Charles R. Ware

Charles Rollins Ware was born on 11 March 1911 in Knoxville, Tennessee. He enlisted in the United States Navy on 14 June 1929, and in 1930 was appointed to the United States Naval Academy.

After graduation in 1934, Ware served on the battleship USS Texas (BB-35) and the destroyer USS Dahlgren (DD-187) until February 1940, when he entered flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola at Pensacola, Florida.

Serving as a Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber pilot with Scouting Squadron 6 (VS-6) based on the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6), Lieutenant Ware and his division of six SBDs attacked the carrier Kaga on 4 June 1942, one of four Japanese carriers sunk in the Battle of Midway.

During their return to the Enterprise they successfully fought off attacks by Japanese fighters, but ran out of fuel and were forced to ditch in the vast Pacific. One crew was rescued and another crew was picked up by a Japanese destroyer and later executed when the enemy sailors learned of their fleet's losses. Ware and the other SBD crewmen were reported missing in action.

Ware was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously for his heroism in pressing home his attack on the Japanese fleet in the face of fierce fighter opposition and formidable antiaircraft fire.

The planned destroyer escort USS Charles R. Ware (DE-547) was named for Lieutenant Ware, but her construction was cancelled in 1944 before construction could begin.

In 1945 the destroyer USS Charles R. Ware (DD-865) was named in his honor. She was in commission from 1945 to 1974.

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.