Harold E. Shear

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Admiral Harold E. Shear

Harold Edson Shear (born December 6, 1918 in New York City , † February 1, 1999 in Groton , Connecticut ) was an American admiral who was Commander-in-Chief of US Naval Forces Europe from 1974 to 1975 and Vice Chief of from 1975 to 1977 Naval Operations and between 1977 and 1980 Commander-in-Chief of Allied Forces Southern Europe (AFSOUTH) of NATO .

During the tenure of US President Ronald Reagan , he served as civil administrator of the US Maritime Administration from 1981 to 1985 .

Life

Military training and World War II

Shear, whose father died of influenza six weeks before he was born , grew up with his stepfather on Shelter Island , who owned a fishing vessel. After attending high school , he began his military training in 1938 at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis , which he held as a lieutenant at sea after the USA entered World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 by the January 1942 Imperial Japanese Naval Air Force prematurely completed.

After that, he was used as an officer on the Benham-class belonging destroyer USS Stack and participated in combat operations in the Atlantic and Pacific part. After visiting the submarine school in early 1944, he served most recently during the Second World War as a lieutenant commander and diving officer on the USS Sawfish , a submarine of the Gato class . During the eighth patrol voyage of the USS Sawfish from September 9 to November 8, 1944 in waters controlled by the Imperial Japanese Navy , in this role he contributed to the sinking of two ships with a total tonnage of 17,000 register tons and the damage to other ships with a tonnage of more than 10,000 register tons. For this he was promoted to corvette captain and awarded a Silver Star . He took part in further combat operations in the Pacific War until the end of the war .

Post-war period and first ship command

Shear took his first command of a ship in 1952 as the commander of the Balao-class submarine USS Becuna

After the end of the war, Shear served first in the Submarine Administrative Command in San Francisco and then as first officer ( Executive Officer ) on the Balao-class submarine USS Becuna , before becoming an officer in the staff of the commander of the Submarine formations in the Pacific (ComSubPac) was. After serving in the Naval Personnel Office (Bureau of Naval Personnel) , he served in the early 1950s as first officer on the Tang-class submarine USS Trigger , which was under the command of Edward L. Beach .

Following Shear returned in 1952 as commander ( Commanding Officer ) for USS BECUNA back and remained until 1954 in this post. After a course at Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk in 1954, he found employment in the Strategic Plans Division OP-60 (Strategic Plans Division) in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations and during this time he took part in 1956 war games with nuclear weapons before becoming an officer Staff of the commander of the 2nd Submarine Squadron Two was.

The Polaris project and flag officer

In 1959 Shear became the commandant of the nuclear powered submarine USS Patrick Henry

After Shear had completed a training course for the nuclear program of the US Navy, he was early in 1959 Commander of the USS Patrick Henry , one of George Washington-class submarine belonging nuclear-powered submarines with ballistic missiles . He was in command of the so-called " Blue Crew" , which alternated with the " Gold Crew " commanded by Robert LJ Long , the staff for the USS Patrick Henry , which was common in the nuclear submarines to increase the underwater use of these units. In 1960 he was received by US President Dwight D. Eisenhower for a first successful test shooting off the coast of Rhode Island .

After completing his command of the USS Patrick Henry in 1962, Shear became an officer in the staff of the Commander-in-Chief of the US Atlantic Fleet and was involved in the UGM-27 Polaris project, as part of the strategic medium-range missile missile submarine (SSBN) could be fired from, so ' Submarine-launched ballistic missiles ' (SLBM) were. In 1964 he was a graduate of the National War College (NWC) at Fort Lesley J. McNair , Washington, DC and was then in 1965 in command of the USS Sacramento , a rapid combat support ship of the same name Sacramento class .

In 1967 Shear was promoted to Rear Admiral and served first between 1967 and 1969 as head of the US naval mission in Brazil and then from 1969 to 1971 as head of the submarine warfare division OP-31 (Submarine Warfare Division) in the chief's office of Naval Operations. Even after his promotion to Vice Admiral in 1971 Shear remained in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations and held there until 1974 as Head of the Department for anti-submarine -Kriegsführung and Tactical Electromagnetic programs OP-095 (Anti-Submarine Warfare and Tactical Electromagnetic Programs Division) . He was awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal in December 1972 for his services in this capacity .

