William Conrad Abhau

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William Conrad Abhau (born April 5, 1912 in Baltimore County , Maryland ; † January 28, 2000 there ) was an American rear admiral in the US Navy , who was, among other things, head of the submarine war project of the Naval Material Command from May 1967 to July 1970 (Naval Material Command) was.

Life

Abhau, son of William C. Abhau and his wife Gertrude Lewis Abhau, attended the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and then took up a job in 1929 with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad . In 1931 he began his training as a naval officer at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis , which he graduated on June 1, 1935 as a lieutenant at sea (Ensign) . In the following period it was used on various cruisers and destroyers until 1941 and then attended a course in artillery engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Annapolis. During the Second World War he served between 1943 and 1945 as a gunner on the battleship USS New Jersey and took part in nine missions in the Pacific War in the following period . He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with the addition of Combat "V" for his services in repelling more than thirty attacks by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Forces .

In September 1947 he took over his first command of the ship as commandant of the destroyer USS Eugene A. Greene

After the surrender of Japan on September 2, 1945 Abhau was transferred to the staff of the 6th US Army ( Sixth United States Army ) in Kyoto . After various other assignments, such as on the destroyer USS Trippe , he took over as frigate captain (commander) on September 6, 1947, his first own command, namely the destroyer USS Eugene A. Greene , and held this post until August 25, 1948. Later he was commander of the 16th Escort Squadron (Escort Squadron SIXTEEN) . He was also in command of the supply ship USS Waccamaw between July 1957 and August 1958 and in command of the heavy cruiser USS Helena from February 4, 1961 to December 31, 1962 . He dealt with the development and testing of weapon systems and in 1956 earned a Master of Science (M.Sc.) in operational analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School, which was relocated to Monterey in 1952 . He was also a graduate of Naval War College (NWC) at Newport .

Abhau was then an officer in the staff of the commander of the operational test and evaluation forces OPTEVFOR ( Operational Test and Evaluation Force ) at Naval Station Norfolk , where he developed techniques for measuring the effectiveness of weapons control systems. He was a member of the Evaluation Group on weapons systems in the office of the Secretary of Defense and Secretary for floor control research and development in the Office of Marine Artillery (Bureau of Ordnance) and then officer for submarine warfare research and development in the from 1959 emerged Office of Naval Weapons (Bureau of Naval Weapons) .

Then Abhau between July 1964 and August 1965 was director of the program for submarine warfare research and development in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations ( Chief of Naval Operations ) and after first representative of the Chief of Naval Operations for the support of manned space flight on the Naval Station Norfolk and in personal union from August 1965 to November 1965 commander of the cruisers of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla FOUR . As early as October 1965, he became deputy head and naval representative for manned spaceflight support operations in the US Department of Defense and, in personal union, continued to represent the Chief of Naval Operations for the support of manned spaceflight and held these two functions until May 1967.

Most recently Abhau in May 1967 as Rear Admiral (Rear Admiral) Head of submarine warfare project in the Navy Material Command (Naval Material Command) in Washington, DC, and held that post until his retirement on July 1, 1970. Because of its Merit was bestowed upon him in this use by the Legion of Merit .

Abhau was married to Harriet E. Sanders Abhau and was buried in the US Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis after his death .

honors and awards

Selection of decorations, sorted based on the Order of Precedence of the Military Awards:

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ USS EUGENE A. GREENE (DD-711 / DDR-711): Commanding Officers in NavSource Online .
  2. ^ USS Waccamaw (AO-109) ( 1946-1975 ): Commanding Officers in NavSource Online .
  3. ↑ USS HELENA (CA 75): Commanding Officers in NavSource Online .
personal data
SURNAME Run away, William Conrad
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American Rear Admiral in the United States Navy
DATE OF BIRTH April 5, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Baltimore County , Maryland
DATE OF DEATH January 28, 2000
Place of death Baltimore County , Maryland