page_title: Thomas G. W. Settle
section_title: USS Portland
hierarchical_section_title: Thomas G. W. Settle / USS Portland
caption_attribution_description: English: Rear Admiral T.G.W. Settle, USN (left), looks on while Vice Admiral Shigeji Kaneko, IJN, signs document of surrender turning over 12 Japanese ships to U.S. control: 6 DD and AM and 6 merchantmen. Ceremony took place on the forecastle of USS HERNDON (DD-638) at Tsingtao, China, 16 September 1945.
context_page_description: Thomas Greenhow Williams "Tex" Settle was an officer of the United States Navy who on November 20, 1933, together with Army major Chester L. Fordney, set a world altitude record in the Century of Progress stratospheric balloon. An experienced balloonist, long-time flight instructor, and officer on the airships USS Shenandoah and USS Los Angeles, Settle won the Litchfield Trophy in 1929 and 1931, the International Gordon Bennett Race in 1932, the Harmon Aeronaut Trophy for 1933, and the Harmon National Trophy for 1932 and 1933. He also set numerous distance and endurance records.
  In 1934 Settle transferred to sailing duties, initially as captain of the China-based USS Palos. In 1944–1945 he commanded the heavy cruiser USS Portland, earning the Navy Cross for his action in the Battle of Surigao Strait. After World War II Vice Admiral Settle held Navy appointments in the continental United States and overseas, and was charged with tasks ranging from distributing international aid to Greece and Turkey to conducting nuclear tests in the Aleutian islands.
context_section_description: On March 2, 1944, Settle arrived by airplane at his new command, USS Portland (CA-33), then stationed at Eniwetok. Prior to this appointment, Settle had been in charge of all of U.S. Navy blimps. According to Portland's historian W. T. Generous, the crew—aware of Settle's pre-war fame—recognized him as an "All-Navy" carrier of old school naval tradition and etiquette.  Settle "walked with an air of superb self-confidence", making a "terrific impression on the crew", and maintained his reputation until leaving Portland. He notably reduced internal paperwork and external communications, producing very brief dispatches.
  After supporting landings in Hollandia, Portland returned to California for dry dock repairs and sailed back to the war zone, via Pearl Harbor, in August, carrying Seabees, infantrymen and reporters (including Joe Rosenthal and John Brennan). In September Portland arrived at Peleliu, supporting landing at Peleliu with gunfire.
  On the night of October 24, 1944, Portland took its place in Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf's order of battle at the northern exit of Surigao Strait, as an inferior Japanese detachment of two battleships and a heavy cruiser approached through the strait from the south. Shortly before 04:00 Portland's gunners opened fire on the approaching Mogami; by 05:40 the battle was over and Oldendorf recalled the pursuing cruisers. Portland became the only heavy cruiser to engage enemy battleships at night twice. In December 1944, Portland provided gunfire support to ground troops in the battle of Mindoro and then sailed to Palau, where Admiral Oldendorf presented Settle with a Navy Cross for his action at Surigao Strait.
  On the opening day of the invasion of Lingayen Gulf, January 9, 1945, when Rear Admiral Theodore E. Chandler was killed on January 7, 1945 from extensive lung burns from the kamikaze attack on January 6, 1945 commanding aboard USS Louisville (CA-28), Settle assumed command of Chandler's Cruiser Division Two. Settle's radical shiphandling skills saved Portland from direct kamikaze hits; ship's officers attributed their captain's luck to his former aviator experience. Settle used to break formation under threat from the air, and at least once his maneuvering earned him a reprimand from a commanding admiral; in another episode, it nearly led to the destruction of a landing craft full of troops.
  In February 1945 Portland together with USS Minneapolis (CA-36) and HMAS Shropshire supported ground and airborne forces in the recapture of Corregidor and in March sailed to assist capture of Okinawa. On March 21, his first day of the Okinawa campaign, Settle managed to evade eleven torpedo attacks from a submarine but failed in ramming the sub. He left command of Portland in July, one month before the end of the war, when the cruiser was still at Okinawa.
caption: Surrender ceremony of Japanese Vice Admiral Shigeji Kaneko, while Rear admiral Settle on the left looks on.
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