John Thach
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John Smith "Jimmy" Thach (19 April 1905 - 15 April 1981) was a World War II naval aviator, air combat tactician, and admiral in the United States Navy. Thach developed the Thach Weave and later the big blue blanket, a system for naval warships to defend against Kamikaze attacks.
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[edit] Early career
John S. Thach was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1927 and spent two years serving in battleships before training as a naval aviator in 1929. Thach spent the next decade serving as a test pilot and instructor and establishing a reputation as an expert in aerial gunnery.
[edit] World War II
In the early 1940s, he was placed in command of Fighting Squadron Three (VF-3). There he met a young Naval Reserve Ensign just out of flight school, Edward O'Hare, later a Medal of Honor winner. Thach made O'Hare his wingman and taught him everything he knew. At the US Navy fleet gunnery competition at the end of 1940, 8 of 16 VF-3 pilots qualified for the gunnery "E" award ("excellence").
Later Thach developed a fighter combat tactic known as the Thach Weave. This tactic enabled US fighter aircraft to hold their own against the superior Mitsubishi Zero, the primary fighter of Japan.
Lieutenant Commander Thach and Fighting Squadron Three flew off of USS Lexington (CV-2) in the early part of World War II and was assigned to Yorktown (CV-5) during the Battle of Midway in June of 1942.
After Midway, Thach was assigned to instruct other pilots in combat tactics. The US Navy pulled its best combat pilots out of action to train newer pilots while the Japanese kept their best pilots flying. As the war progressed the Japanese Navy lost their experienced pilots due to attrition and had no well trained replacements while the USA was able to improve the general fighting ability of their own personnel. When the Japanese resorted to the feared Kamikaze suicide attacks, Thach developed the Big blue blanket system to provide an adequate defense.
Later in the war Commander Thach became Operations Officer to Vice Admiral John S. McCain, Sr., commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force. Thach was present at the formal Japanese Surrender on 2 September 1945 in Tokyo Bay.
[edit] Post World-War II
Thach commanded Sicily (CVE-118) during the Korean War and Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA-42) in 1953-1954. He was promoted to Admiral in 1955.
In 1958 and 1959 Thach was placed in command of an antisubmarine development unit, with Valley Forge (CVS-45) serving as his flagship.
Admiral Thach was on the cover of the 1 September 1958 edition of Time Magazine. He served as Commander in Chief, U.S. Naval Forces, Europe, starting in 1965. Thach retired from the United States Navy in May of 1967.
John Thach died on 15 April 1981, a few days before his 76th birthday. The frigate Thach (FFG-43) was named in his honor.
