Thomas C. Hart

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Admiral Thomas C. Hart (right) with Admiral Conrad Helfrich

Thomas Charles Hart (born June 12, 1877 in Davidson , Genesee County , Michigan , †  July 4, 1971 in Sharon , Connecticut ) was an American admiral and politician . His nickname was "Terrible Tommy".

Life

After attending various public schools in Michigan, Thomas Hart attended the US Naval Academy in Annapolis , Maryland , which he graduated from in 1897 . During the Spanish-American War he served on the news boat USS Vixen off Cuba . Together with Theodore Roosevelt , Hart fought in July 1898 in the Battle of Santiago . A little later, Hart served as a lieutenant and division officer on the battleship USS Missouri and commanded the destroyer USS Lawrence . Shortly before the outbreak of World War I , Hart was appointed to the level of command for submarine operations. During the war, he served as the head of operations for submarine operations in the Atlantic and Pacific.

After the end of the war, Hart commanded the battleship USS Mississippi and a little later submarine divisions of the US battle fleet and the submarine forces of the US fleet. In September 1929 he got his promotion to rear admiral; from 1931 to 1934 he was superintendent of the US Naval Academy.

(from left to right) Admiral Thomas C. Hart, Philippine President Manuel Quezon and future Congresswoman Clare Boothe Luce - October 1941

The promotion to admiral in July 1939 brought for Hart also the transfer to Southeast Asia . There he served as commander of the American Asian fleet , whose flagship from November 19, 1940 was the USS Houston . However, Hart switched to the yacht USS Isabel in July 1941 . Hart's instructions from Washington included calling for the government not to make the fleet look like a show, but rather to demonstrate American strength in the waters off China . Hart did this primarily with constant training, which he always had under real combat conditions.

When the Pacific War broke out with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , Thomas C. Hart was in Manila in the Philippines . Although he never became a friend of General Douglas MacArthur , he was one of the few who was allowed to interrupt his long monologues, which the latter actually disliked.

Two days after MacArthur had left the Philippines for Australia , because the Japanese had landed there, Hart embarked on December 26, 1941 on the submarine USS Shark and drove to Surabaja on Java , where he arrived on January 2. The "escape" had become inevitable, as the USA could no longer bring any more supplies to the Philippines.

In January 1942, Hart, who was actually already of retirement age, was appointed naval commander of the Allied ABDA fleet . After the Allies had waged a desperate and hopeless defensive battle against the Japanese in Southeast Asia, Hart was replaced by Admiral Helfrich from the Netherlands for political reasons . The British Field Marshal Sir Archibald Wavell , in command of the ABDA, accused him of having "exaggerated ideas of Japanese efficiency". President Franklin D. Roosevelt then directed Admiral King to bring Hart back from the war. This advised Hart to resign due to illness.

Until October 1942, Hart still held a few subordinate posts in the American Navy, for example he was the chairman of the commission for the award of medals. He retired to his Connecticut farm in late 1942 and wrote several articles for the Saturday Evening Post criticizing the government's preparations in Pearl Harbor for a possible Japanese attack. In early 1944 he helped with the studies to clear up the processes around Pearl Harbor.

After Francis T. Maloney's death , Hart was asked to take his seat in the US Senate in February 1945 . Hart, who belonged to the Republican Party , decided not to run again for the Senate after his term in office ended in November 1946. Rather, he returned to his farm, where he lived until his death on July 4, 1971. Thomas Charles Hart died of a heart attack and was buried in Section 8, Grave 5184-A of Arlington National Cemetery. Hart's wife, who died in 1984, was buried next to him, as was his son, who had died of leukemia in 1945 . In total, the Harts had two sons and three daughters.

The American destroyer USS Thomas C. Hart (DE-1092) , which was launched on August 12, 1972, was named after Thomas Hart .

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Commons : Thomas C. Hart  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Hart, Thomas C.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hart, Thomas Charles (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American admiral and politician
DATE OF BIRTH June 12, 1877
PLACE OF BIRTH Davidson , Genesee County , Michigan
DATE OF DEATH 4th July 1971
Place of death Sharon , Connecticut