{{Short description|United States Navy admiral (1920–2009)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox military person |name = James Francis Calvert |image = James Calvert.jpg |caption = |birth_date = {{Birth date|1920|09|08}} |birth_place = Cleveland, Ohio, US |death_date = {{death date and age|2009|06|03|1920|09|08}} |death_place = Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, US |burial_place = |nickname = |allegiance = United States of America |branch = United States Navy |service_years = 1942–1973 |rank = Vice Admiral |commands = {{USS|Trigger|SS-564}}<br />{{USS|Skate|SSN-578}} |unit = |battles = World War II |awards = Silver Star (x2)<br/>Bronze Star Medal |other_work = }} '''James Francis Calvert''' (September 8, 1920 – June 3, 2009) served in the United States Navy, where he commanded {{USS|Skate|SSN-578|6}}, the third nuclear submarine commissioned and the second submarine to reach the North Pole, which became the first to surface at the pole. ''Skate'' surfaced at the North Pole on March 17, 1959 to commit the ashes of the famed explorer Sir Hubert Wilkins to the Arctic waste.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://library.osu.edu/projects/under-the-north-pole/afterwards.html | title=Afterwards: USS Skate surfacing at the North Pole, March 17, 1959. Wilkins 35-5-1. | publisher=Ohio State University Libraries Exhibition Under the North Pole | access-date=March 21, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114043118/http://library.osu.edu/projects/under-the-north-pole/afterwards.html | archive-date=November 14, 2012 | url-status=dead }}</ref> He later served as the 46th superintendent of the United States Naval Academy.
==Biography==
===Early life and education=== Calvert was born on September 8, 1920, in Cleveland, and grew up as an only child.<ref name=NYTObit>Hevesi, Dennis. [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/16/us/16calvert.html "James F. Calvert, 88, Sub Captain Who Surfaced at North Pole, Dies"], ''The New York Times'', June 16, 2009. Accessed June 16, 2009.</ref> He attended Oberlin College for two years before receiving an appointment to the United States Naval Academy. He graduated on June 19, 1942, completing his coursework at the Naval Academy in three years under an accelerated wartime curriculum.<ref name=NYT1958>Staff. [https://www.nytimes.com/1958/08/14/archives/skipper-of-the-skate-james-francis-calvert.html "Skipper of the Skate; James Francis Calvert"], ''The New York Times'', August 14, 1958. Accessed June 16, 2009. {{Subscription required}}</ref>
===Military service=== He was assigned to attend the Naval Submarine School at the Naval Submarine Base New London and was given a post on the {{sclass|Gato|submarine|1}} {{USS|Jack|SS-259|6}}, where he served for three years.<ref name=NYTObit/> On ''Jack'', Calvert was responsible for operating the Torpedo Data Computer, an electromechanical analog computer used for torpedo fire-control, and the ships on which he served sank 100,000 tons of enemy ships and damaged an additional 18,000 tons. He was awarded two Silver Stars and two Bronze Star Medals, along with a Letter of Commendation. He was assigned in 1945 to serve as executive officer of {{USS|Haddo|SS-255|6}}, on which he served one war patrol. He was on ''Haddo'' in Tokyo Bay during ceremonies for the Japanese surrender.<ref name=NYT1958/>
After the end of World War II, Calvert spent three years at the Submarine School as an instructor in the Torpedo Data Computer. He was assigned to serve as executive officer on {{USS|Charr|SS-328|6}}, winning a battle efficiency pennant in both of his years of service on the ship. He was assigned as executive officer of the {{sclass|Tang|submarine|1}} {{USS|Harder|SS-568|6}} when it was commissioned in 1952 and later became commanding officer of {{USS|Trigger|SS-564|6}}, another ''Tang''-class boat.<ref name=NYT1958/> After training by the Atomic Energy Commission, Calvert was assigned to {{USS|Skate|SSN-578|6}}, the Navy's third nuclear-powered submarine and the first to be designed for assembly line construction rather than as a one-off prototype.<ref>Palmer, C.B. [https://www.nytimes.com/1958/02/02/archives/our-newest-asub-the-skate.html "Our Newest A-Sub: The Skate"], ''The New York Times'', February 2, 1958. Accessed July 1, 2025.</ref>
