Henry A. Schade - World War II

World War II

Pearl Harbor had a dramatic impact on the leadership of BuShips. The Bureau's Chief, RAdm. Samuel M. "Mike" Robinson, and Deputy Chief, RAdm. Alexander H. Van Keuren, immediately recognized that this new war would be conducted just as the Japanese conducted the raid on Pearl Harbor. This would be a carrier war. To successfully prosecute this war, the United States Navy would need both better carriers and more of them to defeat their enemies. To get these ships built both quickly and properly would take skill, ability, and leadership. To get that leadership they would need to fill each key position within the Bureau with the officer best suited to handle the colossal challenges that lie before them.

The Chief and Deputy Chief of BuShips wasted no time reorganizing their personnel to meet the demands of a two-ocean war. In the weeks following the attack on Pearl Harbor orders were sent to ships and stations around the world recalling the people they felt best suited for a particular task. One such recall was Commander Schade. Ordered detached from his role as SNLO at Newport News in late December 1941, he was to report to "Main Navy" for duty at the Bureau of Ships by January 1, 1942.

Just three weeks after turning 42, Schade had been identified as the ideal candidate to head the Bureau's Carrier Desk during the country's first ever carrier war. Quite a responsibility for a Commander. Nearly all of the Bureau's ship type desks were run by officers with the rank of Captain. The fact that the most important ship type, arguably the aircraft carrier, for the anticipated nature of fighting would be placed in the hands of a mere Commander speaks volumes as to the complete faith both Robinson and Van Keuren had in Schade. There were thousands within the bureau that in some way would contribute to developing the Navy's carriers, but it was up to Schade to get those carriers built and fully prepared to join the fleet.

In January 1942 Schade was assigned to the Navy's Bureau of Ships, where he was responsible for the design of the Midway-class carriers, with innovations including the use of the flight deck as a structural element (previously flight decks were flimsy wooden platforms perched above the ship proper).

For Schade's efforts as Head of the Carrier Desk during World War II he was awarded the Legion of Merit. The commendation attached to his award read as follows:

Two days before Christmas, 1944, Captain Schade was advanced to the rank of Commodore.

In January, 1945, Commodore Schade was ordered to report to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations for a very special reassignment of duty. Schade was to create, and head, a team of scientific and technical specialists to obtain and exploit German science and technologies in areas immediately behind the front lines of fighting in Europe. As allied ground forces gained ground, Schade and his scientists would rush into the void left behind advancing forces to study the equipment and weaponry employed by the Germans. The United States Naval Technical Mission in Europe was particularly interested the capture and study of rocketry and all things naval as German ports and bases were wrested from Hitler's forces. Schade initially headquartered the Mission in Paris, but soon the Mission was constantly on the move as allied forces advanced more and more rapidly deeper into German occupied territories and then into Germany itself.