- Ralph U. Hyde
Infobox Military Person
name=Ralph Underhill Hyde
born=4 August ,1894
died=12 May ,1970
placeofbirth=New York City ,New York
placeofdeath=Bethesda, Maryland
caption=Lieutenant Ralph U. Hyde, abt. 1921
nickname=
allegiance= United States of America
branch=United States Navy
serviceyears=1917-1947
rank=Captain
commands=USS Wickes (DD-75)
unit=
battles=World War I World War II
family=
laterwork=
portrayedby=
enteredservice=
currentlyresides=Captain Ralph Underhill Hyde (4 August 1894 –12 May 1970 ) was a career Naval Officer who served in theUnited States Navy duringWorld War I andWorld War II .Education and WWI Service
Hyde was born in New York, NY in 1894. He graduated from the Trinity School in New York City in 1913, and the U.S. Naval Academy in 1917, and served aboard the USS Illinois as Gun Division Officer, Signal Officer, and Assistant Navigator, Watch and Division Officer, for the duration of the first world war.
Interwar Service
Lieutenant Hyde later served aboard the USS Chicago, the USS Rochester, and the USS Des Moines, before being selected as Aide and Flag Lieutenant to Rear Admiral
Henry F. Bryan and later to Rear AdmiralC. B. Morgan , Commanders of theSpecial Service Squadron , aboard the USS Dolphin. He later served aboard the USS Columbia, and the USS Langley when it was commissioned as the Navy's first aircraft carrier in March 1922.In August, 1922, he was selected to serve aboard the presidential yacht, the USS Mayflower for two years during the term of President
Warren G. Harding , as First Lieutenant, Watch and Division Officer, and Gunnery Officer.Beginning in 1924, he served aboard the USS Arizona as Communications Officer, followed by a tour as aide to Rear Admiral
A. W. Willard , the Commandant of theWashington Navy Yard . In 1928, as a Lieutenant Commander, he became Executive Officer and Navigator on the destroyer,USS McFarland . And in 1930, he became Aide and Flag Secretary to AdmiralHarley H. Christy on the USS Wyoming.After a stint as Officer in charge of Recruiting in Pittsburgh, he served at the Bureau of Navigation at the Navy Department under Admiral
Frank B. Upham until 1933, when he became the commanding officer of the USS Wickes until 1936, with LieutenantMilton E. Miles as his Executive Officer, during which time his ship was commended with E's for torpedo, depth charges, and gunnery, while operating out of San Diego. During this time, the famous "What-the-Hell" Pennant was created. [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/h92000/h92737kl.htm]After this command, Commander Hyde became Assistant to the Commandant of Midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy, where he also taught Seamanship and Navigation, and trained Reserve Naval Officers for duty in World War II.
World War II Service
In 1943, he was transferred to the Office of the Commander in Chief at the Pentagon for duty with the Joint Secretariat of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff as a liaison to theOffice of Strategic Services . In 1944, Captain Hyde traveled to Algiers, North Africa; Bari, Italy; Cairo, Egypt; New Delhi, India; Chungking, China; and Colombo, Ceylon to observe OSS activities and coordinate with Area Commanders, reporting back to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He remained in his post in Naval Intelligence as Secretary of the Joint Intelligence Committee for JCS until he retired in 1947.Postwar
Captain Hyde met with misfortune after his retirement in 1947, as his beloved wife, Skeets, died of cancer in November, 1948, his mother died in May, 1949, and he and his thirteen-year-old daughter, Betsy, contracted polio in August, 1949. Although he remarried, he was confined to a wheelchair until his death in 1970.
ee also
References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.