Frank Peak Akers | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Commander of the USSSaratoga (CV-3),c. 1945 | |
| Born | (1901-03-28)March 28, 1901 Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | March 22, 1988(1988-03-22) (aged 86) |
| Alma mater | US Naval Acad(BS) Harvard Univ. (MS) |
| Spouse | Bayliss House Akers |
| Children | Albert B. Akers |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service | US Navy |
| Years of service | 1922–1963 |
| Rank | Rear Admiral |
| Battles / wars | Battle of Midway Doolittle Raid |
| Awards | Dist Flying Cross Legion of Merit |
Frank Peak Akers (March 28, 1901 – March 22, 1988) was an American navalrear admiral who was the first aviator to make an instrument landing aboard an aircraft carrier.[1]
Frank Akers graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1922 and was soon assigned to theUSS Sumner, which operated in the Pacific Ocean. On 11 September 1925, he earned his naval "Wings of Gold" and became an aviator. He later earned a master's degree in electronic communications fromHarvard University in 1933. After graduation, he became a flight test officer at theNaval Air Station in San Diego, California. While in this assignment on 30 July 1935, he participated in an unusually hazardous experiment and attempted to land about the nation's first aircraft carrier, theUSS Langley. What made this hazardous was that he was fitted with a special hood preventing visual contact with the outside world. He earned theDistinguished Flying Cross for being the first to land a plane on a carrier deck without sight.[2]
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DuringWorld War II, he served as a navigator about theUSS Hornet, and participated in the famedDoolittle Raid on Tokyo and in theBattle of Midway. Later in the war, while stationed in Washington as head of the Radio and Electrical Branch of the Bureau of Aeronautics, he received theLegion of Merit for his part in developing more efficient and simplified aircraft electronic systems, including radar bombing.[2]
After the war, as the commanding officer of theUSS Saratoga from 1945 to 1946, he amassed a new world's record of 642 carrier landings in a single day. He is also the only aviator ever to have been assigned as Assistant Chief of Naval Operations for Undersea Warfare, from 1951 to 1954.[1][2] On 11 January 1962, he received theGray Eagle Award honoring him as the Naval Aviator who had been flying longer than any other on active duty, which he held until his retirement on 1 April 1963.[2]
The Navy's annual award to outstandingAirborne Early Warning squadrons was renamed for Akers.[3]
