Apollo Soucek was the son of Johann "John" Soucek, who was born in Ovčáry, Bohemia (then part of Austria-Hungary, now in the Czech Republic) but he emigrated to the U.S. with his family in June 1875, when he was seven years old. The family initially settled in Nebraska, then moved to Kansas, before finally taking part in the Cherokee Strip Land Run in 1893 and settling in Medford, OK.

Military Career

Apollo was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1918. In World War I, while still a Midshipman, he servedon the battleship USS Missouri (BB-11) in the Pacific Fleet. On 3 June 1921, he was commissioned an Ensign and served aboard the USS Mississippi (BB-41). In February 1924, Soucek reported to Naval Air Station Pensacola for flight training, qualifying as a Naval Aviator in October. He was assigned to the Navy's first aircraft carrier, USS Langley (CV-1) in November, and served as Assistant Flight Officer of Observation Squadron 2. In January 1925 he transferred to the USS Maryland (BB-46) to serve as Assistant Navigator and Junior Aviation Officer of Observation Squadron 1. In May 1927 he was assigned to the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia, before transferring to the Bureau of Aeronautics in July to serve in the Power Plant Design Section.

Soucek set a number of altitude records flying the Wright Apache. On 8 May 1929, he set the world altitude record for land planes by flying to the altitude of 39,140 feet. Within the month, he set the altitude record for seaplanes, also in an Apache, reaching the altitude of 38,560 feet. His record for land planes held for only seventeen days; it was broken by a German Aviator. However, on 4 June 1930, Soucek flew a Wright Apache land plane equipped with a 450 horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-1340 radial engine to an altitude of 43,166 feet over NAS Anacostia, thereby regaining the world record he had first established in 1929. This time the record held until it was broken by a jet airplane in the 1940s.

In setting the high-altitude records, Soucek wore fur-lined suits, gloves and boots to keep warm in the open cockpit, where temperatures could drop to 60 degrees below zero. According to an account Soucek gave to NBC radio in 1930, his brother Zeus, also a pilot, figured out a way to keep his goggles from frosting over by winding an electric element across the goggles' lens and connecting it to a battery. Soucek noted that the winds at 40,000 feet rage at near-hurricane velocities and that a good oxygen supply was mandatory.

He returned to sea duty in June 1930, serving as Squadron Flight Officer of Fighter Squadron 3 on the carrier USS Lexington (CV-2), and as Gunnery Officer and Executive Officer of Fighter Squadron 3 aboard the USS Saratoga (CV-3). In June 1932 he returned to the Naval Aircraft Factory to serve as Assistant to the Superintendent of the Aeronautical Engineering Laboratory. In June 1935 he served as Hangar Deck, Flight Deck and Senior Watch Officer, aboard USS Ranger (CV-4), returning to the Lexington in June 1937 to serve as the Commanding Officer of Fighter Squadron 2. Soucek returned to the Bureau of Aeronautics in May 1938 to serve as Assistant to the Chief of the Personnel Division.

In 1939 Soucek narrowly avoided death in an aerial collision with another plane. As he bailed out of his damaged aircraft, his parachute caught on the spinning fuselage. The parachute finally came free only a few hundred feet above the ground, but it was sufficient to cushion his fall enough that he escaped with a sprained back.

World War II

In May 1940 he was assigned to USS Yorktown (CV-5) as Navigator, moving to the USS Hornet (CV-8) on 20 October 1941 to serve as Air Officer. Soucek was appointed Executive Officer in 1942, and served in that capacity during the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo on 18 April; he was still the XO when the Hornet was sunk later that year. In January 1943 was appointed Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations in the Pacific Fleet. From July 1943 he served as Chief of Staff and Aide to the Chief of Naval Air Intermediate Training Command and Deputy Chief of Naval Air Training, based at NAS Pensacola. In March 1945 he was appointed Officer-in-Charge of the fitting-out of the carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42) and, upon her commissioning on 27 October 1945, he became her first Commanding Officer.

Post-War

From January 1946 he Commanded Carrier Division 14, and from August was Commander, Fleet Air Wing 1. On 15 July 1947 he was appointed commander of the Naval Air Test Center at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, MD. From 1949 he served as Assistant Chief of Naval Operations for Aviation Plans, and Director of the Aviation Plans and Program Division. He spent most of 1951 in London as U.S. Naval Attaché for Air, before serving in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations from November 1951 to February 1952, when he was appointed Commander of Carrier Division 3/Task Force 77, flying his flag aboard USS Boxer (CV-21) in support of operations in the Korean War.

On 18 June 1953, Soucek was appointed Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics. Soucek suffered a heart attack in February 1955 causing him to resign his post on 4 March. He was transferred to the Retired List on 1 July 1955.

Honors

On 4 June 1957, Naval Air Station Oceana was officially named Apollo Soucek Field in his honor.

Death and Burial

Vice Admiral Apollo Soucek died of a heart attack in his Washington, DC, apartment on 19 July 1955, at the age of 58. Officers at the Bethesda Medical Center said that his death was due to natural causes. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Section 3, Site 2124-B.

Family

Apollo's younger brother Zeus 'Zeke' Soucek, also joined the Navy, became an aviator, and set speed, distance and duration records piloting a Naval Aircraft Factory PN-12 in May 1928. His cousin, Archie H. Soucek (Honoree Record ID 210511) was a Navy Captain, as was Archie's brother, U.S. Navy Captain Victor H. Soucek (Honoree Record ID 221786).

Anecdote

In my first squadron, one of the mechs told me that he had been in a squadron of F-9F-2 during Korea on the ship in which Apollo Soucek had his flag as CTF 77. Soucek decided he wanted to check out in the F9 duece while they had planes at Atsugi during an in port. The sailor was helping Soucek get going including a cockpit brief and saying something like, "Now Admiral, when you go to full throttle you want to see the TPT (tail pipe temperature) at 675 degrees." Soucek replied, "Son, I can't read those numbers, show me where the needle ought to be!" At that Soucek got a start, took off, flew around for a while and brought the plane back in good shape!