Ralph Eugene Davison (12 September 1895 – 13 February 1972) was an early United States Naval Aviator who later became one of Vice Admiral

Marc Mitscher Marc Andrew "Pete" Mitscher (January 26, 1887 – February 3, 1947) was a pioneer in naval aviation who became an admiral in the United States Navy, and served as commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force in the Pacific during the latter half of ...

's Fast Carrier Admirals in the Pacific theatre during World War II.

Early life and education

Ralph Davison was born and raised in North St. Louis, Missouri. His parents were George Whittier Davison and Laura Maude Wilson. He attended the United States Naval Academy in

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

, graduating in 1916.

Career

In September 1919, Davison entered flight school at Naval Aeronautical Station Pensacola along with his Naval Academy classmate Frank Wead. Davison completed his flight training on 17 March 1920. In May 1942, Davison was serving as the Assistant Chief of the U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics. In October 1942, Rear Adm.

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

replaced Rear Adm. John Towers as Chief of the Bureau. On 17 November 1942, Davison was promoted to

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

, but continued to serve as Assistant Chief of the Bureau into 1943. Davison went on to command Task Group 38.4 during the

Battle of Leyte Gulf The Battle of Leyte Gulf ( fil, Labanan sa golpo ng Leyte, lit=Battle of Leyte gulf; ) was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. It was fou ...

in 1944 and Task Group 58.2 during the

Battle of Iwo Jima The Battle of Iwo Jima (19 February – 26 March 1945) was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJ ...

in 1945. He was awarded two Distinguished Service Medals after completing these assignments. He was aboard his

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

when it was hit by a '' kamikaze'' during the battle of Leyte Gulf and again when it was hit by a

dive bomber A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact througho ...

during an

airstrike An airstrike, air strike or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighters, heavy bombers, ground attack aircraft, attack helicopters and drones. The offic ...

against Shikoku on 19 March 1945 in preparation for the invasion of Okinawa. After leading TG 58.2, Davison was reassigned to Naval Air Station Jacksonville, where he led the Naval Air Advanced Training Command until July 1948. While there, Admiral Chester Nimitz asked Davison to select the first commanding officer for a new naval aviation demonstration squadron. Lieutenant Commander Butch Voris became the first leader of the Blue Angels in 1946. Davison was promoted to vice admiral at the time of his retirement from active duty in July 1948.

Personal

Davison was married to Elisabeth Dunham (14 April 1901 – 2 December 1971). They had a daughter, son and six grandchildren. Davison and his wife are buried in Barrancas National Cemetery in Florida. Their son David Dunham Davison (22 July 1928 – 13 May 2019) was a 1952 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davison, Ralph Eugene 1895 births 1972 deaths People from St. Louis United States Naval Academy alumni Aviators from Missouri United States Naval Aviators United States Navy World War II admirals Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal United States Navy vice admirals People from Pensacola, Florida Burials at Barrancas National Cemetery