John T. “Chick” Hayward – Vice Admiral, United States Navy

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From contemporary news reports:

Vice Admiral John Hayward, a weapons expert who helped develop the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, in the closing days of World War II, died on Sunday at his home in Atlantic Beach, Florida. He was 90.

Hayward, who was promoted to vice admiral in 1959 and retired in 1968, also developed guidance systems for rockets and underwater anti-submarine weapons.

When he was 15, he lied about his age and joined the Navy after being expelled from military school for disciplinary reasons and dropping out of high school. But later he was such an exemplary seaman that he was one of the few enlisted men accepted by the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis.

As a pilot in World War II, he fought in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea campaigns. The squadron he commanded destroyed 43 Japanese ships, including three submarines, and damaged 54 other ships.

Hayward’s record of 13,200 flight hours was the highest ever achieved by a flag officer.

In 1944 he joined the Manhattan Project, the wartime effort to design and build atomic weapons, and was assigned to the China Lake Naval Ordnance Test Station in California, where he helped develop the implosion components of the plutonium bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.

Partly in response to the bombing of Nagasaki, which took place three days after the the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, the Japanese surrendered, ending World War II.

After the war he commanded the first nuclear-powered task force, and later became president of the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

Hayward’s wife, Leila, died in 1998. He is survived by a son, John Jr., of Newport; four daughters, Shelley Klein of Fern Park, Flprida., Marion Pontzer of Sterling, Virginia, Victoria Hayward of Neptune Beach, Florida, and Jennifer Bramhall of Oakland, Calif.; a sister, Marjorie Madey of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 22 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren.

Vice Adm. John T. ‘Chick’ Hayward Dies at 90
Decorated Aviator Had Role in Manhattan Project, Studied Bombings’ Aftermath

John T. “Chick” Hayward, 90, a retired Navy vice admiral who was a decorated aviator and who participated in the Manhattan Project, which developed the atomic bomb, died of cancer in Atlantic Beach, Florida, on May 23, 1999.

He enlisted in the Navy in 1925 by lying about his age, and he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1930. In the early part of World War II, he flew dozens of bombing missions in the South Pacific before participating in the Manhattan Project.

Admiral Hayward joined the Manhattan Project at the China Lake Naval Ordnance Test Station in California in 1944. He helped develop the implosion components of the bomb dropped over Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9, 1945.

He was not involved in the development of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima three days earlier.

After the war, he went to Japan to study the aftereffects on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. In 1946, he was in charge of the first attempt to photograph a  nuclear explosion on the Bikini atoll at 800,000 frames per second.

In the early 1950s, he helped plan atomic weapons laboratory work at Los Alamos and Sandia. He also worked on the foundation of the Livermore Laboratory program in 1952 in close collaboration with Edward Teller.

Over the years, he had worked on systems for ground- and air-launched rockets and became a pioneer in the development of weapons used to fight submarines.

He also commanded the first nuclear-powered task force in naval history, leading the aircraft carrier Enterprise.

Admiral Hayward served as president of the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, from 1966 until retiring from active duty in 1968. He later worked for General Dynamics as a vice president for international programs.

His Navy decorations included two awards of the Distinguished Service Medal and the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal.

Admiral Hayward was born in New York. As a youth, he was a batboy for the New York Yankees baseball team.

HAYWARD, JOHN T. ”Chick”, VADM USN (Ret.)

On Sunday, May 23, 1999, Retired VICE ADMIRAL JOHN T. ”Chick” HAYWARD, who helped develop the atomic bomb dropped over Nagasaki, died at his home in Atlantic Beach, Florida. He was 90 years old.

He also developed systems for ground and air-launched rockets and became a pioneer in the development of weapons used to fight submarines.

Admiral Hayward, a 43-year Navy veteran, had lived in Atlantic Beach, Florida since 1957. He was born in Long Island, New York and had been a bat boy for the New York Yankees.

He lied about his age to get into the Navy as a 15 year-old in 1925. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1930 and flew dozens of bombing missions in the South Pacific in the early part of World War II.

During Admiral Hayward’s early years in the Navy, he continued his studies and took special interest in nuclear physics, said Bill Borklund, a military author who just completed a biography of Admiral Hayward.

In 1944, he joined the Manhattan Project at the China Lake Naval Ordnance Test Station in California. He helped develop the implosion components of the bomb that was dropped over Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.

He was promoted to Rear Admiral in 1961 after commanding the aircraft carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt from the West Coast to Mayport.

Admiral Hayward is survived by a sister, Marjorie Madey of Baton Rouge, LA; a son, John T. Hayward Jr. of Newport, RI; daughters, Jennifer Bramhall of Oakland, CA, Marion Pontzer of Sterling, VA, Victoria Hayward of Neptune Beach, FL and Shelley Klein of Fern Park, FL; 22 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren. Funeral will be held 12:45 p.m., Monday, June 14, 1999 at Ft. Myer Chapel at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA. Memorial contributions may be made to Hope Haven, 4600 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32207.

Hayward, John T, b. 11/15/1908, d. 05/24/1999, US Navy, VADM, Res:Neptune Beach, Florida, Section 3, Grave 1897-ALH, buried 06/14/1999

Hayward, Leila Marion, b. 09/29/1910, d. 02/14/1998, US Navy, PHM2,
Section 3, Grave 1897-ALH, buried 02/25/1998

jthayward-gravesite-photo-august-2006

jhayward

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