William Sterling Parsons
Encyclopedia
Rear Admiral
William Sterling "Deak" Parsons (26 November 1901 – 5 December 1953) was a naval officer who worked as an ordnance expert on the Manhattan Project
during World War II
. He is best known for being the weaponeer on the Enola Gay
, the aircraft which dropped the Little Boy
atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945.
A 1922 graduate of the United States Naval Academy
, Parsons served on a variety of warships beginning with the battleship . He was trained in ordnance and studied ballistics
under L.T.E. Thompson
at the Naval Proving Ground
in Dahlgren, Virginia
. In July 1933, Parsons became liaison officer between the Bureau of Ordnance
and the Naval Research Laboratory
. He became interested in radar
and was one of the first to recognize its potential to locate ships and aircraft, and perhaps even track shells in flight. In September 1940, Parsons and Merle Tuve
of the National Defense Research Committee
began work on the development of the proximity fuze
, a radar-trigged fuze that would explode a shell in the proximity of the target. The fuze, eventually known as the VT (variable time) fuze, Mark 32, went into production in 1942. Parsons was on hand to watch the shoot down the first enemy aircraft with a VT fuze in the Solomon Islands
in January 1943.
In June 1943, Parsons joined the Manhattan Project
as Associate Director at the research laboratory
at Los Alamos, New Mexico
under J. Robert Oppenheimer. Parsons became responsible for the ordnance aspects of the project, including the design and testing of the non-nuclear components of nuclear weapon
s. In a reorganization in 1944, he lost responsibility for the implosion-type fission weapon, but retained that for the design and development of the gun-type fission weapon
, which eventually became Little Boy. He was also responsible for the delivery program, codenamed Project Alberta
. In August 1945 he participated in the bombing of Hiroshima as weaponeer on the B-29 Enola Gay. Parsons climbed into the bomb bay to load the powder charge, so as to avoid the possibility of a nuclear explosion if the aircraft crashed and burned on takeoff. He was awarded the Silver Star
for his part in the mission.
After the war, Parsons was promoted to the rank of rear admiral without ever having commanded a ship. He participated in Operation Crossroads
, the nuclear weapon tests at Bikini Atoll
in 1946, and later the Operation Sandstone
tests at Enewetak Atoll in 1948. In 1947, he became deputy commander of the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project
. He died of a heart attack on 5 December 1953.
, where William learned to speak fluent Spanish. He attended the local schools in Fort Sumner and was home schooled by his mother for a time. He commenced at Santa Rosa High School, where his mother taught English and Spanish, rapidly advancing through three years in just one. In 1917 he attended Fort Sumner High School, from which he graduated in 1918.
In 1917 Parsons travelled to Roswell, New Mexico
to sit the United States Naval Academy
exam for one of the appointments by Senator Andrieus A. Jones
. Although only an alternative, Parsons passed the exam while more favored candidates did not, and received the appointment. As he was only aged 16, two years younger than most candidates, he was shorter and lighter than the physical standards called for, but managed to convince the examining board to admit him anyway. He entered the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland
in 1918, and eventually graduated 48th out of 539 in the class of 1922, in which Hyman G. Rickover
graduated 107th. At the time, it was customary for midshipmen to acquire nicknames, and Parsons was called "Deacon", a play on his last name. This became shortened to "Deak".
and posted to the battleship
, where he was placed in charge of one of the 14-inch gun turrets. In May 1927, Parsons, now a lieutenant (junior grade), returned to Annapolis, where he commenced a course in ordnance at the Naval Postgraduate School
. He became friends with Lieutenant Jack Crenshaw, a fellow officer attending the same training course. Jack asked Parsons to be his best man at his wedding to Betty Cluverius, the daughter of the Commandant of the Norfolk Navy Yard, Rear Admiral
Wat Tyler Cluverius, Jr.
, at the Norfolk Navy Chapel. As best man, Parsons was paired with Betty's maid of honor, her sister Martha. Parsons and Martha got along well, and in November 1929, they too were married at the Norfolk Navy Chapel. This time, Jack and Betty were best man and maid of honor.
The ordnance course was normally followed by a relevant field posting, so Parsons was sent to the Naval Proving Ground
in Dahlgren, Virginia
to further study ballistics
under L.T.E. Thompson
. Following the usual pattern of alternating duty afloat and ashore, Parsons was posted to the battleship in June 1930, with the rank of lieutenant
. In November, the Commander in Chief United States Fleet
, Admiral
Jehu V. Chase
, hoisted his flag on the Texas, bringing Cluverius with him as his chief of staff. This was awkward for Parsons, but Cluverius understood, being himself the son-in-law of an admiral, in his case, Admiral William T. Sampson
.
In July 1933, Parsons became liaison officer between the Bureau of Ordnance
and the Naval Research Laboratory
(NRL) in Washington, DC. At the NRL he was briefed by the head of its Radio Division, A. Hoyt Taylor, who told him about experiments that had been carried out into what the Navy would later name radar
. Parsons immediately recognized the potential of the new invention to locate ships and aircraft, and perhaps even track shells in flight. For this, he realized that he was going to need high frequency microwave
s. He discovered that no one had attempted this. The scientists had not considered all the applications of the technology, and the Navy bureaux had not grasped their potential. He was able to persuade the scientists to establish a group to investigate microwave radar, but without official sanction it had low priority. Parsons submitted a memorandum on the subject to the Bureau of Ordnance (BuOrd) requesting $5,000 per annum for research. To his dismay, the BuOrd and Bureau of Engineering, which was responsible for the NRL, turned his proposal down.
Some thought that Parsons was ruining his career with his advocacy of radar, but he acquired one powerful backer. The Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics
(BuAer), Rear Admiral Ernest J. King supported the use of radar as a means of determining aircraft altitude. When the Bureau of Engineering protested that such a device would necessarily be too large to carry on an aeroplane, King told them that it would still be worthwhile if the only aircraft in the Navy big enough to carry it would be the airship .
Parson's marriage produced three daughters. The first, Hannah, was born in 1932; the second, Margaret (Peggy), followed in 1934. Hannah died of polio in April 1935. Parsons returned to sea in June 1936 as the executive officer of the destroyer
. He was promoted to lieutenant commander
in May 1937. His third daughter, Clara (Clare), was born the same year. On that occasion, Parsons left Martha with the newborn and three-year old Peggy to care for and reported for duty the next day, believing that his first responsibility was to his ship. His skipper, Commander
Earl E. Stone
, did not agree, and sent him home. In March 1938, Rear Admiral William R. Sexton had Parsons assigned to his flagship, the , as gunnery officer. Parson's task was to improve the gunnery scores of his command, and in this he succeeded.
Parsons was posted back to Dahlgren in September 1939 as experimental officer. The atmosphere had changed considerably. In June 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt
approved the creation of the National Defense Research Committee
(NDRC), under the direction of Vannevar Bush
. Richard C. Tolman
, dean of the graduate school at Caltech was given responsibility for the NDRC's Armor and Ordnance Division. Tolman met with Parsons and Thompson in July 1940, and discussed their needs. Within the Navy, too, there was a change of attitude, with Captain William H. P. (Spike) Blandy as the head of BuOrd's Research Desk. Blandy welcomed the assistance of NDRC scientists in improving and developing weapons.
In September 1940, Parsons and Merle Tuve
of NDRC began work on a new concept. Shooting down an aircraft with an anti-aircraft gun was a difficult proposition. As a shell had to hit a speeding aircraft at an uncertain altitude, the only hope seemed to be to fill the sky with a multitude of ammunition. However a direct hit was not actually required; an aircraft might be destroyed or critically damaged by a shell detonating nearby. With this in mind, anti-aircraft gunners used time fuzes to increase the possibility of damage. The question then arose as to whether radar could be used to create an explosion in the proximity of an aircraft. Tuve's first suggestion was to have an aircraft drop a radar-controlled bomb on a bomber formation. Parsons saw that while this was technically feasible, it was tactically problematic. The ideal would be a proximity fuze
inside an artillery shell, but there were numerous technical difficulties with this. The radar set had to be made small enough to fit inside a shell, and its glass vacuum tube
s had to first withstand 20,000 g force of being fired from a gun, and then 500 rotations per second in flight.
On 29 January 1942, Parsons reported to Blandy that a batch of fifty proximity fuzes from the pilot production plant had been test fired, and 26 of them had exploded correctly. Blandy therefore ordered that full-scale production begin. In April 1942, Bush, now the Director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development
(OSRD), placed the project directly under OSRD, with Parsons in charge. The research effort remained under Tuve but moved to the Johns Hopkins University
's Applied Physics Laboratory
(APL), where Parsons was BuOrd's representative. In August 1942, a live firing test was conducted with the newly commissioned cruiser . Three pilotless drones were shot down in succession.
