Thomas G . W . Settle Thomas Greenhow Williams " Tex " Settle ( born November 4 , 1895 in Washington , D . C . – died April 28 , 1980 , Bethesda , Maryland ) 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 airship s and , 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 . In 1944 – 1945 he commanded the heavy cruiser , 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 . Early career . Settle graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1918 , second in his class , and began his naval career as an ensign on the destroyer s , and . The nickname " Tex " dates back to his Academy years . After these assignment he attended the Cruft High Tension Laboratory of Harvard University , graduating as a communications engineer in the summer of 1924 . Settle married Fay Brackett , an employee of Cruft Laboratory , in June 1924 , and in July assumed his next Navy assignment , that of communications officer on , a rigid , 207 - meter airship based at Lakehurst Naval Air Station . When the newly built arrived at Lakehurst later in October 1924 , Settle was appointed its communications officer as well ; dual appointments were possible because helium supplies allowed flying only one airship at a time . Airship pilot . On the day when " Shenandoah " crashed , Settle was training alone in a captive kite balloon . After the crash he volunteered for airship pilot training and received his Naval Aviator ' s ( Airship ) wings No . 3350 on January 19 , 1927 . Settle also wanted to train as an airplane pilot , but Admiral Moffett declined his requests . Soon he flew a small balloon for 21 hours over — a flight that could make a world distance record had it been equipped with a barograph . On August 25 , 1927 , when captain Charles E . Rosendahl was on the ground , Settle happened be the senior officer on board " Los Angeles " when the airship , tied to a mooring mast , literally " stood on its nose " . At 13 : 29 a sudden cold weather front hit " Los Angeles " ; the resulting increase in the buoyancy of the airship , warmed by sunlight , pushed it upward . The tail freely went up while the nose remained tied to the tower . Settle requested Rosendahl ' s permission to disengage from the tower , but the captain " saw no need for it " . Winds threw the tail further upward ; Settle sent the men into the tail , but " Los Angeles " kept rising until reaching a nearly vertical ( 88 degrees ) nose - down position . The airship slowly rotated back ; Settle called his men back and released aft balance , saving " Los Angeles " from a tail - first impact . " Los Angeles " survived the accident and served until 1932 , performing 331 flights without major accidents or fatalities . Test pilot . Later Settle piloted different types of airships stationed at Lakehurst . In January 1928 Settle nearly drowned at sea when his J - 3 non - rigid airship carrying trainee pilots lost power and was swept into the Atlantic ; the crew managed to restart the engines and reach Lakehurst . As a flight instructor , Settle — although an aviator himself — was known for merciless airborne training drills and advocated abolition of flight pay incentives , convinced that they attracted " deadwood " into naval aviation . In October 1928 Settle crossed the Atlantic on board " Graf Zeppelin " together with two other Navy observers . Inspired by the reliability of German airships , he publicly denounced United States dependence on German Maybach engines . Settle spent the first half of 1929 in the Akron , Ohio hangars of Goodyear - Zeppelin , supervising construction of the future and , threatened by saboteurs . In 1930 he tested captive sailplane s carried by " Los Angeles " , where he remained the second in command . In 1931 Settle became the first pilot of " K - 1 " , the first U . S . Navy non - rigid airship with an internally suspended control car , and the first using propane as engine fuel . " K - 1 " remained the sole specimen of its type ; the Navy considered it too large for its tasks . Balloon races . Settle entered his first balloon race together with George N . Stevens on May 30 , 1927 . They had to ground their balloon due to heavy rain after only in flight , losing the race . This incident motivated Settle to seek all possible cooperation from Navy meteorologists in the future . Settle became the definitive Navy competitor in national and , when qualified , international gas balloon races : " Century of Progress " . In 1932 the board of the Century of Progress trade show , to be held in Chicago in summer 1933 , invited renowned Swiss balloonist Auguste Piccard to perform a high - altitude flight at the fairgrounds . Auguste declined , recommending his twin brother Jean instead . Jean took the lead , but did not have a U . S . flight license , so the Piccards invited Settle to fly the balloon . Named for the show , " Century of Progress " was built in America with a gondola donated by Dow Chemical , a gas bag from Goodyear - Zeppelin , hydrogen donated by Union Carbide , and scientific instruments supplied by Arthur Compton and Robert Millikan . The first flight from Soldier Field , with Settle alone on board , attracted thousands of spectators and ended in a flop . Moments after liftoff , an open gas release valve forced " Century " to fall in a nearby railroad yard . For the next flight the Marine Corps recommended their representative , Major Chester L . Fordney , to join Settle as instrument operator ( the experiments were vital to justify financing of the flight ) . Fordney himself " was crazy for tying up with an adventurer like Settle " . On November 20 they lifted off from the Goodyear - Zeppelin facilities in Akron , Ohio , watched by only a few hundred spectators . Nevertheless , the flight received national publicity as radio transmissions from the stratosphere were broadcast on radio networks . " Century " floated at peak altitude for two hours , and landed softly in Bridgeton , New Jersey marshes in the confluence of Delaware and Cohansey rivers , incidentally , a few miles from Jean Piccard ' s home . It was already dark , so Settle and Fordney spent the night in the chilling cold of the gondola . They dumped radio batteries during descent , so in the morning Fordney waded five miles through the swamp in search for help . The balloon ' s barograph , examined by the National Bureau of Standards , confirmed the world altitude record of 18 , 665 meters ( 61 , 237 feet ) . The flight earned Settle the Harmon Trophy and the FAI Henri de la Vaulx medal . Earlier in 1933 the " USSR - 1 " had flown to 62 , 230 feet , but it was not recognized by the FAI , so Settle and Fordney became the official record holder until the flight of " Explorer II " in 1935 . The Piccards retained " Century of Progress " ; while piloting the airship in October 1934 , Jeannette Piccard became the first woman to reach the stratosphere . USS " Palos " . Shortly before the record ascent , Settle applied for a transfer to sea duty . In the second half of 1934 Settle arrived in China , tasked with sailing up the Yangtze River from Wusong to Chongqing . " Palos " , a gunboat stationed around Shanghai since 1914 , had recently been refitted and over time became twice as heavy against her original displacement ( 340 vs . 180 tons ) , making her hardly capable of the upstream journey . In 1929 alone , of 67 Yangtze steamers three were totally destroyed by the rapids with 47 casualties ; a thousand junk sailors perished every year . The boat left Wusong on October 1 , passing Hankou ( the last " western " city on the route ) on October 11 . At Yichang Settle disembarked , leaving the boat and its crew to prepare for forcing the rapids , and himself took a reconnaissance trip to Chongqing on a British steamer . He returned just as the water level fell below optimum , and immediately ordered departure . Balancing engine thrust , steering , and pulling the boat by cables , and struggling to avoid downstream - bound junks , Settle managed to get " Palos " through the rocky rapids . On November 12 , 1934 , " Palos " reached Chongqing where it was eventually decommissioned in 1937 ; the hulk was still afloat in 1939 . After the " Palos " journey Settle remained on the Yangtze , now in command of another old gunboat , . In 1939 – 1941 Settle attended the Naval War College . USS " Portland " . On March 2 , 1944 , Settle arrived by airplane at his new command , , 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 Seabee s , 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 battleship s and a heavy cruiser approached through the strait from the south . Shortly before 04 : 00 " Portland " 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 admiral Theodore E . Chandler was killed in a kamikaze attack against , Settle assumed command of Chandler ' s cruiser division . 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 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 . Post - war career . In 1946 Settle returned to China , on the Yangtze River where he replaced Vice Admiral Bertram Rodgers as the commander of the Seventh Amphibious Force . Later , Settle moved to Turkey assisting in the implementation of U . S . aid to Greece and Turkey under the Truman Doctrine . He had a long - held ambition to become the ambassador to the Soviet Union that never materialized . After his return to the United States Settle served with the 8th Naval District in New Orleans , Louisiana , with the Pacific Fleet in San Diego , California , and in Norway . In 1950 Rear Admiral Settle was appointed commander of Joint Task Force 131 , responsible for carrying out underground nuclear tests on the Aleutian island Amchitka , codenamed Operation Windstorm . Three 20 - kiloton blasts were scheduled for August 30 , September 22 and October 2 , 1951 . In March 1951 news of an upcoming test leaked to the press ; Settle proposed a rescheduling of the operation that , in his opinion , would be safer and simpler if performed at established test sites in Nevada and California . As the military and politicians discussed probable alternatives , Settle spoke out in favor of discarding the Aleutian program and disbanding Task Force 131 . The project was eventually closed in summer of 1951 .