Dixie Kiefer Dixie Kiefer ( 1896 – 1945 ) was a United States Navy officer who served during World War II as Executive Officer of USS " Yorktown " and commanding officer of USS " Ticonderoga " . He was one of the World War II Navy ' s best known figures . Early life . He was born at Blackfoot , Idaho , on 5 April 1896 , the son of Mr . and Mrs . H . G . Kiefer . He entered the United States Naval Academy in 1916 and was commissioned in June 1918 . His first assignment was USS " Corona " , a small anti - submarine patrol vessel operating in European waters during the last part of World War I . Naval aviator . In the 1920s , Kiefer became a pilot in the fledgling aviation branch of the Navy . On 26 November 1924 , he made the first ever night take - off from a warship . His plane , a Vought UO - 1 , was launched by catapult from USS " California " in the harbor of San Diego . The only illumination was " California " ' s searchlights , directed 1 , 000 yards in the distance . World War II . By World War II , Kiefer had risen to the rank of Commander . He served as Executive Officer ( second in command ) of the aircraft carrier USS " Yorktown " in the Battle of Coral Sea and Battle of Midway . He received the Distinguished Service Medal for Coral Sea and the Navy Cross for Midway . When " Yorktown " was sunk at Midway , Kiefer shattered his right leg and ankle while leaping from the ship . After recovering from his injuries , Kiefer was promoted to Captain and given command of the new carrier USS " Ticonderoga " , which was commissioned at the Norfolk Navy Yard on 8 May 1944 . He was popular with his sailors and was credited with training the carrier ' s air group and crew into an efficient wartime team . On 21 January 1945 , " Ticonderoga " was hit by two Japanese " kamikaze " bombers . 144 men were killed and 200 injured . The first kamikaze hit started large fires among gasoline and planes in the hangar deck . Kiefer had port - side compartment deliberately flooded to put a 10 - degree list on the ship . This caused the flaming debris to slide overboard - a procedure not used before . Then he maneuvered the ship to upwind of the burning wreckage . A second kamikaze hit " Ticonderoga " later that day . The explosion from that hit injured Kiefer , with 65 wounds from bomb shrapnel and a broken arm . Nonetheless he remained in command on the bridge for eleven hours . While recovering from his injuries , Kiefer was made an honorary Commodore in a ceremony at Rockefeller Center . He also served as commander of the Naval Air Station at Quonset , Rhode Island . He had not yet recovered when he died on 11 November 1945 - his arm was still in a cast . He was killed in the crash of his Navy transport plane on Beacon Mountain , New York , while returning to Quonset from Caldwell , New Jersey . Kiefer was said to be the most battered officer in the Navy . He broke his left ankle and split his kneecap playing football as a youth . His left elbow was smashed when a fellow pilot " buzzed " him in a seaplane and hit his arm with a wingtip float . The crew of " Ticonderoga " said of him , " He ' s got so much metal in him the ship ' s compass follows him when he walks across the deck . "