as a World War II hero, has died. He was 87.

Bass, who also was a business executive and real estate agent, died Monday in Glendale, where he had lived since 1960.

He was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame in Indianapolis last year for his record-holding rope climb. Bass set the record at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, climbing the 8-meter rope in 6.7 seconds.

The event was never held again.

“I presume they [the International Olympic Committee] voted out the rope climb because they didn’t care much for the U.S. getting 1-2-3 as long as Lou Mang was around,” Bass told The Times in 1982. “But that’s the politics of the Olympics.”

Two of Bass’ Naval Academy teammates had finished second and third with 6.8 seconds and 6.9 seconds. They were all trained by Mang, a Naval Academy coach who had developed a technique for climbing the rope involving principles of balance and rhythm.

Still the undisputed record holder in the Olympic event, Bass was delighted to find himself honored when he returned to the Naval Academy for his 50th reunion in 1981.

“At the door of the gym, they still have that rope that I climbed,” he told The Times. “It’s wrapped around the Olympic shield.”

Bass’ Olympic record all but overshadowed his war record, although the gold medal rated only equal display beside the two Navy Crosses and two Legion of Merit awards in his home. (His war decorations also included Silver and Bronze stars.)

“Even up into my 50s,” he said with a laugh, “they would call me out of the crowd without notice, drop a rope and make me climb it.”

He began the war as commander of the submarine Plunger and was the only sub skipper to survive two missions into the dangerous Sea of Japan. Slated for a third when the war ended, he was put in command of 12 submarines dubbed “Benny’s Peacemakers,” which steamed into Tokyo Bay for VJ Day ceremonies.

In peacetime, Bass commanded a fleet of 55 submarines in the Atlantic, the troop transport Rockbridge in the Mediterranean and the heavy cruiser Bremerton in the Far East.

After his retirement from the Navy in 1959, Bass joined Bendix Electrodynamics in the San Fernando Valley. When he retired in 1972, he became a Glendale real estate agent.

When he retired a third time in 1992, he had made such a mark that the Glendale Board of Realtors and the Glendale City Council planted a tree in his honor in Mayor’s Park.

A native of Eaglette, Ark., Bass earned a bachelor of science degree from the Naval Academy, and both a master’s in engineering and a master’s of business administration from UCLA.

Bass is survived by his wife, Marjorie; two sons, Raymond Jr. and Robert, and a daughter, Elena.

A memorial service is scheduled for 4 p.m. today at St. Marks Episcopal Church, 1020 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale. Memorial contributions can be made to St. Marks.