James F. Calvert | Submarine pioneer, 88

Retired Vice Adm. James F. Calvert, 88, a submarine pioneer and author who served during World War II before going on to be superintendent of the Naval Academy, has died.

He died Wednesday of heart failure in Bryn Mawr, said Kemp Battle, his stepson.

After graduating from Annapolis in 1942, Mr. Calvert went to work on submarines.

He served on the Jack for eight war patrols and one more on the Haddo. The Jack, on which Mr. Calvert helped aim the torpedoes, is credited with sinking 15 Japanese ships.

He wrote several books. In his 1995 memoir, Silent Running, he described his experiences in submarine operations in the Pacific during World War II, chasing and sinking enemy ships.

He was commanding officer of the nuclear-powered Skate from December 1957 to September 1959. The submarine became the first to surface at the North Pole in February 1959. Mr. Calvert wrote about the experience in a book, Surface at the Pole. The trip was made to test how well a sub could operate in the Arctic Ocean. - AP