Rash's Surname Index
Notes for James Frances CALVERT
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA) - Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Deceased Name: JAMES F. CALVERT SEPT. 8, 1920 -- JUNE 3, 2009 SURFACED SUB AT NORTH POLE
Vice Adm. James F. Calvert, the commander of the first nuclear-powered submarine to surface at the North Pole, and later the 46th superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, died June 3 at his home in Bryn Mawr. He was 88.
The cause was heart failure, said his stepson Kemp Battle.
At 9:47 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Aug. 11, 1958, the 265-foot-long Skate -- the third nuclear-powered submarine in the American fleet -- poked through a break in the ice near the North Pole. Soon after, Vice Adm. Calvert, then a commander, radioed the news to headquarters in New London, Conn.
The Skate was the second submarine to sail under the Pole. Eight days earlier, the Nautilus had reached the pole but had not risen to the surface.
In those days of Cold War tensions and the arms race with the Soviet Union, the polar exploits of both nuclear submarines made front-page news. In lauding the voyage of the Nautilus, President Dwight D. Eisenhower emphasized what he contended were the peaceful possibilities of sub-Arctic navigation.
But the military advantages were obvious. The Navy's Polaris missile, launched from submarines below the surface, was designed to soar several thousand miles to hit on-shore targets with nuclear warheads. Nuclear submarines, however, could cruise below the Arctic with little chance of detection, find a break in the ice and fire missiles over far shorter distances to Soviet targets. They could also roam 60,000 miles, almost three times around the world, without resurfacing to recharge.
Vice Adm. Calvert, a protege of Adm. Hyman G. Rickover, known as the father of the nuclear Navy, rose to vice admiral and, in 1968, was appointed superintendent of the Naval Academy. In his four years there, he broadened the curriculum to include more than 20 majors. Until then, all cadets took the same military-related courses.
James Francis Calvert was born in Cleveland on Sept. 8, 1920. His father was an engineer with a steel company; but after he lost his job and opened a boarding house beside Lake Erie, his son became a sailor.
After attending Oberlin College for two years, James Calvert was appointed to the Naval Academy. He graduated in 1942, was sent to submarine training in New London and soon after was assigned to the Jack. He served for three years in the Pacific and was awarded two Silver Stars and two Bronze Stars.
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