Dan Able Kimball was the 50th U.S. Secretary of the Navy.

Biography

Kimball was born in St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

, on March 1, 1896. He was an Army Air Service pilot

Aviator

An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...

 during the First World War

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 and maintained an intense interest in aviation

Aviation

Aviation is the design, development, production, operation, and use of aircraft, especially heavier-than-air aircraft. Aviation is derived from avis, the Latin word for bird.-History:...

 thereafter. Beginning in 1920, he was employed by the General Tire and Rubber Company

General Tire

The General Tire and Rubber Company is an American manufacturer of tires for motor vehicles.General Tire was founded in 1915 in Akron, Ohio by William F. O'Neil. Products included the low-pressure "General Balloon Jumbo" and the "Dual 90" tire...

, rising to Vice President of that firm in 1942. He subsequently was an executive of the rocket engine producer Aerojet Engineering Company, a division of General Tire. He was appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air in February 1949 and became Under Secretary of the Navy

Under Secretary of the Navy

The Under Secretary of the Navy is the second-highest ranking civilian official in the United States Department of the Navy. The Under Secretary, called the "Under" in Pentagon slang, reports to the Secretary of the Navy ....

 the following May.

Kimball assumed the post of Secretary of the Navy in July 1951 and held that position until the end of the Truman Administration in January 1953. His tenure was marked by the continuation of the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

, the resulting expansion of the Nation's defense establishment and considerable technological progress in aviation, naval engineering and other defense-related fields. Returning to business after leaving office, he was President and later Chairman of the Board of the Aerojet

Aerojet

Aerojet is an American rocket and missile propulsion manufacturer based primarily in Rancho Cordova, California with divisions in Redmond, Washington, Orange, Gainesville and Camden, Arkansas. Aerojet is owned by GenCorp. They are the only US propulsion company that provides both solid rocket...

General Corporation until 1969. He died on 30 July 1970.