John Sylvester (1904 – July 26, 1990) was an officer in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

who served from the 1930s to the 1960s and rose to the rank of vice admiral.

Background

Sylvester grew up in

Wellston, Ohio Wellston is a city in Jackson County, Ohio, United States, in the southeastern part of the state. The population was 5,663 at the 2010 census. History Wellston was laid out and founded in 1873 on land owned by Harvey Wells. Wells constructed a ...

, the grandson of the city's first physician and son of the editor of the ''Wellston Telegram''. He had a brother, George R., and a sister, Janet (later Mrs. Hiram Callahan). Sylvester attended the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

, and graduated among the top of his class in 1926.

Naval career

Joining the fleet in 1926, Sylvester served in 1937 as flag lieutenant to Admiral Harry E. Yarnell, commander of the

United States Asiatic Fleet The United States Asiatic Fleet was a fleet of the United States Navy during much of the first half of the 20th century. Before World War II, the fleet patrolled the Philippine Islands. Much of the fleet was destroyed by the Japanese by Februar ...

, and married Yarnell's daughter Ruth. Much of his career was spent in the Pacific or East Asia, including postings to Shanghai, Tsingtao, Hong Kong and the Philippines.Description of John Sylvester, Jr., in Susan Sheehan and Howard B. Means, ''The Banana Sculptor, the Purple Lady and the All-Night Swimmer'' (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2002): 269–270. He served as commanding officer of the from 18 October 1951 to 4 September 1952 while the battleship was serving as flagship to Rear Admiral James L. Holloway, Jr., the commander of the cruiser force,

United States Fleet Forces Command The United States Fleet Forces Command (USFF) is a service component command of the United States Navy that provides naval forces to a wide variety of U.S. forces. The naval resources may be allocated to Combatant Commanders such as United Sta ...

between deployments to the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. Promoted to rear admiral in 1953, he was made special assistant to the chief of the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project in California. In 1955 Sylvester served as Task Force commander for

Operation Wigwam Operation Wigwam involved a single test of the Mark 90 "Betty" nuclear bomb. It was conducted between '' Operation Teapot'' and '' Project 56'' on May 14, 1955, about 500 miles (800 km) southwest of San Diego, California. 6,800 personne ...

, a test of an underwater detonation of a nuclear bomb. He served as Commander, Amphibious Forces,

United States Pacific Fleet The United States Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT) is a theater-level component command of the United States Navy, located in the Pacific Ocean. It provides naval forces to the Indo-Pacific Command. Fleet headquarters is at Joint Base Pearl Harbor� ...

, from 1958 to 1960. From 1960 to 1965 he served as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Logistics, and retired in 1965 with the rank of vice admiral. Sylvester died on July 26, 1990, at

Georgetown University Hospital MedStar Georgetown University Hospital is one of the Washington, D.C. area's oldest academic teaching hospitals. It is a not-for-profit, acute care teaching and research facility located in the Georgetown neighborhood of the Northwest Quadrant ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Personal life

Sylvester's first wife was Ruth Yarnell, who died in 1948. His second wife was Geraldine Clark. One of his sons would go on to attend the United States Naval Academy, so too would two grandsons. A second son, John Sylvester, Jr., would join the

Foreign Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

and, driven by the family connection to East Asia, serve a variety of tours in Japan and South East Asia in the 1960s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sylvester, John 1904 births 1990 deaths United States Navy personnel of the Korean War United States Navy personnel of World War II People from Wellston, Ohio Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal United States Navy vice admirals