Parsons had the new proximity fuzes, now known as VT (variable time) fuze, Mark 32, flown to the Mare Island Navy Yard, where they were mated with 5"/38 caliber gun rounds. Some 5,000 of them were then shipped to the South Pacific. Parsons flew there himself, where he met with Admiral William F. Halsey at his headquarters in Noumea
. He arranged for Parsons to take VT fuzes out with him on the . On 6 January 1943, Helena was part of a cruiser force that bombarded Munda in the Solomon Islands
. On the return trip, the cruisers were attacked by four Aichi D3A
(Val) dive bombers. Helena fired at one with a VT fuze. It exploded close to the aircraft, which crashed into the sea.
To preserve the secret of the weapon, its use was initially permitted only over water, where a dud round could not fall into enemy hands. However in late 1943, the Army obtained permission for it to be used over land. The proved particularly effective against the V-1 flying bomb over England, and later Antwerp in 1944. A version was also developed that could be used with howitzer
s against ground targets. In response to the German Ardennes Offensive in December 1944, its use was finally authorized, and with deadly effect. By the end of 1944, VT fuzes were coming off the production lines at the rate of 40,000 per day.
Parsons returned to Dahlgreen in March 1943. Around this time, a research laboratory
was established at Los Alamos, New Mexico
under the direction of J. Robert Oppenheimer as Project Y, which was part of the Manhattan Project
, the top-secret effort to develop an atomic bomb. The creation of a practical weapon would necessarily require an expert in ordnance, and Oppenheimer tentatively pencilled in Tolman for the role, but getting him released from OSRD was another matter. Until then, Oppenheimer had to do the job himself. In May 1943, the Manhattan Project's director, Brigadier General
Leslie R. Groves, took up the matter with the Military Policy Committee, the high-level committee that oversaw the Manhattan Project. It consisted of Vannevar Bush, as its chairman; Brigadier General Wilhelm D. Styer
who represented the Army; and Rear Admiral William R. Purnell as the Navy's representative.
Groves told them that he was looking for someone with "a sound understanding of both practical and theoretical ordnance-high explosives, guns and fusing-a wide acquaintance and an excellent reputation among military ordnance people and an ability to gain their support; a reasonably broad background in scientific development; and an ability to attract and hold the respect of scientists." He said that a military officer would be his ideal, as the job might involve planning and coordinating the use of the bomb, but added that he knew of no Army officer who fit the bill. Bush then suggested Parsons, a nomination supported by Purnell. The next morning, Parsons received a phone call from Purnell, ordering him to report to Admiral King, who was now the Commander in Chief, US Fleet (Cominch). In a terse ten-minute meeting, King briefed Parsons on the Project, which he said had his full backing. That afternoon, Parsons met with Groves, who quickly sized him up as the right man for the job.
Parsons was relieved of his duties at Dahlgreen and officially assigned to Admiral King's Cominch staff on 1 June 1943, with a promotion to the rank of captain. On 15 June 1943 he arrived at Los Alamos as Associate Director. Parsons would be Oppenheimer's second in command. Parsons and his family moved into one of the houses on "Bathtub Row" that had formerly belonged to the headmaster and staff of the Los Alamos Ranch School
. Bathtub row, so-called because the houses were the only ones at Los Alamos with bathtubs, was the most prestigious address at Los Alamos. Parsons became Oppenheimer's next-door neighbor, and in fact his house was slightly larger, because Parsons had two children and Oppenheimer, at this point, had only one. With two school-age children, Parsons took a keen interest in the construction of the Central School at Los Alamos, and became president of the school board. Instead of the temporary two-storey structure that Groves had envisioned in the interest of economy and not misusing the project's high priorities for labor and materials, Parsons had a well-built, modern, single-storey school constructed. On seeing the result, Groves said: "I'll hold you personally responsible for this, Parsons."
Oppenheimer had already recruited key people for Parson's Ordnance Division. Edwin McMillan
was a physicist who headed the Proving Ground Group. His first task was to establish the ordnance test area. Later he became Parson's deputy for the gun-type fission weapon
. Charles Critchfield
, a mathematical physicist with ordnance experience at the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground
, was in charge of the Target, Projectile and Source Group. Kenneth Bainbridge
arrived in August to take charge of the Instrumentation Group. Parsons recruited Robert Brode from the proximity fuze project to become head of the Fuze Development Group. Joseph Hirschfelder was brought in as an expert on internal ballistics
, and headed the Interior Ballistics Group. From the beginning, Parsons wanted Norman Ramsey as the head of the delivery group. Edward L. Bowles, the scientific adviser to the Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson
, was reluctant to part with Ramsey, but gave way under pressure from Groves, Tolman and Bush. Perhaps the most controversial group head would be Seth Neddermeyer
, the head of the Implosion Experimentation Group; for the time being, Parson accorded a relatively low priority to this work. He also recruited Hazel Greenbacker as his secretary.
Groves, among others, felt that Parsons had a tendency to fill positions with naval officers. There was some aspect of service parochialism, and Parsons believed that involvement in the Manhattan Project would be important for the future of the Navy, but it was also due to the difficulty of getting highly skilled people from any source in wartime. Parsons simply found it easiest to get them through Navy channels. Lieutenant Commander Norris Bradbury
said that he did not wish to join Project Y, but was soon on his way to Los Alamos anyway. Parsons recruited Commander Francis Birch
, who replaced McMillan at Anchor Ranch. Commander Frederick Ashworth
was a naval ordnance officer and aviator who was senior aviator at Dahlgreen when he was brought in to work on the delivery side. To help with the administrative work, Parsons asked for a yeoman to work with Greenbacker, and the Navy sent Ensign Louise Newkirk. While there were over 300 WAC
s stationed at Los Alamos, Newkirk was the only WAVE
. By the end of the war, there were 41 naval officers at Los Alamos.
Over the next few months, Parson's division designed the gun-type plutonium
weapon, codenamed Thin Man. It was assumed that a uranium-235
weapon would be similar in nature. Hirschfelder's group considered various designs, and evaluated different propellants. The ordnance test area, which became known as "Anchor Ranch", was established on a nearby ranch, where Parsons conducted test firings with a 3-inch anti-aircraft gun. Work on implosion lagged by comparison, but this was not initially a major concern, because it was expected that the gun-type would work with both uranium and plutonium. However, Oppenheimer, Groves and Parsons lobbied Purnell and Tolman to get John von Neumann
to have a look at the problem. He suggested the use of shaped charges to initiate implosion.
Oppenheimer considered that there was a "reciprocal lack of confidence" between Parsons and Neddermeyer, and in October 1943 he brought in George Kistiakowsky
, who began a new attack on the implosion design. Kistiakowsky clashed with both Parsons and Neddermeyer, but felt that "my disagreements with Deak Parsons were very minor compared to my disagreements with Neddermeyer." The implosion design acquired a new urgency in April 1944, when studies of reactor-produced plutonium confirmed that it could not be used in a gun-type weapon. An accelerated effort was called for to design and build the implosion-type weapon, codenamed Fat Man
. Two new groups were created at Los Alamos: X (for explosives) Division headed by Kistiakowsky, and G (for gadget) Division under Robert Bacher
. Parsons was placed in charge of O (for ordnance) Division, with responsibility for both the gun-type design and delivery.
The uranium gun-type weapon, known as Little Boy
did prove to be simpler than Thin Man. The gun velocity needed to be only 1000 feet per second (304.8 m/s), a third of Thin Man. A corresponding reduction in the barrel length reduced the bomb's overall length to 6 feet (1.8 m). In turn, this made it much easier to handle, and permitted a conventional bomb shape, resulting in a more predictable flight. The main concerns with Little Boy were its safety and reliability.
The delivery program, codenamed Project Alberta
, got underway under Ramsey's direction in October 1943. Starting in November, the Army Air Forces Materiel Command
at Wright Field
, Ohio, began Silverplate
, the codename for the modification of B-29s to carry the bombs. Parsons arranged for a test program to be carried at Dahlgreen using scale models of Thin Man and Fat Man. Test drops were carried out at Muroc Army Air Field
, California
and the Naval Ordnance Test Station at Inyokern, California
using full-size replicas of Fat Man known as pumpkin bomb
s because they were painted orange. The ungainly and un-aerodynamic shape of Fat Man proved to be the main difficulty, but many other problems were encountered and overcome. Parsons, wrote Oppenheimer, "has been almost alone in this project to appreciate the actual military and engineering problems which we would encounter. He has been almost alone in insisting on facing these problems at a date early enough so that we might arrive at their solution."
