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Contact Info
Home Town Berkeley
Last Address Walter Reed Army Medical Center Washington D.C., 19 March 1995.
Walter F. Boone, Admiral USN retired, who after retiring from the Navy, became the NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Defense Affairs.
1918 - Boone's first wartime assignment was aboard the Ohio, operating with the Atlantic Fleet.
1921 - Admiral Boone graduated from the Naval Academy.
1942 - He was given his second combat assignment, as the executive officer of the aircraft carrier Enterprise.
- He participated in the Battle of Midway, the Guadalcanal-Tulagi landings, the battles of the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz and the November campaign of Guadalcanal.
- He was awarded the Silver Star for his actions in the Battle of Santa Cruz.
1945 - He returned to the Pacific as commanding officer of the aircraft carrier Yorktown, which participated in the later stages of the Okinawa campaign and the attacks on the Japanese home islands.
1950 - Promoted to Rear Admiral.
1954 - He returned and was appointed as the 38th superintendent of the Academy
1956 - He was promoted to full Admiral and made commander of U.S. naval forces in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
1957 - Suez Crisis. Commander Naval Forces Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean
1960 - His final assignment before retiring with the four stars of a full admiral was as the U.S. representative to the Military Committee and Standing Group of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
1967 - As a civilian, he worked for McDonnell Aircraft Company, which became part of McDonnell Douglas Corporation, and as an assistant to the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
1993 - His wife Polly died.
1995 - Died of heart attack on March at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. He was 97.
Guadalcanal Campaign (1942-43)/Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands
From Month/Year
October / 1942
To Month/Year
October / 1942
Description The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, 26 October 1942, sometimes referred to as the Battle of Santa Cruz or in Japanese sources as the Battle of the South Pacific, was the fourth carrier battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II and the fourth major naval engagement fought between the United States Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy during the lengthy and strategically important Guadalcanal campaign. In similar fashion to the battles of Coral Sea, Midway, and the Eastern Solomons, the ships of the two adversaries were rarely in direct visual range of each other. Instead, almost all attacks by both sides were mounted by carrier or land-based aircraft.
In an attempt to drive Allied forces from Guadalcanal and nearby islands and end the stalemate that had existed since September 1942, the Imperial Japanese Army planned a major ground offensive on Guadalcanal for 20–25 October 1942. In support of this offensive, and with the hope of engaging Allied naval forces, Japanese carriers and other large warships moved into a position near the southern Solomon Islands. From this location, the Japanese naval forces hoped to engage and decisively defeat any Allied (primarily U.S.) naval forces, especially carrier forces, that responded to the ground offensive. Allied naval forces also hoped to meet the Japanese naval forces in battle, with the same objectives of breaking the stalemate and decisively defeating their adversary.
The Japanese ground offensive on Guadalcanal was under way in the Battle for Henderson Field while the naval warships and aircraft from the two adversaries confronted each other on the morning of 26 October 1942, just north of the Santa Cruz Islands. After an exchange of carrier air attacks, Allied surface ships were forced to retreat from the battle area with one carrier sunk and another heavily damaged. The participating Japanese carrier forces, however, also retired because of high aircraft and aircrew losses plus significant damage to two carriers. Although a tactical victory for the Japanese in terms of ships sunk and damaged, the loss of many irreplaceable, veteran aircrews would prove to be a long term strategic advantage for the Allies, whose aircrew losses in the battle were relatively low and could be quickly replaced. The high cost of the battle for the Japanese prevented their carrier forces from further significant involvement in the Guadalcanal campaign.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
October / 1942
To Month/Year
October / 1942
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories Awarded the Silver star during the Battle of Santa Cruz.
