Admiral John Sidney McCain Sr. USN
(1884-1945)

September 21, 1942: Rear Admiral John S. McCain (left) and Rear Admiral Aubrey W. Fitch seen during a change of command in the Pacific.

 

Vice Admiral John S. McCain Sr. and Admiral William F. Halsey on board USS New Jersey BB-63 en route to
the Philippines.

 

September 2, 1945: Vice Admiral John S. McCain Sr. and Commander John S. McCain Jr. seen in Tokyo Bay
after the Japanese surrender. Sadly VAdm. McCain died only four days after this photo was taken.

 

John S. McCain was born in Carroll County, Mississippi August 9, 1884, the son of Sidney McCain and wife
Elizabeth-Ann Young and attended the University of Mississippi before going to the United States Naval
Academy, graduating in 1906.

McCain, with many other junior officers, took part in the Great White Fleet's world cruise from 1907 to 1909. Nimitz, Halsey, McCain and many other participants in this event would later rise to flag rank in World War II.
McCain's next assignment was in the Asiatic Squadron, after which he went to the naval base in San Diego, California. During the First World War, he was on convoy duty in the Atlantic Ocean.

In the 1920s and early 1930s, McCain served on the USS Maryland, USS New Mexico, and USS Nitro. His first command was the USS Sirius. In 1936, he became a naval aviator and from 1937 to 1939 he commanded the aircraft carrier USS Ranger. In January, 1941, after promotion to rear admiral, he commanded the Aircraft Scouting Force in the Atlantic Fleet.

After the outbreak of hostilities between the U.S. and Japan in December, 1941, McCain was appointed as Commander, Aircraft, South Pacific in May 1942. In this position, he commanded all land-based Allied air operations supporting the Guadalcanal campaign in the Solomon Islands and south Pacific area. In October
1942, he was sent to Washington D.C. to head the Naval Bureau of Aeronautics. In August 1943 he became deputy chief of naval operations for air with the rank of vice admiral.

McCain returned to combat operations in the Pacific in August 1944 with his appointment as commander of a
carrier group in Marc Mitscher's Task Force 58, part of Raymond Spruance's Fifth Fleet. In this role, McCain
participated in the Marianas campaign, including the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and the beginning of the
Philippines campaign.

On October 30, 1944 McCain assumed command of TF-58, now designated TF-38 as part of Adm. William Halsey's Third Fleet. He remained commander of the fast carrier task force that he led through the Battle of Okinawa and raids on the Japanese mainland.

By war's end in August 1945, the stress of combat operations had worn McCain down to a weight of only 100 pounds. He requested home leave to recuperate but Halsey insisted that he be present at the Japanese surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay, Japan on September 2, 1945. Departing immediately after the ceremony, McCain died of a heart attack at his home in Coronado, California on September 6, 1945. He was posthumously promoted to full admiral.

(Text courtesy of Wikipedia)

 



USS John S. McCain DD-928
Page published Aug. 24, 2008