Эдвард Л. Бич младший: офицер ВМС и писатель

US Navy officer, author (1918–2002)

Edward Latimer Beach Jr. (April 20, 1918 – December 1, 2002) was a United States Navy submarine officer and author. During World War II, he participated in the Battle of Midway and 12 combat patrols, earning 10 decorations for gallantry, including the Navy Cross. After the war, he served as the naval aide to the President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and commanded the first submerged circumnavigation. Beach's best selling novel, Run Silent, Run Deep, was made into the 1958 film of the same name. The son of Captain Edward L. Beach Sr. and Alice Fouché Beach, Beach Jr. was born in New York City and raised in Palo Alto, California.

Beach was appointed to the U. S. Naval Academy in 1935 by Senator Hiram Johnson of California. Beach served as a regimental commander in his first class year. Beach was named as the midshipman who had done the most to promote naval spirit and loyalty in his regiment when he graduated second out of 576 in his class in 1939. Beach was initially assigned to the heavy cruiser Chester, before joining the newly recommissioned destroyer Lea, which participated in the neutrality patrol in the Atlantic, the escort of the German passenger liner , the initial American occupation of Iceland, and convoy duty in the North Atlantic. Beach was detached from Lea in September 1941 to undergo accelerated training at the Submarine Training School at the New London Submarine Base in Connecticut. He completed training, graduating first in his class, in December 1941 shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

During World War II, Beach served aboard the submarines Trigger and Tirante, and took command of Piper just as the Pacific War was ending. After graduating from Submarine School, Beach was assigned to USS Trigger (SS 237), which was commissioned on January 30, 1942. Aboard Trigger Beach held several shipboard positions, including communications officer, engineering officer, navigator, co approach officer, and executive officer. While aboard Trigger, he participated in the Battle of Midway and served on 10 war patrols. Trigger was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and the Navy Unit Citation during Beach's time aboard her. Beach was assigned to the new commissioned USS Tirante (SS 420) late in 1944. He served as executive officer under Lieutenant Commander George L. Street, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for a making a daring attack in a heavily defended Japanese harbor during Tirantes first war patrol from March 3 to April 26, 1945. Beach received the Navy Cross for heroism during the same patrol and Tirante received the Presidential Unit Citation. Beach assumed command of USS Piper (SS 409) at Pearl Harbor on June 25, 1945. Piper departed on her third war patrol on July 19 and entered the Sea of Japan on August 13. The war ended on August 14 and Piper was in Japanese waters when the formal surrender was signed on September 2 and started her return to Pearl Harbor the next day. During World War II, Beach earned 10 decorations for gallantry, including the Navy Cross and three unit citations, and participated in 12 war patrols that damaged or sank 45 enemy vessels.

In May 1948, he was given command of Amberjack, a GUPPY II modified submarine. Amberjack gained the nickname "Anglejack" because of its pioneering use of steep diving and surfacing angles, which was covered in the January 1950 edition of the National Geographic magazine. During war games, Amberjack photographed the opposing task force's flagship through its periscope and sent the admiral a copy inscribed with "Regards from Ned Beach and the Amberjack."

Beach's tour as skipper of Amberjack was abbreviated as he was called to Washington to serve as naval aide to General Omar Bradley, the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in August 1949. In that post, Beach witnessed first hand the events surrounding the Revolt of the Admirals.

Upon completing his tour of duty as Bradley's aide in March 1951, Beach was named prospective commanding officer of the new Trigger, then under construction. Upon commissioning of Trigger II, which was named for Trigger lost during World War II, he became commanding officer of the second submarine to be completed in the new after World War II.

From 1953 to 1957, Beach was naval aide to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. It was Beach who spearheaded the effort to get First Lady Mamie Eisenhower to christen Nautilus, the world's first nuclear powered submarine, in 1954. Beach was advanced to the rank of captain on October 1, 1956.