In July 1944, Parsons joined Jack Crenshaw, who was investigating the Port Chicago disaster
. The two men surveyed the disaster area, where 1,500 tons of munitions had exploded and 320 men had lost their lives. A year later, Parsons watched the Trinity nuclear test from a circling B-29. Afterwards, Parsons flew to Tinian
, where the B-29s of Colonel Paul W. Tibbets' 509th Composite Group
were preparing to deliver the weapons. En route, he stopped off in San Diego to visit his eighteen-year-old half-brother Bob, a marine who had been badly wounded in the Battle of Iwo Jima
. Parsons also met with Captain Charles B. McVay III
, the skipper of the , in Purnell's office at the Embarcadero in San Francisco and gave McVay his orders:
On Tinian, Parsons was in charge of scientists and technicians from Project Alberta, who were nominally organized as the 1st Technical Service Detachment. Their role was the handling and maintenance of the nuclear weapons. Parsons was joined by Purnell, who represented the Military Liaison Committee, and Brigadier General Thomas F. Farrell, Groves' Deputy for Operations. They became, informally, the "Tinian Joint Chiefs", with decision-making authority over the nuclear mission. Before Farrell left for Tinian, Groves had told him: "Don't let Parsons get killed. We need him!"
Parsons participated in the bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, flying on the Enola Gay
as weaponeer and Senior Military Technical Observer. Parsons decided, contrary to his orders from Groves, to arm the bomb in flight. Since arriving on Tinian, he had witnessed B-29 crashes on takeoff, and was concerned that if the aircraft crashed and burned, the explosives might "cook off" and cause an accidental detonation. The night before the mission, he repeatedly practiced inserting the powder charge and detonator in the bomb in the poor visibility and cramped conditions of the bomb bay. Shortly after takeoff, he clambered into the bomb bay and carefully carried out the procedure that he had rehearsed the night before. It was Parsons and not Tibbetts, the pilot, who was in charge of the mission. He approved the choice of Hiroshima as the target, and gave the final approval for the bomb to be released. For his part in the mission, Parsons was awarded the Silver Star
, and was promoted to the wartime rank of commodore on 10 August 1945. For his work on the Manhattan Project, he was awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal
.
for Special Weapons, which was given to Vice Admiral Blandy. Parsons became Blandy's assistant. In turn, Parsons had two assistants of his own, Ashworth and Horacio Rivero, Jr.
He also brought Greenbacker from Los Alamos to help set up the new office. Parsons was a strong supporter of research into the use of nuclear power for warship propulsion, but disagreed with Rear Admiral Harold G. Bowen, Sr., the head of the Office of Research and Inventions
, who wanted the Navy to initiate its own nuclear project. Parsons felt that the Navy should work with the Manhattan Project, and arranged for naval officers to be assigned to Oak Ridge. The most senior of them was his former classmate Rickover, who became assistant director there. They immersed themselves in the study of nuclear energy, laying the foundations for a nuclear-powered navy
.
On 11 January 1946, Blandy was appointed to command Joint Task Force One (JTF-1), a special force created to conduct a series of nuclear weapon tests at Bikini Atoll
, which he named Operation Crossroads
, to determine the effect of nuclear weapons on warships. Parsons, who was promoted to the rank of rear admiral on 8 January 1946, became Blandy's Deputy Commander for Technical Direction and Commander Task Group 1.1. Parsons worked hard to make a success of the operation, which he described as "the largest laboratory experiment in history". In addition to the 95 target ships, there was a support fleet of more than 150 ships, 156 aircraft, and over 42,000 personnel.
Parsons witnessed the first explosion, Able, from the deck of the task force flagship, . An airburst like the Hiroshima blast, it was unimpressive, and even Parsons thought that it must have been smaller than the Hiroshima bomb. It failed to sink the target ship, the battleship , mainly because it missed it by a considerable distance. This made it difficult to assess the amount of damage caused, which was the objective of the exercise. Blandy then announced that the next test, Baker, would occur in just three weeks. This meant that Parsons had to carry out the evaluation of Able simultaneously with the preparations for Baker. This time he assisted with the final preparations on before heading back to for the test. The underwater Baker explosion was no larger than Able, but the dome and water column made it look far more spectacular. However the real problem was the radioactive fallout, as Colonel Stafford L. Warren
, the Manhattan Project's medical advisor, had predicted. The target ships proved impossible to decontaminate and, lacking targets, the test series had to be called off. For his part in Operation Crossroads, Parsons was awarded the Legion of Merit
.
The Special Weapons Office was abolished in November 1946, and the Manhattan Project followed suit at the end of the year. A civilian agency, the United States Atomic Energy Commission
(AEC), was created by the Atomic Energy Act of 1946
to take over the functions and assets of the Manhattan Project, including development, production and control of nuclear weapons. The law provided for a Military Liaison Committee (MLC) to advise the AEC on military matters, and Parsons became a member. A joint Army-Navy organization, the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project
(AFSWP), was created to handle the military aspects of nuclear weapons. Groves was appointed to command the AFSWP, with Parsons and Air Force Major General Roscoe C. Wilson as his deputies. In this capacity, Parsons pressed for the development of improved nuclear weapons. During the Operation Sandstone
series of nuclear weapon tests at Enewetak Atoll in 1948, Parsons once again served as deputy commander. Parsons hoped that his next posting would be to sea, but he was instead sent to the Weapons Systems Evaluation Group
in 1949. However, in 1951 he finally returned to sea duty, this time as Commander, Cruiser Division 6, despite having never commanded a ship. Parsons and his cruisers conducted a tour of the Mediterranean showing the flag. He then became Deputy Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance in March 1952.
in Princeton, New Jersey
. Parsons was disturbed by the rise of McCarthyism
in the early 1950s, but in 1953 he wrote a letter to Oppenheimer expressing his hope that "the anti-intellectualism of recent months may have passed its peak". However, on 4 December 1953, Parsons heard of President Dwight Eisenhower's "blank wall" directive, blocking Oppenheimer from access to classified material. Parsons became visibly upset, and that night began experiencing severe chest pains. The next morning, he went to Bethesda Naval Hospital, where he died while the doctors were still examining him. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery
alongside his daughter Hannah. He was survived by his father, brother, half-brother and sister, wife Martha and daughters Peggy and Clare.
The Rear Admiral William S. Parsons Award for Scientific and Technical Progress was established by the Navy in his memory. It is awarded "to a Navy or Marine Corps officer, enlisted person, or civilian who has made an outstanding contribution in any field of science that has furthered the development and progress of the Navy or Marine Corps." The Forrest Sherman-class
destroyer
was named in his honor. Her keel was laid down by Ingalls Shipbuilding
of Pascagoula, Mississippi
on 17 June 1957 and was launched by his widow Martha on 17 August 1958. When it was rechristened as a guided missile destroyer (DDG-33) in 1967, Clare, now a naval officer herself, represented her family. Parsons was decommissioned on 19 November 1982, stricken from the Navy list on 1 December 1984, and disposed of as a target on 25 April 1989. The Deak Parsons Center, headquarters of Afloat Training Group, Atlantic, in Norfolk, Virginia, was also named for him. Parsons' portrait is among a series of paintings related to Operation Crossroads. His papers are in the Naval Historical Center
in Washington, DC.
Rear admiral (United States)
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. The uniformed services of the United States are unique in having two grades of rear admirals.- Rear admiral :...
William Sterling "Deak" Parsons (26 November 1901 – 5 December 1953) was a naval officer who worked as an ordnance expert on the Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He is best known for being the weaponeer on the Enola Gay
Enola Gay
Enola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, mother of the pilot, then-Colonel Paul Tibbets. On August 6, 1945, during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb as a weapon of war...
, the aircraft which dropped the Little Boy
Little Boy
"Little Boy" was the codename of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets of the 393rd Bombardment Squadron, Heavy, of the United States Army Air Forces. It was the first atomic bomb to be used as a weapon...
atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945.
