Thomas C. Kinkaid
In November 1943, Carpender was replaced by Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid, who ordered the final deactivation of the Mark 6 in all combat commands. Christie abided by the order, commencing on 20 January 1944, but was still convinced the Mark 6 had potential. He had Commanders Chester Nimitz, Jr. and James McCallum continue technical studies of the Mark 6 and to develop improvements, but these revised exploders were just as unreliable as the earlier versions.