Allegiance United States Name Donald Davis Commands held U.S. Pacific Fleet | Rank Admiral | |
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Born January 24, 1921
New Boston, Missouri ( 1921-01-24 ) Died July 30, 1998(1998-07-30) (aged 77)
La Jolla, California | ||
Service/branch United States Navy | ||
Donald Cooke Davis (January 24, 1921 – July 30, 1998) was a Naval Aviator and later an admiral in the United States Navy. He was Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet from 1978 to 1981.
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Career Highlights
Davis was the first Naval Aviator to fly a F-111. He also received the Legion of Merit in the development of the aircraft.
Davis was a recipient of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal for service as the Director, Navy Program Planning, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations from May 1975 to February 1978.
In 1969-70, Rear Admiral Davis was Commander, Task Force 130, the Pacific Recovery Forces for the Manned Spacecraft Missions Apollo 11 and Apollo 13.
Davis was Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet from 1978 to 1981, retiring on 1 August 1981.
Role in Apollo 11 success
In November 2016, a report re-emerged that credited Davis with being a significant part of the success of Apollo 11. (The story had first emerged in 2004.) Just days before the mission was to launch, Captain Willard S. "Sam" Houston Jr took command of the Pacific Fleet Weather Centre, Hawaii. He took immediate interest in the mission's splashdown position, and took the initiative to seek out data from the top secret Corona satellite station. Houston was warned by the Corona station commander, Major Hank Branli, that the intended splashdown area would be subject to a gathering storm. Without revealing the Corona source, Houston took this information to the commander of the recovery fleet, Rear Admiral Donald C. Davis, and convinced him of the need to change the recovery site. Davis ordered the fleet to change position, and together they then convinced NASA of the need to change the landing area. The US Navy flew an aircraft over the original site during the landing, and found a major storm which would have been disastrous for Apollo 11.
After the Navy
He died of a heart attack in 1998.