A 1922 graduate of the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
, Parsons served on a variety of warships beginning with the battleship . He was trained in ordnance and studied ballistics
Ballistics
Ballistics is the science of mechanics that deals with the flight, behavior, and effects of projectiles, especially bullets, gravity bombs, rockets, or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.A ballistic body is a body which is...
under L.T.E. Thompson
L.T.E. Thompson
Dr. Louis Ten Eyck "Tec" Thompson ; known as Dr. Tommy) was a US physicist interested in thermodynamica and ballistics and as an expert working for the US Navy from 1920 to 1954...
at the Naval Proving Ground
Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division
The United States Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division , named for Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren, is located in Dahlgren, Virginia and is part of the Naval Surface Warfare Center. The NSWCDD was founded as the U.S...
in Dahlgren, Virginia
Dahlgren, Virginia
Dahlgren is a census-designated place in King George County, Virginia, United States. The population was 997 at the 2000 census. The community is located within the Northern Neck George Washington Birthplace American Viticultural Area winemaking appellation established by the United States...
. In July 1933, Parsons became liaison officer between the Bureau of Ordnance
Bureau of Ordnance
The Bureau of Ordnance was the U.S. Navy's organization responsible for the procurement, storage, and deployment of all naval ordnance, between the years 1862 and 1959.-History:...
and the Naval Research Laboratory
United States Naval Research Laboratory
The United States Naval Research Laboratory is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps and conducts a program of scientific research and development. NRL opened in 1923 at the instigation of Thomas Edison...
. He became interested in radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
and was one of the first to recognize its potential to locate ships and aircraft, and perhaps even track shells in flight. In September 1940, Parsons and Merle Tuve
Merle Tuve
Merle Anthony Tuve, PhD was an American scientist and geophysicist who was the founding director of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. He was a pioneer in the use of pulsed radio waves whose discoveries opened the way to the development of radar and nuclear...
of the National Defense Research Committee
National Defense Research Committee
The National Defense Research Committee was an organization created "to coordinate, supervise, and conduct scientific research on the problems underlying the development, production, and use of mechanisms and devices of warfare" in the United States from June 27, 1940 until June 28, 1941...
began work on the development of the proximity fuze
Proximity fuze
A proximity fuze is a fuze that is designed to detonate an explosive device automatically when the distance to target becomes smaller than a predetermined value or when the target passes through a given plane...
, a radar-trigged fuze that would explode a shell in the proximity of the target. The fuze, eventually known as the VT (variable time) fuze, Mark 32, went into production in 1942. Parsons was on hand to watch the shoot down the first enemy aircraft with a VT fuze in the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
in January 1943.
In June 1943, Parsons joined the Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
as Associate Director at the research laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
at Los Alamos, New Mexico
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Los Alamos is a townsite and census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, built upon four mesas of the Pajarito Plateau and the adjoining White Rock Canyon. The population of the CDP was 12,019 at the 2010 Census. The townsite or "the hill" is one part of town while...
under J. Robert Oppenheimer. Parsons became responsible for the ordnance aspects of the project, including the design and testing of the non-nuclear components of nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
s. In a reorganization in 1944, he lost responsibility for the implosion-type fission weapon, but retained that for the design and development of the gun-type fission weapon
Gun-type fission weapon
Gun-type fission weapons are fission-based nuclear weapons whose design assembles their fissile material into a supercritical mass by the use of the "gun" method: shooting one piece of sub-critical material into another...
, which eventually became Little Boy. He was also responsible for the delivery program, codenamed Project Alberta
Project Alberta
Project Alberta was a section of the Manhattan Project which developed the means of delivering the first atomic bombs, used by the United States Army Air Forces against the Empire of Japan during World War II...
. In August 1945 he participated in the bombing of Hiroshima as weaponeer on the B-29 Enola Gay. Parsons climbed into the bomb bay to load the powder charge, so as to avoid the possibility of a nuclear explosion if the aircraft crashed and burned on takeoff. He was awarded the Silver Star
Silver Star
The Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....
for his part in the mission.
After the war, Parsons was promoted to the rank of rear admiral without ever having commanded a ship. He participated in Operation Crossroads
Operation Crossroads
Operation Crossroads was a series of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. It was the first test of a nuclear weapon after the Trinity nuclear test in July 1945...
, the nuclear weapon tests at Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll is an atoll, listed as a World Heritage Site, in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands....
in 1946, and later the Operation Sandstone
Operation Sandstone
Operation Sandstone was a series of nuclear weapon tests in 1948. It was the third series of American tests, following Crossroads and preceding Ranger...
tests at Enewetak Atoll in 1948. In 1947, he became deputy commander of the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project
Armed Forces Special Weapons Project
The Armed Forces Special Weapons Project was a United States military agency responsible for those aspects of nuclear weapons remaining under the military after the the Manhattan Project was succeeded by the Atomic Energy Commission on 1 January 1947...
. He died of a heart attack on 5 December 1953.
Early life
William Sterling Parsons was born in Chicago, Illinois, on 26 November 1901, the oldest of three children of a lawyer, Harry Robert Parsons, and his wife Clara, née Doolittle. In 1909, the family moved to Fort Sumner, New MexicoFort Sumner, New Mexico
Fort Sumner is a village in De Baca County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 1,249 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of De Baca County...
, where William learned to speak fluent Spanish. He attended the local schools in Fort Sumner and was home schooled by his mother for a time. He commenced at Santa Rosa High School, where his mother taught English and Spanish, rapidly advancing through three years in just one. In 1917 he attended Fort Sumner High School, from which he graduated in 1918.
In 1917 Parsons travelled to Roswell, New Mexico
Roswell, New Mexico
Roswell is a city in and the county seat of Chaves County in the southeastern quarter of the state of New Mexico, United States. The population was 48,366 at the 2010 census. It is a center for irrigation farming, dairying, ranching, manufacturing, distribution, and petroleum production. It is also...
to sit the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
exam for one of the appointments by Senator Andrieus A. Jones
Andrieus A. Jones
Andrieus Aristieus Jones was a Democratic Party politician from New Mexico who represented the state in the United States Senate from 1917 until his death.-Biography:...
. Although only an alternative, Parsons passed the exam while more favored candidates did not, and received the appointment. As he was only aged 16, two years younger than most candidates, he was shorter and lighter than the physical standards called for, but managed to convince the examining board to admit him anyway. He entered the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
in 1918, and eventually graduated 48th out of 539 in the class of 1922, in which Hyman G. Rickover
Hyman G. Rickover
Hyman George Rickover was a four-star admiral of the United States Navy who directed the original development of naval nuclear propulsion and controlled its operations for three decades as director of Naval Reactors...
graduated 107th. At the time, it was customary for midshipmen to acquire nicknames, and Parsons was called "Deacon", a play on his last name. This became shortened to "Deak".
Ordnance
On graduating in June 1922, Parsons was commissioned as an ensignEnsign (rank)
Ensign is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag, the rank itself acquired the name....
and posted to the battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
, where he was placed in charge of one of the 14-inch gun turrets. In May 1927, Parsons, now a lieutenant (junior grade), returned to Annapolis, where he commenced a course in ordnance at the Naval Postgraduate School
Naval Postgraduate School
The Naval Postgraduate School is an accredited research university operated by the United States Navy. Located in Monterey, California, it grants master's degrees, Engineer's degrees and doctoral degrees...
. He became friends with Lieutenant Jack Crenshaw, a fellow officer attending the same training course. Jack asked Parsons to be his best man at his wedding to Betty Cluverius, the daughter of the Commandant of the Norfolk Navy Yard, Rear Admiral
Rear admiral (United States)
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. The uniformed services of the United States are unique in having two grades of rear admirals.- Rear admiral :...
Wat Tyler Cluverius, Jr.
Wat Tyler Cluverius, Jr.
Wat Tyler Cluverius, Jr. was an admiral in the United States Navy and president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute...
, at the Norfolk Navy Chapel. As best man, Parsons was paired with Betty's maid of honor, her sister Martha. Parsons and Martha got along well, and in November 1929, they too were married at the Norfolk Navy Chapel. This time, Jack and Betty were best man and maid of honor.
Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division
The United States Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division , named for Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren, is located in Dahlgren, Virginia and is part of the Naval Surface Warfare Center. The NSWCDD was founded as the U.S...
in Dahlgren, Virginia
Dahlgren, Virginia
Dahlgren is a census-designated place in King George County, Virginia, United States. The population was 997 at the 2000 census. The community is located within the Northern Neck George Washington Birthplace American Viticultural Area winemaking appellation established by the United States...
to further study ballistics
Ballistics
Ballistics is the science of mechanics that deals with the flight, behavior, and effects of projectiles, especially bullets, gravity bombs, rockets, or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.A ballistic body is a body which is...
under L.T.E. Thompson
L.T.E. Thompson
Dr. Louis Ten Eyck "Tec" Thompson ; known as Dr. Tommy) was a US physicist interested in thermodynamica and ballistics and as an expert working for the US Navy from 1920 to 1954...