In January 1958, he attended the Navy's training program for atomic reactors in order to qualify for his next command, Triton, the nation's fifth nuclear powered submarine. In November 1959, Beach took command of USS Triton, the only American nuclear powered submarine to be equipped with two nuclear reactors. Departing New London on what was supposed to have been a "shake down" cruise in February 1960, Triton began a 1960 circumnavigation of the Earth in 84 days without surfacing, covering over , an unprecedented feat. The route of Triton followed roughly that of Ferdinand Magellan in 1519 1522. The scientific and military significance of the Triton voyage was overshadowed by the U 2 Incident which broke just as USS Triton was returning. For successfully completing its mission, Triton was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. At a special White House ceremony, Captain Beach was presented the Legion of Merit by President Eisenhower. Beach wrote about Tritons voyage in his book Around the World Submerged: The Voyage of the Triton, published in 1962. Following her post shakedown availability, Triton deployed to European waters with the Second Fleet to participate in NATO exercises against British naval forces led by the aircraft carriers and under the command of Rear Admiral Sir Charles Madden. This deployment was culminated with a port visit to Bremerhaven, West Germany, the first visit by a nuclear powered ship to a European port.

After his tour in command of Triton, Beach commanded Submarine Squadron Eight from July 1961 to August 1962. He was next a student at the National War College, where he completed a course of study in July 1963. At the same time he earned a Master of Arts degree in international relations from George Washington University. In May 1963, Eugene Parks Wilkinson and Beach were in competition for selection to rear admiral, and the board selected Wilkinson with Beach's sincere congratulations. From July 1963 to December 1966, Beach served in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations (OpNav) preparing annual budget reports for Congress and preparing the Secretary of the Navy (Fred Korth, Paul B. Fay, and Paul H. Nitze) and the Chief of Naval Operations (George W. Anderson Jr. and David L. McDonald) for hearings before Congressional committees. Beach retired from active duty with the rank of captain in 1966, after 27 years of service.

Beach retired from active duty in the Navy in 1966, and was appointed as the Stephen B. Luce Chair of Naval Science at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island – the first person to hold that position. During his tenure he was the editor of the Naval War College Review. Subsequently, Beach served for seven years as staff director of the United States Senate Republican Policy Committee, and for one year as chief of staff for Senator Jeremiah Denton (R Alabama).

After World War II, Beach wrote extensively in his spare time, following his father, who was also a career naval officer and author. His first book, Submarine! (1952), was a compilation of accounts of several wartime patrols made by his own as well as other submarines, which Time magazine called "the liveliest and most authentic account of underseas combat to come out of World War II." Beach penned two sequels to Run Silent, Run Deep: Dust on the Sea (1972), relating in detail a war patrol by Eel leading a wolfpack, and Cold is the Sea (1978), set in 1961 aboard a nuclear submarine. In addition to Submarine!, Beach wrote several more books on naval history, including The Wreck of the Memphis (1966); United States Navy: 200 Years (1986), a general history of the Navy; Scapegoats: A Defense of Kimmel and Short at Pearl Harbor (1995); and Salt and Steel: Reflections of a Submariner (1999). Keepers of the Sea (1983) is a pictorial record of the modern navy with photography by Fred J. Maroon. For a number of years Beach was co editor of Naval Terms Dictionary as that standard reference work passed through several editions. His last work, completed shortly before his death, was to prepare for publication his father's manuscript of his own naval career, From Annapolis to Scapa Flow: The Autobiography of Edward L. Beach, Sr (2003). In addition to his books, Beach was a prolific author of articles and book reviews for periodicals ranging from Blue Book to National Geographic, and Naval History to American Heritage.

Beach married Ingrid Schenck, daughter of Stanford University professor Hubert G. Schenck and Inga Bergström Schenck, in Palo Alto in 1944. They had four children: Inga Marie (1945–1948), Edward A. (b. 1948), Hugh S. (b. 1949) and Ingrid Alice (b. 1952).

The Navy Cross is presented to Edward Latimer Beach, Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy, for gallantry and intrepidity in action as Executive Officer, Navigator and Assistant Approach Officer on board the U. S. S. TIRANTE (SS 420) on the First War Patrol of that submarine during the period March 3, 1945 to April 25, 1945, in enemy controlled waters of the East China Sea. Lieutenant Commander Edward Beach rendered valiant service to his commanding officer in penetrating mined and shoal obstructed shallow waters in defiance of hostile shore based radar stations and aircraft. By his excellent judgment and keen understanding of attack problems, he aided immeasurably in sending torpedoes into targets with deadly accuracy and contributed to the sinking of three Japanese cargo ships, one large transport, a hostile tanker, three patrol frigates, and one lugger, totaling 28,000 tons of shipping vital to the enemy's ability to prosecute the war. Through his experience and sound judgment he assisted in bringing his ship safely back to port. His conduct throughout was an inspiration to his officers and men and in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 345 – December 1945