US Navy Admiral

In May 1974 Shear was promoted to Admiral and took over as the successor of Admiral Worth H. Bagley as Commander in Chief of the US Naval Forces Europe and was also Commander of the US Armed Forces for the East Atlantic (US Commander Eastern Atlantic) . He held this post for a year until May 1975, when he was replaced by Admiral David H. Bagley , the older brother of Admiral Worth H. Bagley.

Instead, Admiral Shear himself took over again in May 1975 as the successor to Admiral Worth H. Bagley as Vice Chief of Naval Operations and thus held the second highest position within the leadership of the US Navy after the Chief of Naval Operations. He held this office until July 1977 and was then replaced by Admiral Robert LJ Long . Because of his services in this capacity, he was again honored with the Navy Distinguished Service Medal.

Shear was then in July 1977 Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces of NATO in Southern Europe AFSOUTH (Allied Forces Southern Europe) and held this office until his retirement in March 1980. He was subordinate to the NATO Commander in Chief in Europe ( Supreme Allied Commander Europe ) and responsible for the NATO troops in Portugal , Italy , Greece and Turkey , where he was the southern flank of NATO due to the domestic and interstate problems in Greece and the Turkey saw endangered in the late 1970s. He was awarded the Defense Distinguished Service Medal for services in this role .

Administrator of the US Maritime Administration

After retiring from active military service Shear moved to the private sector and was 1980 to 1981 Vice President of the shipping company Norton Lilly Co. Inc. in New York City.

On September 10, 1981, US President Ronald Reagan made him civil administrator of the US Maritime Administration (MARAD), a federal agency within the portfolio of the US Department of Transportation based in Washington, DC. He officially took office on October 19, 1981 and remained in this post until May 31, 1985. Successor was then John A. Gaughan . Among other things, he was responsible for the merchant navy, the transport infrastructure of commercial shipping and the reserve fleet NDRF (National Defense Reserve Fleet) .

Following his retirement from government service, Shear became involved in the development of the Submarine Force Library and Museum in Groton . He also devoted himself to the organization of the Mashomack Preserve , a nature reserve on Shelter Island , which was acquired by the nature conservation organization The Nature Conservancy in 1980. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Mashomack Preserve for several years and since 1998 Chairman of the Board .

After his death, Shear was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ MISSILES BRING NEW SUBSEAS ERA; Navy, in Project of Great Striking Power, Names Skippers for 3 Units . In: The New York Times, December 8, 1958
  2. ↑ 2D POLARIS GRAFT GOES INTO SERVICE; The Patrick Henry, 11th US Atomic Submarine, Joins Navy's Missile Fleet . In: The New York Times, April 10, 1960
  3. ^ Admiral Is Named to Direct US Naval Forces in Europe . In: The New York Times, May 5, 1974
  4. ^ NATO Worried About Its Flank; Role of Bases in Turkey Described . In: The New York Times, April 28, 1978
  5. ↑ US Puts New Stress on Close Military Ties to Turkey; Some Fear Soviet Drive on Iran Turks. Sensitive on base use. Soviet Threat Not Via Afghanistan . In: The New York Times, January 21, 1980
  6. ^ Nomination of Harold Edson Shear To Be Administrator of the Maritime Administration (September 10, 1981) in The American Presidency Project
  7. ↑ US SHIFT ON SHIP AID CITED . In: The New York Times, August 28, 1983
  8. ↑ NAVY BIDDING CASE STIRS US INQUIRY . In: The New York Times, November 27, 1983
  9. ↑ Deaths SHEAR, ADMIRAL HAROLD E. (USN RET) . In: The New York Times, February 3, 1999
personal data
SURNAME Shear, Harold E.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Shear, Harold Edson (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American admiral in the US Navy
DATE OF BIRTH December 6, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH February 1, 1999
Place of death Groton , Connecticut