. Following the usual pattern of alternating duty afloat and ashore, Parsons was posted to the battleship in June 1930, with the rank of lieutenant
Lieutenant (naval)
LieutenantThe pronunciation of lieutenant is generally split between or , generally in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Commonwealth countries, and or , generally associated with the United States. See lieutenant. is a commissioned officer rank in many nations' navies...
. In November, the Commander in Chief United States Fleet
United States Fleet
The United States Fleet was an organization in the United States Navy from 1922 until after World War II. The abbreviation CINCUS, pronounced "sink us", was used for Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet. This title was disposed of and officially replaced by COMINCH in December 1941 . This...
, Admiral
Admiral (United States)
In the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard and the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, admiral is a four-star flag officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. Admiral ranks above vice admiral and below Fleet Admiral in the Navy; the Coast Guard and the Public Health...
Jehu V. Chase
Jehu V. Chase
Admiral Jehu Valentine Chase was born in Pattersonville, Louisiana on 10 January 1869, and graduated from the United States Naval Academy 6 June 1890....
, hoisted his flag on the Texas, bringing Cluverius with him as his chief of staff. This was awkward for Parsons, but Cluverius understood, being himself the son-in-law of an admiral, in his case, Admiral William T. Sampson
William T. Sampson
William Thomas Sampson was a United States Navy rear admiral known for his victory in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba during the Spanish-American War.-Biography:...
.
In July 1933, Parsons became liaison officer between the Bureau of Ordnance
Bureau of Ordnance
The Bureau of Ordnance was the U.S. Navy's organization responsible for the procurement, storage, and deployment of all naval ordnance, between the years 1862 and 1959.-History:...
and the Naval Research Laboratory
United States Naval Research Laboratory
The United States Naval Research Laboratory is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps and conducts a program of scientific research and development. NRL opened in 1923 at the instigation of Thomas Edison...
(NRL) in Washington, DC. At the NRL he was briefed by the head of its Radio Division, A. Hoyt Taylor, who told him about experiments that had been carried out into what the Navy would later name radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
. Parsons immediately recognized the potential of the new invention to locate ships and aircraft, and perhaps even track shells in flight. For this, he realized that he was going to need high frequency microwave
Microwave
Microwaves, a subset of radio waves, have wavelengths ranging from as long as one meter to as short as one millimeter, or equivalently, with frequencies between 300 MHz and 300 GHz. This broad definition includes both UHF and EHF , and various sources use different boundaries...
s. He discovered that no one had attempted this. The scientists had not considered all the applications of the technology, and the Navy bureaux had not grasped their potential. He was able to persuade the scientists to establish a group to investigate microwave radar, but without official sanction it had low priority. Parsons submitted a memorandum on the subject to the Bureau of Ordnance (BuOrd) requesting $5,000 per annum for research. To his dismay, the BuOrd and Bureau of Engineering, which was responsible for the NRL, turned his proposal down.
Some thought that Parsons was ruining his career with his advocacy of radar, but he acquired one powerful backer. The Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics
Bureau of Aeronautics
The Bureau of Aeronautics was the U.S. Navy's material-support organization for Naval Aviation from 1921 to 1959. The bureau had "cognizance" for the design, procurement, and support of Naval aircraft and related systems...
(BuAer), Rear Admiral Ernest J. King supported the use of radar as a means of determining aircraft altitude. When the Bureau of Engineering protested that such a device would necessarily be too large to carry on an aeroplane, King told them that it would still be worthwhile if the only aircraft in the Navy big enough to carry it would be the airship .
Parson's marriage produced three daughters. The first, Hannah, was born in 1932; the second, Margaret (Peggy), followed in 1934. Hannah died of polio in April 1935. Parsons returned to sea in June 1936 as the executive officer of the destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
. He was promoted to lieutenant commander
Lieutenant commander (United States)
Lieutenant commander is a mid-ranking officer rank in the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, with the pay grade of O-4 and NATO rank code OF-3...
in May 1937. His third daughter, Clara (Clare), was born the same year. On that occasion, Parsons left Martha with the newborn and three-year old Peggy to care for and reported for duty the next day, believing that his first responsibility was to his ship. His skipper, Commander
Commander (United States)
In the United States, commander is a military rank that is also sometimes used as a military title, depending on the branch of service. It is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the military, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Naval rank:In the United States...
Earl E. Stone
Earl E. Stone
Earl E. Stone was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy.-Career:Stone was a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Class of 1918. Later, Stone would be sailing aboard the USS Ohio when it and two other dreadnoughts became the first to sail through the Panama Canal...
, did not agree, and sent him home. In March 1938, Rear Admiral William R. Sexton had Parsons assigned to his flagship, the , as gunnery officer. Parson's task was to improve the gunnery scores of his command, and in this he succeeded.
Proximity fuze
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
approved the creation of the National Defense Research Committee
National Defense Research Committee
The National Defense Research Committee was an organization created "to coordinate, supervise, and conduct scientific research on the problems underlying the development, production, and use of mechanisms and devices of warfare" in the United States from June 27, 1940 until June 28, 1941...
(NDRC), under the direction of Vannevar Bush
Vannevar Bush
Vannevar Bush was an American engineer and science administrator known for his work on analog computing, his political role in the development of the atomic bomb as a primary organizer of the Manhattan Project, the founding of Raytheon, and the idea of the memex, an adjustable microfilm viewer...
. Richard C. Tolman
Richard C. Tolman
Richard Chace Tolman was an American mathematical physicist and physical chemist who was an authority on statistical mechanics. He also made important contributions to theoretical cosmology in the years soon after Einstein's discovery of general relativity...
, dean of the graduate school at Caltech was given responsibility for the NDRC's Armor and Ordnance Division. Tolman met with Parsons and Thompson in July 1940, and discussed their needs. Within the Navy, too, there was a change of attitude, with Captain William H. P. (Spike) Blandy as the head of BuOrd's Research Desk. Blandy welcomed the assistance of NDRC scientists in improving and developing weapons.
In September 1940, Parsons and Merle Tuve
Merle Tuve
Merle Anthony Tuve, PhD was an American scientist and geophysicist who was the founding director of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. He was a pioneer in the use of pulsed radio waves whose discoveries opened the way to the development of radar and nuclear...
of NDRC began work on a new concept. Shooting down an aircraft with an anti-aircraft gun was a difficult proposition. As a shell had to hit a speeding aircraft at an uncertain altitude, the only hope seemed to be to fill the sky with a multitude of ammunition. However a direct hit was not actually required; an aircraft might be destroyed or critically damaged by a shell detonating nearby. With this in mind, anti-aircraft gunners used time fuzes to increase the possibility of damage. The question then arose as to whether radar could be used to create an explosion in the proximity of an aircraft. Tuve's first suggestion was to have an aircraft drop a radar-controlled bomb on a bomber formation. Parsons saw that while this was technically feasible, it was tactically problematic. The ideal would be a proximity fuze
Proximity fuze
A proximity fuze is a fuze that is designed to detonate an explosive device automatically when the distance to target becomes smaller than a predetermined value or when the target passes through a given plane...
inside an artillery shell, but there were numerous technical difficulties with this. The radar set had to be made small enough to fit inside a shell, and its glass vacuum tube
Vacuum tube
In electronics, a vacuum tube, electron tube , or thermionic valve , reduced to simply "tube" or "valve" in everyday parlance, is a device that relies on the flow of electric current through a vacuum...
s had to first withstand 20,000 g force of being fired from a gun, and then 500 rotations per second in flight.
On 29 January 1942, Parsons reported to Blandy that a batch of fifty proximity fuzes from the pilot production plant had been test fired, and 26 of them had exploded correctly. Blandy therefore ordered that full-scale production begin. In April 1942, Bush, now the Director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development
Office of Scientific Research and Development
The Office of Scientific Research and Development was an agency of the United States federal government created to coordinate scientific research for military purposes during World War II. Arrangements were made for its creation during May 1941, and it was created formally by on June 28, 1941...
(OSRD), placed the project directly under OSRD, with Parsons in charge. The research effort remained under Tuve but moved to the Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
's Applied Physics Laboratory
Applied Physics Laboratory
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , located in Howard County, Maryland near Laurel and Columbia, is a not-for-profit, university-affiliated research center employing 4,500 people. APL is primarily a defense contractor. It serves as a technical resource for the Department of...
(APL), where Parsons was BuOrd's representative. In August 1942, a live firing test was conducted with the newly commissioned cruiser . Three pilotless drones were shot down in succession.
