This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Shaun Thomas (Underdog), OSC
to remember
Adair., Charles L., RADM USN(Ret).
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Contact Info
Home Town Tyler
Last Address Annapolis, Maryland
Date of Passing Jul 02, 1993
Location of Interment U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery and Columbarium (VLM) - Annapolis, Maryland
From 1943 to 1945, Admiral Adair took part in the planning and execution of every major amphibious operation in the Southwest Pacific Area while serving on the staff of Rear Admiral Daniel Barbey, Commander Seventh Amphibious Force.
After duty in OpNav and BuPers, he commanded the attack cargo ship Marquette, served on the CinCPacFlt staff, and then in the office of the Comptroller of the Navy, William Franke. He retired in 1956.
RADM Adair had lived in Annapolis since 1974. He died of pneumonia on July 2, 1993 at the Anne Arundel Medical Center. He had Alzheimer's disease.
Other Comments:
To view award citations, click on the ribbons in the Ribbon Bar box.
Admiral Adair graduated from the Naval Academy in the class of 1926. Following assignments on board the Mississippi, Toucey, Blakeley, and Patoka, he studied communications at the Naval Postgraduate School.
From 1935 to 1938, he served as radio officer on the staff of Destroyer Squadrons Six and 14. After a staff assignment at the Naval Academy, he reported as flag lieutenant to Admiral Thomas Hart, Commander in Chief Asiatic Fleet, and was in that job when World War II broke out.
He moved to Corregidor and then escaped to the Dutch East Indies as senior man on board the schooner Lanikai, sailing by night and hiding by day.
Philippine Islands Campaign (1941-42)/Battle of Corrigedor
From Month/Year
April / 1942
To Month/Year
May / 1942
Description The battle and delivery of food to Corrigedor P. I. and evacuates certain military personnel
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
April / 1942
To Month/Year
May / 1942
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories On 2 December, President Roosevelt ordered, through Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Harold R. Stark, that the Commander in Chief, Asiatic Fleet, Admiral Thomas C. Hart "charter three small vessels to form a defensive information patrol... to observe and report by radio Japanese movements in the west China Sea and Gulf of Siam."[3]
Lanikai was one of the small ships chartered to learn of Japan's intentions. Fitted out at Cavite, with the greatest dispatch, the schooner lay at the entrance of Manila Bay in the early hours of 8 December (7 December east of the International Date Line) awaiting daylight to thread her way through the dangerous minefields which guarded the harbor. Tolley's orders read: "Patrol off the entrance of Cam Ranh Bay and report the direction taken by the Japanese Fleet when it emerges." However, at 0300 word of Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor arrived with orders to return to Manila.[3]
In ensuing weeks, the schooner patrolled the approaches to Manila Bay and served as dispatch vessel within the harbor. On 10 December she survived the devastating Japanese air raid which destroyed Cavite Navy Yard. On Christmas Day, she assisted in the evacuation of Manila, carrying Army Officers and equipment to Corregidor
