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.
Central Pacific Campaign (1941-43)/Marshall Islands Operation
From Month/Year
November / 1943
To Month/Year
December / 1943
Description In the Pacific Theater of World War II, the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, from November 1943 through February 1944, were key strategic operations of the United States Pacific Fleet and Marine Corps in the Central Pacific. The purpose was to establish airfields that would allow land based air support for the upcoming operations across the Central Pacific. The campaign began with a costly three-day battle for the island of Betio at the Tarawa atoll. The campaign was preceded a year earlier by a diversionary raid on Makin Island by U.S. Marines in August, 1942.
About 4,000 kilometers southwest of the Hawaii Islands, the Marshall Islands represented part of the perimeter of the Japanese Pacific empire. The former German colony was given to Japan after the closure of WW1, and had since been an important part of both offensive and defensive plans of the Japanese Navy. By the end of 1943, Admiral Mineichi Koga of the Japanese Combined Fleet knew the Americans were eyeing the islands, but he could not figure out where they would strike. His difficulties were further complicated by the lack of carrier aircraft, as they were taken away from him in an attempt to reinforce land-based squadrons. With his hands tied, all Koga could do was to send his submarines out as forward observers and order the regional commander in Truk Admiral Masashi Kobayashi to reinforce the island garrisons that were most exposed to American attacks. Kobayashi shifted men to the outer islands of Jaluit, Mili, Wotje, and Maloelap. In total, Kobayashi had 28,000 troops available to him in the Marshall Islands. For a garrison that size ground fortifications were sub-par, but that was rather by design at this stage of the war, for that Tokyo had since decided that the Marshall Islands were to serve only as a part of a delay action campaign. The new defensive perimeter was to be established much closer to the home islands.
American intelligence decoded Japanese messages and detected movements for the outer islands, and decided to change the invasion plans. Unbeknownst to the Japanese, the Americans were now bypassing the reinforced outer islands; they were now directly attacking Kwajalein and Eniwetok.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
November / 1943
To Month/Year
December / 1943
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories From 1943 to 1945 he 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.