Thomas Walker ( naval officer ) Vice Admiral Thomas J . Walker ( 6 August 1919 – 6 May 2003 ) was an officer of the United States Navy , who served as first commanding officer of the aircraft carrier . Early life and education . Thomas Jackson Walker III was born in Edgartown , Massachusetts ( on the island of Martha ' s Vineyard ) , on 6 August 1919 , into a family with long maritime connections — three of his great - grandfathers had been whaling ship captains . After attending schools in Massachusetts and Florida , he attended the Marion Military Institute in Alabama . He then entered the United States Naval Academy , Annapolis , Maryland , with the class of 1939 , and while there was stroke of the Academy crew and vice - president of his class for four years . World War II . Following his commission as an ensign in June 1939 , he joined the cruiser . In August 1941 , he was detached for flight training at the Naval Air Station Pensacola , Florida . Designated Naval Aviator in March 1942 , he joined the battleship as Senior Aviator . In this position , Walker spotted shore bombardment during the North African invasion at Safi , French Morocco and Casablanca and later participated in anti - submarine flights over convoys . He was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal " for his performance of duty on November 8 , 1942 , during the bombardment of Safi , French Morocco . Despite heavy enemy anti - aircraft fire he kept his ship supplied with accurate and timely reports without which the effect of the bombardment may not have been so effectively executed . . . " Returning to the United States in 1943 , he attended the Post Graduate School at Annapolis , where he completed the course in Aviation Ordnance in December 1944 . He next reported to the Fire Control Desk in the Bureau of Aeronautics and remained there until July 1945 . He was then assigned as Prospective Bomb Commander for the fourth atomic bomb at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory . That bomb was never dropped due to the cessation of hostilities in August 1945 . Post - war career . Immediately after World War II , Walker served as Commanding Officer of Fighter Squadrons 17 , 5 - B and 61 , during which time he was embarked with his respective squadrons aboard the newly commissioned carriers and . After service as Commanding Officer of the Naval Air Special Weapons Facility at the Sandia base , Albuquerque , New Mexico . In July 1951 , he assumed command of Air Development Squadron 5 . A group engaged in developing tactics for the delivery of special weapons from light aircraft at the Naval Ordnance Test Station at China Lake , California . In 1955 he became a student at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington , D . C . Walker then began his association with the Polaris missile program as head of the Test Branch of the Fleet Ballistic Missile Program . He was temporarily assigned as Assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations , working on a classified project until June 1957 . He then spent a year as Commanding Officer of the Fleet All - Weather Training Unit where he was concerned with training of carrier pilots for all weather flying and in the air defense of southern California . In July 1958 Walker was back in Washington working with the Polaris as head of Ship Operations and Test Branch and Systems Development Analysis Chief . For his work with Polaris Captain Walker received the Navy Commendation Medal with Citation , which reads in part , " Captain Walker carried out his responsibilities with outstanding leadership and resourcefulness . Through his untiring efforts and high level of technical skill , he made a major contribution to the success of the Fleet Ballistic Missile System . . . " In April 1960 Walker assumed his first ship command , the ammunition ship . Six months later he was ordered detached from " Nitro " as Prospective Commanding Officer of , which was under construction at the New York Naval Shipyard , Brooklyn , New York . Walker assumed command of " Constellation " on 27 October 1961 . On 9 November 1963 , Walker was promoted to Rear Admiral ( lower half ) and was relieved of command of " Constellation " by Captain Stanley W . " Swede " Vejesta . Walker retired from the Navy as a Vice Admiral , after serving as Commander of Naval Air of the Pacific Fleet ( COMNAVAIRPAC ) . Admiral Walker died on 6 May 2003 at the age of 86 from pneumonia .