Parsons had the new proximity fuzes, now known as VT (variable time) fuze, Mark 32, flown to the Mare Island Navy Yard, where they were mated with 5"/38 caliber gun rounds. Some 5,000 of them were then shipped to the South Pacific. Parsons flew there himself, where he met with Admiral William F. Halsey at his headquarters in Noumea
Nouméa
Nouméa is the capital city of the French territory of New Caledonia. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and is home to the majority of the island's European, Polynesian , Indonesian, and Vietnamese populations, as well as many Melanesians,...
. He arranged for Parsons to take VT fuzes out with him on the . On 6 January 1943, Helena was part of a cruiser force that bombarded Munda in the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
. On the return trip, the cruisers were attacked by four Aichi D3A
Aichi D3A
The , Allied reporting name "Val") was a World War II carrier-borne dive bomber of the Imperial Japanese Navy . It was the primary dive bomber in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and participated in almost all actions, including Pearl Harbor....
(Val) dive bombers. Helena fired at one with a VT fuze. It exploded close to the aircraft, which crashed into the sea.
To preserve the secret of the weapon, its use was initially permitted only over water, where a dud round could not fall into enemy hands. However in late 1943, the Army obtained permission for it to be used over land. The proved particularly effective against the V-1 flying bomb over England, and later Antwerp in 1944. A version was also developed that could be used with howitzer
Howitzer
A howitzer is a type of artillery piece characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small propellant charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent...
s against ground targets. In response to the German Ardennes Offensive in December 1944, its use was finally authorized, and with deadly effect. By the end of 1944, VT fuzes were coming off the production lines at the rate of 40,000 per day.
Project Y
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security , located in Los Alamos, New Mexico...
was established at Los Alamos, New Mexico
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Los Alamos is a townsite and census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, built upon four mesas of the Pajarito Plateau and the adjoining White Rock Canyon. The population of the CDP was 12,019 at the 2010 Census. The townsite or "the hill" is one part of town while...
under the direction of J. Robert Oppenheimer as Project Y, which was part of the Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
, the top-secret effort to develop an atomic bomb. The creation of a practical weapon would necessarily require an expert in ordnance, and Oppenheimer tentatively pencilled in Tolman for the role, but getting him released from OSRD was another matter. Until then, Oppenheimer had to do the job himself. In May 1943, the Manhattan Project's director, Brigadier General
Brigadier general (United States)
A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
Leslie R. Groves, took up the matter with the Military Policy Committee, the high-level committee that oversaw the Manhattan Project. It consisted of Vannevar Bush, as its chairman; Brigadier General Wilhelm D. Styer
Wilhelm D. Styer
Wilhelm Delp Styer was a Lieutenant General in the United States Army.-Biography:Styer was born on July 22, 1893, in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was the son of Brigadier General Henry D. Styer , who led U.S...
who represented the Army; and Rear Admiral William R. Purnell as the Navy's representative.
Groves told them that he was looking for someone with "a sound understanding of both practical and theoretical ordnance-high explosives, guns and fusing-a wide acquaintance and an excellent reputation among military ordnance people and an ability to gain their support; a reasonably broad background in scientific development; and an ability to attract and hold the respect of scientists." He said that a military officer would be his ideal, as the job might involve planning and coordinating the use of the bomb, but added that he knew of no Army officer who fit the bill. Bush then suggested Parsons, a nomination supported by Purnell. The next morning, Parsons received a phone call from Purnell, ordering him to report to Admiral King, who was now the Commander in Chief, US Fleet (Cominch). In a terse ten-minute meeting, King briefed Parsons on the Project, which he said had his full backing. That afternoon, Parsons met with Groves, who quickly sized him up as the right man for the job.
Los Alamos Ranch School
Los Alamos Ranch School was a private boarding school for boys in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, near Otowi, in what would eventually become Los Alamos, New Mexico...
. Bathtub row, so-called because the houses were the only ones at Los Alamos with bathtubs, was the most prestigious address at Los Alamos. Parsons became Oppenheimer's next-door neighbor, and in fact his house was slightly larger, because Parsons had two children and Oppenheimer, at this point, had only one. With two school-age children, Parsons took a keen interest in the construction of the Central School at Los Alamos, and became president of the school board. Instead of the temporary two-storey structure that Groves had envisioned in the interest of economy and not misusing the project's high priorities for labor and materials, Parsons had a well-built, modern, single-storey school constructed. On seeing the result, Groves said: "I'll hold you personally responsible for this, Parsons."
Oppenheimer had already recruited key people for Parson's Ordnance Division. Edwin McMillan
Edwin McMillan
Edwin Mattison McMillan was an American physicist and Nobel laureate credited with being the first ever to produce a transuranium element. He shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Glenn Seaborg in 1951....
was a physicist who headed the Proving Ground Group. His first task was to establish the ordnance test area. Later he became Parson's deputy for the gun-type fission weapon
Gun-type fission weapon
Gun-type fission weapons are fission-based nuclear weapons whose design assembles their fissile material into a supercritical mass by the use of the "gun" method: shooting one piece of sub-critical material into another...
. Charles Critchfield
Charles Critchfield
Charles Louis Critchfield was a mathematical physicist who was chosen by J. Robbert Oppenheimer to help with the Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1943.-External links:* , Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota...
, a mathematical physicist with ordnance experience at the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground
Aberdeen Proving Ground
Aberdeen Proving Ground is a United States Army facility located near Aberdeen, Maryland, . Part of the facility is a census-designated place , which had a population of 3,116 at the 2000 census.- History :...
, was in charge of the Target, Projectile and Source Group. Kenneth Bainbridge
Kenneth Bainbridge
Kenneth Tompkins Bainbridge was an American physicist at Harvard University who did work on cyclotron research. His precise measurements of mass differences between nuclear isotopes allowed him to confirm Albert Einstein's mass-energy equivalence concept. He was the Director of the Trinity test of...
arrived in August to take charge of the Instrumentation Group. Parsons recruited Robert Brode from the proximity fuze project to become head of the Fuze Development Group. Joseph Hirschfelder was brought in as an expert on internal ballistics
Internal ballistics
Internal ballistics, a subfield of ballistics, is the study of a projectile's behavior from the time its propellant's igniter is initiated until it exits the gun barrel...
, and headed the Interior Ballistics Group. From the beginning, Parsons wanted Norman Ramsey as the head of the delivery group. Edward L. Bowles, the scientific adviser to the Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson
Henry L. Stimson
Henry Lewis Stimson was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican Party politician and spokesman on foreign policy. He twice served as Secretary of War 1911–1913 under Republican William Howard Taft and 1940–1945, under Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the latter role he was a leading hawk...
, was reluctant to part with Ramsey, but gave way under pressure from Groves, Tolman and Bush. Perhaps the most controversial group head would be Seth Neddermeyer
Seth Neddermeyer
Seth Henry Neddermeyer was an American physicist who co-discovered the muon, and later championed the implosion design of the plutonium atomic bomb, at the Manhattan Project....
, the head of the Implosion Experimentation Group; for the time being, Parson accorded a relatively low priority to this work. He also recruited Hazel Greenbacker as his secretary.
Norris Bradbury
Norris Edwin Bradbury , was an American physicist who was born in Santa Barbara, California. He served as director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory for 25 years , succeeding J. Robert Oppenheimer, who personally chose Bradbury for the position of director after working closely with him on the...
said that he did not wish to join Project Y, but was soon on his way to Los Alamos anyway. Parsons recruited Commander Francis Birch
Francis Birch (geophysicist)
Albert Francis Birch was an American geophysicist best known for his experimental work on the properties of Earth-forming minerals at high pressure and temperature, in 1952 he published a well-known paper in the Journal of Geophysical Research ,where he demonstrated that the mantle is chiefly...
, who replaced McMillan at Anchor Ranch. Commander Frederick Ashworth
Frederick Ashworth
Vice Admiral Frederick Lincoln "Dick" Ashworth was a United States Navy officer who served as the weaponeer on the B-29 Bockscar that dropped the atomic bomb "Fat Man" on Nagasaki, Japan on August 9, 1945....
was a naval ordnance officer and aviator who was senior aviator at Dahlgreen when he was brought in to work on the delivery side. To help with the administrative work, Parsons asked for a yeoman to work with Greenbacker, and the Navy sent Ensign Louise Newkirk. While there were over 300 WAC
Women's Army Corps
The Women's Army Corps was the women's branch of the US Army. It was created as an auxiliary unit, the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps on 15 May 1942 by Public Law 554, and converted to full status as the WAC in 1943...
s stationed at Los Alamos, Newkirk was the only WAVE
WAVES
The WAVES were a World War II-era division of the U.S. Navy that consisted entirely of women. The name of this group is an acronym for "Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service" ; the word "emergency" implied that the acceptance of women was due to the unusual circumstances of the war and...
