U.S.S. SLC...USN...Ralph S. Clarke

Date Unknown at this time

Plank Owner

Ralph Sperry Clarke was born on July 10, 1903 in Watertown, New York. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy as an Ensign on June 3, 1926. He subsequently attained the rank of Rear Admiral on June 1, 1954.

His first duty station was the battleship U.S.S. PENNSYLVANIA. On June 10, 1929, after completing flight training at Pensacola, Florida, he was designated a Naval Aviator. He then served with flight squadrons aboard the cruiser U.S.S. SALT LAKE CITY and the carrier U.S.S. LEXINGTON. After serving as Officer-in-Charge of Ship's Experimental Unit, Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia, he reported to Patrol Squadron 51, and then took command of Patrol Squadron 83.

His next assignment was as Executive Officer of the U.S.S. HANCOCK in the Pacific. The Legion of Merit and Bronze Star Medal were awarded him for personal action as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. PETROF BAY. Under his command the escort carrier also was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. Since World War II hostilities subsided, he has served as Chief of Staff for Commander Carrier Division FIVE ; Commanding Officer, Naval Air Station, Los Alamitos, Calif; Admin- strative Aid to the Chief of Naval Operations; Commanding Officer, Fleet Air Hawaii; Commanding Officer, the carrier U.S.S. WASP; Commanding Officer, Naval Air Station, Kwajalein, M.I.; Commander Carrier Division EIGHTEEN; and Commander Carrier Division FIVE. He assumed command of Task Force SEVENTY- SEVEN on August 29, 1958, aboard his flagship the carrier U.S.S. LEXINGTON in the Western Pacific.

On September 7, 1958 he boarded his present flagship, U.S.S. MIDWAY. Rear Admiral Ralph Sperry Clarke Commander Carrier Division Five Captain William M. Ryon,

Chief of Staff for Rear Admiral Ralph S. Clarke, Commander Carrier Division FIVE, was born April 5, 1908, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Wallace H. Ryon, in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania. After attending R.L. Werntz's Naval Academy Prep School, Annapolis, Maryland, he attended the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, being graduated and commissioned an Ensign with the class of 1931. He won his wings at Pensacola in 1934, and had varied sea and shore billets in both Atlantic and Pacific waters until he reported to the U.S.S. SAIPAN as Executive Officer in 1943. From July 1947 to January 1950, he was head of Aviation Complements and Allowances Branch at the Bureau of Naval Personnel in Washington, D.C. He attended Armed Forces Staff College in February 1950, and then in July, reported to the U.S.S. LEYTE as Executive Officer. In September 1951, he received orders to the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington, D.C, as Assistant Director General Planning Group for Aviation. He took command of the U.S.S. ORCA in October 1953, and after a year there, he went to the U.S. Naval Air Station at Floyd Bennett Field in New York, a; CO. In June 1957, he took over command of the carrier U.S.S. BENNINGTON and held that post until becoming Chief of Staff for Commander Carriir Division FIVE in July 1958. Among the wards Captain Ryon has received during his career are the Legion of Merit, Navy Commend Hon Ribbon, and Navy Unit Citation as Executive Officer of the U.S.S. LEYTE for action during the Korean War. Captain William M. Ryon Chief of Staff

Midway (CVA 41) - Naval Cruise Book- Class of 1959