John Tucker "Chick" Hayward (15 November 1908 – 23 May 1999) was an American naval aviator during World War II. He helped develop one of the two atomic bombs that was dropped on Japan in the closing days of the war. Later, he was a pioneer in the development of nuclear propulsion, nuclear weapons, guidance systems for ground- and air-launched rockets, and underwater anti-submarine weapons. A former batboy for the New York Yankees, Hayward dropped out of high school and lied about his age to enlist in the United States Navy at age 16. He was subsequently admitted to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, from which he graduated 51st in his class of 1930. He volunteered for naval aviation.
During World War II, he served at the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia, where he was involved in an effort to improve aircraft instrumentation, notably the compass and altimeter. He attended the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Electrical Engineering, and studied nuclear physics. In June 1942, he assumed command of a new patrol bomber squadron, VB-106, equipped with PB4Y-1 Liberators, which he led in a daring raid on Wake Island, in the Solomon Islands campaign, and in the Southwest Pacific Area. Returning to the United States in 1944, he was posted to the Naval Ordnance Test Station at Inyokern, California, where he joined the Manhattan Project, participating in Project Camel, the development of the non-nuclear components of the Fat Man bomb, and in its drop testing.
After the war ended, he travelled to Hiroshima and Nagasaki as part of the team investigating the bomb damage, and during Operation Crossroads, he led the effort to photograph the nuclear explosion at the Bikini Atoll. In 1949, he assumed command of VC-5, the first naval nuclear bomber squadron. In March 1949, he took off from the carrier in the Atlantic in a Lockheed P2V Neptune bomber carrying a dummy Little Boy pumpkin bomb, flew across the United States to make a simulated attack on a test site in California., and flew back to Patuxent River, where he landed after a total of 23 hours flying. In August 1950, he was at the controls of the first carrier landing and takeoff of an AJ-1 Savage heavy attack bomber.
From June 1951 to May 1953, Hayward was head of the Military Applications Division of the Atomic Energy Commission, where he conducted atomic weapons laboratory work at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In June 1953, he assumed command of the escort carrier , and was involved in the rescue of a baby who was found abandoned in the trash at a U.S. Army depot. In June 1954, he became the first naval aviator to command the Naval Ordnance Laboratory, where he was involved with the development of the Mark 52 naval mine and the Mark 90 nuclear bomb, a nuclear depth charge. He was Assistant Chief of Naval Operations for Research and Development, and then Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Development. In 1962 he assumed command of a carrier task force which included the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier . He commanded the Antisubmarine Warfare Force, Pacific Fleet, from 1963 to 1966, and then was president of the Naval War College from 1966 until 1968.
Early life Hayward was born in New York City on 15 November 1908 one of eight children of Charles Brian and Rosa Hayward (née Valdetaro) As a youngster, he was a batboy for the New York Yankees. In May 1925, he dropped out of high school at Loyola School and enlisted in the United States Navy by lying about his age, which at the time he believed to be only 15, and forging his father's signature on the papers. He soon acquired the nickname "Chick" from a bosun who asked "And how in did a little chick like you get in here amongst all these grown men?" The nickname would remain with him for the rest of his naval career.
Hayward did his initial naval training at the Naval Station Newport at Newport, Rhode Island. He was encouraged by the Chaplain, Father John J. Brady, to try for admission to United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. Brady arranged for Hayward to be sent to the Naval Academy Preparatory School in Norfolk, Virginia, to study for the entrance exams. During World War I, some one-hundred presidential appointments to Annapolis had been set aside for enlisted sailors, but few had applied, and fewer still had passed the entrance exams. Of the 119 sailors who sat the exams in 1926, only 19 passed, one of whom was Hayward. He entered Annapolis in August 1926, and was commissioned as an ensign on graduation in June 1930, ranking 51st in his class of 406.
After graduation, Hayward volunteered for naval aviation, and learned to fly in a Consolidated NY seaplane at Naval Air Station Hampton Roads. A tour of sea duty on the cruiser followed, after which he was posted to the Naval Air Station Pensacola to complete his flight training. He received his aviator's wings in July 1932. While there he met a local woman, Leila Marion (Lili) Hyer, and the two were married at St John's Church in Warrington, Florida, on 15 October 1932. Their marriage would produce five children.
Hayward was posted to a scout bombing squadron, VS-1B, flying Vought SBU Corsairs, on the aircraft carrier on the West Coast, and was soon promoted to the rank of lieutenant (junior grade), but owing to government austerity measures, was not paid as such. In 1935, the squadron was transferred to the . Coming in for a landing, a fuel line on his aircraft broke, spraying him with fuel and damaging his left eye. After he recovered, and his flight status was restored, he was sent to VP-2, which was stationed in the Panama Canal Zone, flying Martin PM patrol aircraft. Following a two-year tour there, he was assigned to the SON Seagull detachment aboard the newly commissioned cruiser , where he was promoted to lieutenant on 30 June 1937. He then repeated the procedure of commissioning the aircraft detachment of a new cruiser on another ship of the same class, the in 1938.
