Born in Waupan, Wisconsin, on 11 June 1885, George Arthur Trever was appointed to the Naval Academy in May 1905 and graduated on 4 June 1909. He spent the years prior to his commissioning in cruises in Pennsylvania (Armored Cruiser No. 4); Princeton (Gunboat No. 13); and Annapolis (Gunboat No. 10). Receiving the single gold stripe of an ensign while serving in Rowan (Torpedo Boat No. 8) on 5 June 1911, Trever assumed command of that vessel later that month. In September 1912, he was transferred to Farragut (Torpedo Boat No. 11); and he commanded her until early 1914, when detached to report on board Cheyenne (Monitor No. 10). Following his tour in Cheyenne, newly promoted Lt. (j.g.) Trever was ordered to H-l (Submarine No. 28), and then attached to the Pacific Fleet. After a two-year tour of duty commanding H-l, he reported for duty at the Mare Island Navy Yard. In the spring of 1917, Trever reported to the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Wash., to supervise the building of N-l (Submarine No. 53), then on the ways at the Seattle Construction and Drydock Company, Seattle, Wash. N-l was commissioned on 26 September 1917 and operated put of Puget Sound until transferred to New York late in the year for patrol duties in the Atlantic. In May 1918, Trever was ordered to the Fore River Shipbuilding Company, Quincy, Mass., to assist in fitting out 0-5 (Submarine No. 66). He assumed command of the new 0-boat on 9 June 1918 and received the temporary rank of lieutenant commander on 1 July 1918. On 5 October 1918, during post-commissioning trials, an explosion occurred on board O-5, in which Trever and a crewman were injured. Nine days later, at the naval hospital, Brooklyn, N.Y., on 14 October 1918, Lt. Comdr. George A. Trever died as a result of the severe and multiple injuries suffered in the shipboard tragedy
Photo courtesy of the Naval Academy Alumni Association