. By the end of the war, there were 41 naval officers at Los Alamos.
Over the next few months, Parson's division designed the gun-type plutonium
Plutonium
Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...
weapon, codenamed Thin Man. It was assumed that a uranium-235
Uranium-235
- References :* .* DOE Fundamentals handbook: Nuclear Physics and Reactor theory , .* A piece of U-235 the size of a grain of rice can produce energy equal to that contained in three tons of coal or fourteen barrels of oil. -External links:* * * one of the earliest articles on U-235 for the...
weapon would be similar in nature. Hirschfelder's group considered various designs, and evaluated different propellants. The ordnance test area, which became known as "Anchor Ranch", was established on a nearby ranch, where Parsons conducted test firings with a 3-inch anti-aircraft gun. Work on implosion lagged by comparison, but this was not initially a major concern, because it was expected that the gun-type would work with both uranium and plutonium. However, Oppenheimer, Groves and Parsons lobbied Purnell and Tolman to get John von Neumann
John von Neumann
John von Neumann was a Hungarian-American mathematician and polymath who made major contributions to a vast number of fields, including set theory, functional analysis, quantum mechanics, ergodic theory, geometry, fluid dynamics, economics and game theory, computer science, numerical analysis,...
to have a look at the problem. He suggested the use of shaped charges to initiate implosion.
George Kistiakowsky
George Bogdan Kistiakowsky was a Ukrainian-American chemistry professor at Harvard who participated in the Manhattan Project and later served as President Eisenhower's Science Advisor...
, who began a new attack on the implosion design. Kistiakowsky clashed with both Parsons and Neddermeyer, but felt that "my disagreements with Deak Parsons were very minor compared to my disagreements with Neddermeyer." The implosion design acquired a new urgency in April 1944, when studies of reactor-produced plutonium confirmed that it could not be used in a gun-type weapon. An accelerated effort was called for to design and build the implosion-type weapon, codenamed Fat Man
Fat Man
"Fat Man" is the codename for the atomic bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States on August 9, 1945. It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons to be used in warfare to date , and its detonation caused the third man-made nuclear explosion. The name also refers more...
. Two new groups were created at Los Alamos: X (for explosives) Division headed by Kistiakowsky, and G (for gadget) Division under Robert Bacher
Robert Bacher
Robert Fox Bacher was an American nuclear physicist and one of the leaders of the Manhattan Project.-Early life and career:...
. Parsons was placed in charge of O (for ordnance) Division, with responsibility for both the gun-type design and delivery.
The uranium gun-type weapon, known as Little Boy
Little Boy
"Little Boy" was the codename of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets of the 393rd Bombardment Squadron, Heavy, of the United States Army Air Forces. It was the first atomic bomb to be used as a weapon...
did prove to be simpler than Thin Man. The gun velocity needed to be only 1000 feet per second (304.8 m/s), a third of Thin Man. A corresponding reduction in the barrel length reduced the bomb's overall length to 6 feet (1.8 m). In turn, this made it much easier to handle, and permitted a conventional bomb shape, resulting in a more predictable flight. The main concerns with Little Boy were its safety and reliability.
Project Alberta
Project Alberta
Project Alberta was a section of the Manhattan Project which developed the means of delivering the first atomic bombs, used by the United States Army Air Forces against the Empire of Japan during World War II...
, got underway under Ramsey's direction in October 1943. Starting in November, the Army Air Forces Materiel Command
Air Force Materiel Command
Air Force Materiel Command is a major command of the United States Air Force. AFMC was created July 1, 1992 through the reorganization of Air Force Logistics Command and Air Force Systems Command....
at Wright Field
Wright Field
Wright Field was an airfield of the United States Army Air Corps and Air Forces near Riverside, Ohio. From 1927 to 1947 it was the research and development center for the Air Corps, and during World War II a flight test center....
, Ohio, began Silverplate
Silverplate
Silverplate was the code reference for the United States Army Air Forces participation in the Manhattan Project during World War II. Originally the name for the aircraft modification project for the B-29 Superfortress to enable it to drop an atomic weapon, Silverplate eventually came to identify...
, the codename for the modification of B-29s to carry the bombs. Parsons arranged for a test program to be carried at Dahlgreen using scale models of Thin Man and Fat Man. Test drops were carried out at Muroc Army Air Field
Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located on the border of Kern County, Los Angeles County, and San Bernardino County, California, in the Antelope Valley. It is southwest of the central business district of North Edwards, California and due east of Rosamond.It is named in...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and the Naval Ordnance Test Station at Inyokern, California
Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake
- About : is part of under Commander, Navy Installation Command and is located in the Western Mojave Desert region of California, approximately north of Los Angeles. Occupying three counties – Kern, San Bernardino and Inyo – the installation’s closest neighbors are the cities of Ridgecrest,...
using full-size replicas of Fat Man known as pumpkin bomb
Pumpkin bomb
Pumpkin bombs were conventional high explosive aerial bombs developed by the Manhattan Project and used by the United States Army Air Forces against Japan during World War II...
s because they were painted orange. The ungainly and un-aerodynamic shape of Fat Man proved to be the main difficulty, but many other problems were encountered and overcome. Parsons, wrote Oppenheimer, "has been almost alone in this project to appreciate the actual military and engineering problems which we would encounter. He has been almost alone in insisting on facing these problems at a date early enough so that we might arrive at their solution."
In July 1944, Parsons joined Jack Crenshaw, who was investigating the Port Chicago disaster
Port Chicago disaster
The Port Chicago disaster was a deadly munitions explosion that occurred on July 17, 1944, at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in Port Chicago, California, United States. Munitions detonated while being loaded onto a cargo vessel bound for the Pacific Theater of Operations, killing 320 sailors and...
. The two men surveyed the disaster area, where 1,500 tons of munitions had exploded and 320 men had lost their lives. A year later, Parsons watched the Trinity nuclear test from a circling B-29. Afterwards, Parsons flew to Tinian
Tinian
Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.-Geography:Tinian is about 5 miles southwest of its sister island, Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel. It has a land area of 39 sq.mi....
, where the B-29s of Colonel Paul W. Tibbets' 509th Composite Group
509th Composite Group
The 509th Composite Group was a United States Army Air Forces unit created during World War II, and tasked with operational deployment of nuclear weapons...
were preparing to deliver the weapons. En route, he stopped off in San Diego to visit his eighteen-year-old half-brother Bob, a marine who had been badly wounded in the Battle of Iwo Jima
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima , or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Empire of Japan. The U.S...
. Parsons also met with Captain Charles B. McVay III
Charles B. McVay III
Rear Admiral Charles Butler McVay III was the Commanding Officer of the when it was lost in action in 1945, resulting in massive loss of life. After years of mental health problems he committed suicide...
, the skipper of the , in Purnell's office at the Embarcadero in San Francisco and gave McVay his orders:
On Tinian, Parsons was in charge of scientists and technicians from Project Alberta, who were nominally organized as the 1st Technical Service Detachment. Their role was the handling and maintenance of the nuclear weapons. Parsons was joined by Purnell, who represented the Military Liaison Committee, and Brigadier General Thomas F. Farrell, Groves' Deputy for Operations. They became, informally, the "Tinian Joint Chiefs", with decision-making authority over the nuclear mission. Before Farrell left for Tinian, Groves had told him: "Don't let Parsons get killed. We need him!"
Parsons participated in the bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, flying on the Enola Gay
Enola Gay
Enola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, mother of the pilot, then-Colonel Paul Tibbets. On August 6, 1945, during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb as a weapon of war...
as weaponeer and Senior Military Technical Observer. Parsons decided, contrary to his orders from Groves, to arm the bomb in flight. Since arriving on Tinian, he had witnessed B-29 crashes on takeoff, and was concerned that if the aircraft crashed and burned, the explosives might "cook off" and cause an accidental detonation. The night before the mission, he repeatedly practiced inserting the powder charge and detonator in the bomb in the poor visibility and cramped conditions of the bomb bay. Shortly after takeoff, he clambered into the bomb bay and carefully carried out the procedure that he had rehearsed the night before. It was Parsons and not Tibbetts, the pilot, who was in charge of the mission. He approved the choice of Hiroshima as the target, and gave the final approval for the bomb to be released. For his part in the mission, Parsons was awarded the Silver Star
Silver Star
The Silver Star is the third-highest combat military decoration that can be awarded to a member of any branch of the United States armed forces for valor in the face of the enemy....