Although ''Skate'' first surfaced at the pole on March 17, 1959, ''Skate'' first went under the North Pole on August 11, 1958. In 1958 ''Skate'' was able to surface in the Arctic, but was unable to surface at the pole itself due to the thickness of the ice.<ref name=NYTObit/><ref>Staff. [https://www.nytimes.com/1958/08/13/archives/2d-u-s-atom-submarine-crosses-pole-skate-surfaces-in-ice-gap-and.html "2d U. S. Atom Submarine Crosses Pole; Skate Surfaces in Ice Gap and Reports; Skate Crosses the North Pole; Surfaces in Ice Gap and Reports "], ''The New York Times'', August 13, 1958. Accessed June 16, 2009. {{Subscription required}}</ref> The ability to travel under and break through the ice was a major achievement during the Cold War as it allows the Navy's submarines to avoid detection under the ice while being able to launch their Polaris missiles from points far closer to the Soviet Union. The following year, after traveling {{convert|3000|mi|km}} to the pole in 12 days, ''Skate'' became the first submarine to surface through the ice when it reached the North Pole on March 17, 1959. There they released the ashes of Australian polar explorer Sir George Hubert Wilkins who died in November 1958 and who had been the first to try to reach the pole by submarine; Wilkins had flown over the pole but was never able to set foot there despite numerous attempts.<ref name=NYTObit/><ref>Raymond, Jack. [https://www.nytimes.com/1959/03/28/archives/skate-again-at-north-pole-stays-under-ice-12-days-skate-again-sails.html "Skate Again at North Pole; Stays Under Ice 12 Days; Skate Again Sails to North Pole In Winter Cruise Under Ice Pack"], ''The New York Times'', March 28, 1959. Accessed July 1, 2025.</ref>
With the support of Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, Calvert rose to vice admiral. He was named as superintendent of the United States Naval Academy in 1968, where he introduced 20 different majors to midshipmen to replace a standardized curriculum of military courses that had previously been taken there.<ref name=NYTObit/> His final posting before retirement was as the last commander of the United States First Fleet, before its disestablishment in 1973.
Among the four books he wrote were ''Silent Running: My Years on a World War II Attack Submarine'' and the 1960 book ''Surface at the Pole: The Extraordinary Voyages of the U.S.S. Skate'' in which he described his experiences at the pole, reminiscing about a polar bear that went into the water, ignoring the submarine nearby.<ref name=NYTObit/>
He appeared as himself on the June 11, 1957 episode of the CBS television panel show ''To Tell The Truth''.<ref>{{Citation |title=To Tell the Truth - Atomic submarine commander; Women's archery champion (Jun 11, 1957) | date=30 June 2015 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE99CPV3LW0 |access-date=2023-06-02 |language=en}}</ref>
===Personal=== His first marriage, to the Nancy Ridgeway King, ended with her death in 1965. Their daughter, Margaret, died in 1994.<ref name=NYTObit/> Calvert died at age 88 on June 3, 2009, at his home in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania due to heart failure. He was survived by his second wife, Margaretta Harrison Battle, whom he married in 1968. He was also survived by two sons from his first marriage, four stepsons and 15 grandchildren.<ref name=NYTObit/>
==References== {{Reflist}} {{United States Naval Academy superintendents}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calvert, James Francis}} Category:1920 births Category:2009 deaths Category:United States Navy personnel of World War II Category:Oberlin College alumni Category:Military personnel from Cleveland Category:Recipients of the Silver Star Category:American Polar Society honorary members Category:United States submarine commanders Category:Superintendents of the United States Naval Academy Category:United States Naval Academy alumni Category:United States Navy vice admirals Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers Category:20th-century American academics