World War II
Pacific Theater
Hayward was posted to the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia in June 1940, where he continued graduate studies at Temple University that he had begun in 1937, and then attended the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Electrical Engineering, where he studied nuclear physics. At the Naval Aircraft Factory, he was involved in an effort to improve aircraft instrumentation, notably the compass and altimeter. He was promoted to lieutenant commander in January 1942.
In June 1942, Hayward assumed command of a new patrol bomber squadron, VB-106, equipped with PB4Y-1 Liberators. He was promoted to commander in August 1942. VB-106 trained in Hawaii, and flew its first combat mission against Wake Island in October 1943. For this mission, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. His citation read:
Hayward was awarded a second Distinguished Flying Cross on the recommendation of Captain Arleigh Burke for leading his squadron in the South Pacific Area. His citation read:
In March 1944, VB-106 was transferred to Nadzab in the Southwest Pacific Area, where it came under the command of the Fifth Air Force. It thus served in three different theaters in the Pacific. Hayward was awarded a third Distinguished Flying Cross: He was also awarded the Legion of Merit with the valor device:
Somewhat depleted in both aircraft and aircrews, VB-106 handed over its three PB4Ys with the least hours on the clock to its relief, VB-115, on 27 May 1944, and returned to the United States.
Manhattan Project Hayward's next posting was to the Naval Ordnance Test Station at Inyokern, California. Initially he was involved with test firing rockets from various aircraft, including the Grumman F6F Hellcat and the twin engine Grumman F7F Tigercat. Once his security clearance was complete, he was assigned to the Manhattan Project. He participated in Project Camel, the development of the non-nuclear components of the Fat Man bomb, and in its drop testing. This involved flying the four engine Boeing B-29 Superfortress. After the war ended, he travelled to Hiroshima and Nagasaki as part of the Manhattan Project team investigating the bomb damage. He was promoted to captain on 10 December 1945. During Operation Crossroads, he led the effort to photograph the nuclear explosion at the Bikini Atoll.
Post war
Nuclear weapons After a series of clashes with his superior at Inyokern, Captain James B. Sykes, Hayward left to become the Director for Plans and Operations for Armed Forces Special Weapons Project, Sandia National Laboratories on 1 August 1947. On 1 January 1948, he was reduced in rank to commander again. The Air Force offered a commission as a brigadier general, and Convair offered a job working on the SM-65 Atlas missile, but Hayward elected to stay in the navy. He participated in the Operation Sandstone nuclear tests in the Pacific in April 1948.
After World War II, the US Navy sought to acquire a nuclear strike capability, and the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air, Rear Admiral Arthur W. Radford wanted them to operate from aircraft carriers. There were practical problems with this. Nuclear weapons at that time were bulky and required a large aircraft to carry them. After Operation Crossroads, Radford asked Hayward if the Navy had such an aircraft, and Hayward suggested modifying the Lockheed P2V Neptune for carrier operations using jet-assisted takeoff (JATO) rocket boosters. It was an interim solution, as it a could not carry a Fat Man, but only the smaller Little Boy bomb; it could only be operated by the large Midway class aircraft carriers, which still had to be modified for the task; and initially had no tailhook, so it was unable to land on a carrier, and a mission would have to end with it either landing at a land base or ditching at sea.
On 28 April 1948, two P2Vs were launched from a carrier, the , for the first time. The intention was that each of the three Midway-class carriers would have a nuclear attack squadron. The first of these, Composite (Heavy Attack) Squadron 5 (VC-5) was formed at Moffett Field, California, on 9 September 1948, with Commander Frederick L. "Dick" Ashworth, who had been weaponeer on the Nagasaki raid, as its acting commander. However, Rear Admiral Deak Parsons felt that Ashworth did not have sufficient flight time for the role, so it was decided that Hayward would command VC-5. He assumed command on 3 January 1949, with Ashworth as his executive officer. Hayward intended that Ashworth would take command of the next squadron, VC-6, when it was formed.
Hayward was promoted to captain again on 19 February 1949. On 7 March, he took off Coral Sea in the Atlantic in a P2V carrying a dummy Little Boy pumpkin bomb, and flew across the United States to make a simulated attack on the Salton Sea test site near El Centro, California. He then flew to Patuxent River, where he landed after a total of 23 hours flying. Hayward had tailhooks fitted to a pair of P2Vs, and made practice landings on a carrier deck painted on the ground at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, He made some touch and go passes at the , but a carrier landing was considered too dangerous for regular crews to attempt.
The P2Vs would be first augmented, and then replaced, by the more capable North American AJ Savage as they became available. These could take off and land on a carrier, carrying a Fat Man. On 21 August 1950, Hayward was at the controls of the first carrier landing and takeoff of an AJ-1 Savage heavy attack bomber, on the Coral Sea with the commander of Naval Air Forces Atlantic Fleet (COMAIRLANT), Vice Admiral Felix Stump, in the back seat. However, by mid-December VC-5 still only had six AJ-1s.