, and was promoted to the wartime rank of commodore on 10 August 1945. For his work on the Manhattan Project, he was awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal
Navy Distinguished Service Medal
The Navy Distinguished Service Medal is a military award of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps which was first created in 1919. The decoration is the Navy and Marine Corps equivalent to the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal, and the Coast...
.
Postwar career
In November 1945, King created a new position of Deputy Chief of Naval OperationsChief of Naval Operations
The Chief of Naval Operations is a statutory office held by a four-star admiral in the United States Navy, and is the most senior uniformed officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Navy. The office is a military adviser and deputy to the Secretary of the Navy...
for Special Weapons, which was given to Vice Admiral Blandy. Parsons became Blandy's assistant. In turn, Parsons had two assistants of his own, Ashworth and Horacio Rivero, Jr.
Horacio Rivero, Jr.
Admiral Horacio Rivero, Jr. , was the first Puerto Rican four-star Admiral and second Hispanic to become a full Admiral in the modern United States Navy. David Glasgow Farragut , a Hispanic, became the first full admiral of the Navy during the American Civil War. After retiring from the Navy,...
He also brought Greenbacker from Los Alamos to help set up the new office. Parsons was a strong supporter of research into the use of nuclear power for warship propulsion, but disagreed with Rear Admiral Harold G. Bowen, Sr., the head of the Office of Research and Inventions
Office of Naval Research
The Office of Naval Research , headquartered in Arlington, Virginia , is the office within the United States Department of the Navy that coordinates, executes, and promotes the science and technology programs of the U.S...
, who wanted the Navy to initiate its own nuclear project. Parsons felt that the Navy should work with the Manhattan Project, and arranged for naval officers to be assigned to Oak Ridge. The most senior of them was his former classmate Rickover, who became assistant director there. They immersed themselves in the study of nuclear energy, laying the foundations for a nuclear-powered navy
Nuclear navy
Nuclear navy, or nuclear powered navy consists of ships powered by relatively small onboard nuclear reactors known as naval reactors. The concept was revolutionary for naval warfare when first proposed, as it meant that these vessels did not need to stop for fuel like their conventional...
.
On 11 January 1946, Blandy was appointed to command Joint Task Force One (JTF-1), a special force created to conduct a series of nuclear weapon tests at Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll is an atoll, listed as a World Heritage Site, in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands....
, which he named Operation Crossroads
Operation Crossroads
Operation Crossroads was a series of nuclear weapon tests conducted by the United States at Bikini Atoll in mid-1946. It was the first test of a nuclear weapon after the Trinity nuclear test in July 1945...
, to determine the effect of nuclear weapons on warships. Parsons, who was promoted to the rank of rear admiral on 8 January 1946, became Blandy's Deputy Commander for Technical Direction and Commander Task Group 1.1. Parsons worked hard to make a success of the operation, which he described as "the largest laboratory experiment in history". In addition to the 95 target ships, there was a support fleet of more than 150 ships, 156 aircraft, and over 42,000 personnel.
Parsons witnessed the first explosion, Able, from the deck of the task force flagship, . An airburst like the Hiroshima blast, it was unimpressive, and even Parsons thought that it must have been smaller than the Hiroshima bomb. It failed to sink the target ship, the battleship , mainly because it missed it by a considerable distance. This made it difficult to assess the amount of damage caused, which was the objective of the exercise. Blandy then announced that the next test, Baker, would occur in just three weeks. This meant that Parsons had to carry out the evaluation of Able simultaneously with the preparations for Baker. This time he assisted with the final preparations on before heading back to for the test. The underwater Baker explosion was no larger than Able, but the dome and water column made it look far more spectacular. However the real problem was the radioactive fallout, as Colonel Stafford L. Warren
Stafford L. Warren
Stafford Leak Warren was an American physician and radiologist who was a pioneer in the field of nuclear medicine and best known for his invention of the mammogram...
, the Manhattan Project's medical advisor, had predicted. The target ships proved impossible to decontaminate and, lacking targets, the test series had to be called off. For his part in Operation Crossroads, Parsons was awarded the Legion of Merit
Legion of Merit
The Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...
.
The Special Weapons Office was abolished in November 1946, and the Manhattan Project followed suit at the end of the year. A civilian agency, the United States Atomic Energy Commission
United States Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...
(AEC), was created by the Atomic Energy Act of 1946
Atomic Energy Act of 1946
The Atomic Energy Act of 1946 determined how the United States federal government would control and manage the nuclear technology it had jointly developed with its wartime allies...
to take over the functions and assets of the Manhattan Project, including development, production and control of nuclear weapons. The law provided for a Military Liaison Committee (MLC) to advise the AEC on military matters, and Parsons became a member. A joint Army-Navy organization, the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project
Armed Forces Special Weapons Project
The Armed Forces Special Weapons Project was a United States military agency responsible for those aspects of nuclear weapons remaining under the military after the the Manhattan Project was succeeded by the Atomic Energy Commission on 1 January 1947...
(AFSWP), was created to handle the military aspects of nuclear weapons. Groves was appointed to command the AFSWP, with Parsons and Air Force Major General Roscoe C. Wilson as his deputies. In this capacity, Parsons pressed for the development of improved nuclear weapons. During the Operation Sandstone
Operation Sandstone
Operation Sandstone was a series of nuclear weapon tests in 1948. It was the third series of American tests, following Crossroads and preceding Ranger...
series of nuclear weapon tests at Enewetak Atoll in 1948, Parsons once again served as deputy commander. Parsons hoped that his next posting would be to sea, but he was instead sent to the Weapons Systems Evaluation Group
Weapons Systems Evaluation Group
The Weapons Systems Evaluation Group was formed in 1949 to carry out Operational Research work for the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States Army and the United States Secretary of Defense. The group oversaw the appraisal of weapons used during the Korean War...
in 1949. However, in 1951 he finally returned to sea duty, this time as Commander, Cruiser Division 6, despite having never commanded a ship. Parsons and his cruisers conducted a tour of the Mediterranean showing the flag. He then became Deputy Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance in March 1952.
Death and legacy
Parsons remained in contact with Oppenheimer. The two men and their wives visited each other from time to time, and the Parsons family especially enjoyed visiting its former neighbors at their new home at Olden Manor, a 17th century manor with a cook and groundskeeper, surrounded by 265 acres (107.2 ha) of woodlands at the Institute for Advanced StudyInstitute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
in Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
. Parsons was disturbed by the rise of McCarthyism
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
in the early 1950s, but in 1953 he wrote a letter to Oppenheimer expressing his hope that "the anti-intellectualism of recent months may have passed its peak". However, on 4 December 1953, Parsons heard of President Dwight Eisenhower's "blank wall" directive, blocking Oppenheimer from access to classified material. Parsons became visibly upset, and that night began experiencing severe chest pains. The next morning, he went to Bethesda Naval Hospital, where he died while the doctors were still examining him. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
alongside his daughter Hannah. He was survived by his father, brother, half-brother and sister, wife Martha and daughters Peggy and Clare.
The Rear Admiral William S. Parsons Award for Scientific and Technical Progress was established by the Navy in his memory. It is awarded "to a Navy or Marine Corps officer, enlisted person, or civilian who has made an outstanding contribution in any field of science that has furthered the development and progress of the Navy or Marine Corps." The Forrest Sherman-class
Forrest Sherman class destroyer
The 18 Forrest Sherman-class destroyers were the first US post-war destroyers . and later ships were equipped with B&W Bailey Meter Company's new automatic boiler combustion control system, and a modified hurricane bow/anchor configuration...
destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
was named in his honor. Her keel was laid down by Ingalls Shipbuilding
Ingalls Shipbuilding
Ingalls Shipbuilding is a shipyard located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, USA, originally established in 1938, and is now part of Huntington Ingalls Industries...
of Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, as a part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula, Mississippi Combined Statistical Area. The population was 26,200 at the 2000 census...
on 17 June 1957 and was launched by his widow Martha on 17 August 1958. When it was rechristened as a guided missile destroyer (DDG-33) in 1967, Clare, now a naval officer herself, represented her family. Parsons was decommissioned on 19 November 1982, stricken from the Navy list on 1 December 1984, and disposed of as a target on 25 April 1989. The Deak Parsons Center, headquarters of Afloat Training Group, Atlantic, in Norfolk, Virginia, was also named for him. Parsons' portrait is among a series of paintings related to Operation Crossroads. His papers are in the Naval Historical Center
Naval Historical Center
The Naval History & Heritage Command is the official history program of the United States Navy and is located at the historic Washington Navy Yard in the District of Columbia.-Mission :...
in Washington, DC.