Victory
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Biography
John Smith Thach born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas on April 19, 1905.
Graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1927, he served 2 years on ships of the line (USS Mississippi and USS California) before joining Pensacola flight training in 1929.
Promoted to naval aviator in 1930, he joined several pilot assignments over the next decade and earned a reputation as an air armament expert, instructor and test pilot.
At the beginning of 1940 he took command of the 3rd fighting squadron, he developed a combat tactic that would be known as the "thach weave", a tactic that canceled out the mediocre general performance of the US fighters against the Japanese "zero".
Lieutenant Commander Thach commands "Fighting 3" of USS Lexington (CV-2) in early Pacific War engagements, and USS Yorktown (CV-5) in June 1942 during the Battle of Midway.
After a period of instruction in his tactics to other pilots, Commander Thach became the operations officer for Vice Admiral John S McCain's fast carrier force. He was present at the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945. In the late 1940s he was assigned to several training units.
He commanded the USS Sicily (CVE-118) in action during the Korean War and the USS Franklin D Roosevelt (CVA-42) in 1953-1954.
Appointed senior officer in 1955 (Rear Admiral) he received many important appointments including command of the submarine development unit "Task Group Alpha" in 1958-59, with his mark on the USS Valley Forge. /P>
Elevated to "full" Admiral over the next decade.
he was Commander-in-Chief of the US Naval Forces in Europe from March 1965 almost until their withdrawal in 1967. He died on April 15, 1981.
the USS Thach (FFG-43) was named in honor of him. The "Thach Weave" At dawn on June 4, 1942, the Japanese launched their first wave on Midway. It was however detected by radar and collided with the F2A-3 Buffalo and the F4F-4 Marines who suffered heavy losses (thirteen F2A and two F4F). Despite this ominous prologue, the United States Navy brought out offensive patrols and Thach, using a tactic that came to be known as the "Thach Weave", single-handedly shot down three Zeros. The American officer's method was to fly two Wildcats on intersecting trajectories in order to provide each aircraft with rear cover. This process gave the F4F a tactical superiority over the Zero and, thanks to it, Thach was soon to acquire the title of ace.