James F. Calvert

James Francis Calvert (September 8, 1920 – June 3, 2009) served in the United States Navy, where he commanded , 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. 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. 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.

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 , where he served for three years.

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. 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 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.

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.

Personal His first marriage, to the Nancy Ridgeway King, ended with her death in 1965. Their daughter, Margaret, died in 1994. 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.