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Contact Info
Home Town Grand Forks, North Dakota
Last Address Arlington National Cemetery
Date of Passing Nov 04, 2007
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Rear Admiral J. Edward Snyder, Jr.
WWII • Korea • Viet-Nam
J. Edward Snyder, Jr. was born October 23, 1924 in Grand Forks, North Dakota, the son of a Methodist Minister. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1944 (64th in a class of 914) and his first assignment was as signals officer on the battleship USS Pennsylvania. He served aboard destroyers and cruisers and served 52 months of consecutive sea duty before receiving his first shore billet, participating in many of the historic battles of World War II.
Rear Adm. J. Edward Snyder, USN (Ret.) was notable as the captain of the battleship USS New Jersey during that ship's deployment to the Vietnam War in 1968. Considered by those serving on the New Jersey to be a "sailor's captain", Captain Snyder was able to motivate his men through his more relaxed shipboard policies.
Snyder's first unique action upon taking command of the New Jersey was to have the shower stall removed from the head in the Captain's Quarters. In its stead, he had a bathtub brought aboard ship, as he preferred it to the shower. Although crews at the shipyard refused to install it, once underway, sailors aboard New Jersey attached it to the ship's plumbing. Snyder used his in-port cabin with its bathtub nightly, saying that since he would be blamed if something happened regardless of whether he was sleeping or on the bridge, he would rather be comfortable in his cabin.
Another oddity aboard the New Jersey at this time was its twin swimming pools. Sailors converted two of the 40mm gun tubs outside the Captain's and Admiral's Stateroom on the 01 level of the ship by welding shut the open side and painting the interior blue. It was well known aboard ship that Captain Snyder was one of the first men in the pool when there was down time.
Snyder allowed sailors to sunbathe on the decks by the bow of the ship, and completely contrary to accepted Navy standards, allowed sailors to wear beards while serving on the New Jersey.
Captain Snyder died on Sunday, November 4, 2007.
Other Comments:
His Naval career was as remarkable as the man himself. In addition to his sea duty, he was a nuclear weapons supervisor at Los Alamos New Mexico Scientific Weapons Laboratory and a Polaris Missile Reentry Systems Officer with Lockheed. He attended the Naval Postgraduate school in Monterey, California, earned a Master’s degree in Nuclear Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and graduated from the Naval War College. Before becoming CO of the New Jersey, he was a specialist in oceanography and underwater engineering in the office of the secretary of the Navy. It was a field in which he would close his Naval Career when he was appointed Oceanographer of the Navy when elevated to flag rank.
While Oceanographer of the Navy, Admiral Snyder was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1979, and ADDU as Special Assistant to: Director, National Science Foundation; Vice Commandant of the US Coast Guard; and Assistant Secretary of Interior.
Chain of Command From December 1967 to August 1969, he was assigned as Commanding Officer, USS New Jersey (BB-62), officially taking command from April 1968 to August 1969. On being relieved in August 1969, and until August 1971, Snyder served with Commander, Cruiser-Destroyer Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet (Chief of Staff). He was promoted to Rear Admiral, United States Navy on 1 September 1971.
