Claude V. Ricketts

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Admiral Claude V. Ricketts

Claude Vernon Ricketts (born February 23, 1906 in Greene County , Missouri , † July 6, 1964 in Bethesda , Maryland ) was an American admiral who was Vice Chief of Naval Operations from 1961 until his death in 1964 .

Life

Military training and attack on Pearl Harbor

The USS West Virginia alongside the USS Tennessee after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor

After attending school in 1925, Ricketts began his military training at the US Naval Academy , which he graduated in 1929. During his training, the middleweight fighter became captain of the Naval Academy's boxing team in 1928. He then joined the US Navy as an officer and completed training as a naval aviator, which he completed in 1932 with the pilot's badge (Naval Aviator Badge) . He was later mainly used as a staff officer during his military career in the US Navy.

During the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Forces on December 7, 1941, he was used as a lieutenant captain and gun officer on the battleship USS West Virginia , which caught fire after at least six torpedo hits and two bombs and finally sank. He distinguished himself by his commitment to saving human life, preventing further damage and defending the ship. Before that, he was one of the few officers who thought an air strike on the naval base was possible and, together with three other younger officers, made plans for such an attack.

Second World War

While the USS West Virginia was subsequently lifted and restored until 1944, he was transferred to the Colorado- class battleship USS Maryland , where he was in service until 1943, before he served as an officer in the staff of the Second Amphibious for a while group (Amphibious group Two) served.

Most recently, Ricketts was an operations officer on the staff of the Commander of the Fifth Amphibious Force in the Pacific between 1943 and 1945 . There he took during the Pacific War during the Battle of Tarawa in the amphibious landings on Tarawa in November 1943 and later to the landings in Eniwetok as part of the Battle of Eniwetok in February 1944, the Battle of Saipan from June to July 1944 the battle to Tinian in July and August 1944, the Battle of Iwojima between February and March 1945 and most recently in the Battle of Okinawa from April to June 1945. For his services during the Second World War he was awarded the Legion of Merit and the Navy Commendation Medal .

post war period

Ricketts had his first command of a ship via the amphibious transport ship USS Alshain

After the end of the war, Ricketts stayed with the US occupation forces in Japan for some time before studying at the Naval War College (NWC) in Newport , where he was an instructor himself between 1946 and 1949. In the following years he was commander ( Commanding Officer ) of the USS Alshain , one for Andromeda class belonging amphibious transport ship.

In July 1952, Ricketts Head of Unit for Amphibious Warfare in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral William Fechteler , and after 1955 the commander of the USS Saint Paul , a heavy cruiser of the Baltimore class . Then he was as Rear Admiral Commander of the Fourth Destroyer Flotilla (Destroyer Flotilla Four) of the 2nd US Fleet and finally on February 1, 1961 as the successor to Vice Admiral Harold T. Deutermann Commander of the 2nd US Fleet.

US Navy Admiral

In August 1961, Ricketts was finally promoted to Admiral and succeeded Admiral James S. Russell as Vice Chief of Naval Operations (VCNO). He held the second highest function within the leadership of the US Navy after the Chief of Naval Operations. In this role, one of his main tasks was to convey to the governments in Europe the US plans for the Multilateral Force (MLF) , a multinational ship formation equipped with nuclear weapons and made up of crews from various NATO member countries. Ricketts remained VCNO until he died on July 6, 1964 of complications from a myocarctic infarction at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. His successor was then Admiral Horacio Rivero, Jr.

After his death, he was posthumously awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal in October 1964 . In addition was the USS Biddle (DDG-5), a destroyer of the Charles F. Adams class , in 1964 in his honor USS Claude V. Ricketts renamed. The mixed manning demonstration took place on the ship at this time, which was closely linked to Ricketts' work as part of the MLF plans.

Ricketts was married to Margery Bernice Corn. From this marriage the two sons Myron Vernon Ricketts and James Battey Ricketts were born, who were also naval officers at the time of his death. Myron V. Ricketts was most recently Rear Admiral .

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ NAVY elects Ricketts .; Middleweight to Succeed Gerin as Captain of Boxing Team . In: The New York Times, March 21, 1928
  2. ↑ 3 ENLISTED MEN CAPTAINS .; Ricketts, Bagdanovich and Miller Lead Naval Academy Teams . In: The New York Times, March 25, 1928
  3. ↑ Ricketts Takes Over 2d Fleet . In: The New York Times, February 2, 1961
  4. ^ US Admiral Opens Talks In Britain on Atom Fleet; Diversification Favored Others Accompany Ricketts: ATOM FLEET TALK OPENED IN BRITAIN. Plan Raising Discord . In: The New York Times, June 5, 1963
  5. ↑ RIVERO TO SUCCEED ADMIRAL RICKETTS . In: The New York Times, July 11, 1964
personal data
SURNAME Ricketts, Claude V.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ricketts, Claude Vernon (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American admiral in the US Navy
DATE OF BIRTH February 23, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Greene County , Missouri
DATE OF DEATH July 6, 1964
Place of death Bethesda , Maryland