Henry A. Schade - Early Naval Career

Early Naval Career

After graduating from MIT, Schade was briefly at the Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland and then at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City. From October 1928, and for the three succeeding years, Schade served in the Industrial Department at Mare Island Navy Yard, California. In December 1931 Schade joined the Design Section within the Bureau of Construction and Repair. He was promoted to Lieutenant. He furthered the development of the use of welding in naval ship construction until January 1935.

Schade was then assigned to the Experimental Model Basin, which was then at the Washington Navy Yard. Detached from the Model Basin in July 1936, he was ordered overseas to attend the Technische Hochschule Berlin-Charlottenburg. In June 1937 Schade received the degree of Doctor of Engineering in Naval Architecture for his research on strength of ship structures and his landmark dissertation entitled Statik Des Schift-Bodens Unter-Wasserdruck. An English translation by Schade was published as Theory of Motions of Craft in Waves.

After graduating, but prior to leaving Europe, the Bureau of Ships ordered Schade on a tour of inspection, as student observer, of representative shipbuilding plants and model basins in German ports; plus naval establishments of The Netherlands, France, Britain, Italy, and Austria. Completing his tour of European naval facilities by the end of August, 1937, Schade then returned to the United States.

Lieutenant Schade was then ordered to serve in the Office of the Superintending Constructor, later redesignated Office of the Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Virginia. On June 23, 1938, less than one year into his duty at Newport News, Schade was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Also that summer, the professional organization of Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) published Schade's paper on his study of Bending Theory of Ship Bottom Structure. In June 1940, all Constructors (Naval Architects) and Engineers (Marine Engineers) were united into a new Bureau of Ships All such technical personnel were then transferred from the line of the Navy and redesignated Engineering Duty Only - or EDOs.

This massive reorganization of the Navy's technical Bureaus created new opportunities for younger officers with potential. Following the reorganization of the Bureau he was promoted to Commander. He assumed the billet of Senior Naval Liaison Officer (SNLO) assigned to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock. The SNLO is the direct link between BuShips' ship "type desk" and the actual building and builder stationed in their yard. At this time Newport News was tackling the mighty job of acting as design agent, responsible for the creation of detailed working drawings, for the Navy's new Essex class aircraft carriers. This made Schade the Carrier (type) Desk's direct liaison at Newport News solely to effect work on the Essex design.

During 1941, the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers again published one of Schade's studies. His new study was entitled: Design Curves for Cross-Stiffened Plating Under Uniform Bending Load. This paper proved to be an important work, as the theories espoused therein by Schade were thereafter accepted and adopted by BuShips as new policy and practice regarding estimating static responses on welded stiffened ship panels.

Just four days before the Japanese aerial attack on Pearl Harbor, Commander Schade celebrated his 42nd birthday. By all accounts he had done a tremendous job over the previous two years at Newport News working diligently on the Essex project. His efforts had not gone unnoticed in the Bureau of Ships. With the nation now at war, his reward would not be long in coming.