Herbert Deakyne

Herbert Deakyne (December 29, 1867 – May 28, 1945) was a United States Army officer and engineer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Biography
Deakyne was born on December 29, 1867, in Deakyneville, Delaware, a location settled by his ancestors around 1700. he attended Delaware College for two years and afterwards attended the United States Military Academy for four years, graduating from the latter in 1890. Upon graduation, he was commissioned into the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Deakyne studied at the Engineering School of Application at Willets Point, Queens, from 1890 to 1893, and from 1893 to 1900, he worked as an army engineer in California, working on river, harbor, and fortification projects. He served on the California Debris Commission from 1897 to 1901. He served in Florida from 1901 to 1903, at Fort Leavenworth from 1903 to 1905, and in the Philippines from 1905 to 1907, and from August to November 1907, he served as chief engineering officer of the Philippine Division. From 1908 to 1912, Deakyne served in the Philadelphia area, and from 1912 to 1916, he did work on the Missouri River and tributaries. In 1916, he served in the office of the Army Corps of Engineers Chiefs of Engineers.

Graduating from the United States Army War College in 1917, Deakyne went on a tour of duty to France in August of that year, commanding the Tenth Railway Engineers in Saint-Nazaire until January 1918. From January to May 1918, he commanded the 11th Railway Engineers along the British front in the north of the country. Deakyne later served as the Director of Railways and Roads in Chaumont, Haute-Marne.

After returning to the U.S., Deakyne served in New Orleans and later in San Francisco from 1920 to 1925. He served as an assistant to the Chief of Engineers from 1926 to 1929, and he served as the Chief of Engineers from August 7 to October 1, 1929. Having been promoted to the rank of brigadier general in 1926, Deakyne retired in 1931. He lived in California until his death on May 28, 1945.