Charles Thomas Booth II
Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy

Charles Thomas Booth II was born on 12 January 1910 in Penacook, NH.

Booth graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1931. He had a short tour of sea duty before he went to the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, FL, for flight training. He was designated a Naval Aviator on 27 January 1933 and spent three years in Observation Squadron One aboard the USS Oklahoma and aboard the USS Saratoga.

His next assignment was with Patrol Squadrons 3F and 5F at Coco Sol, Canal Zone. In June of 1940 he returned to school at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received a Master of Science degree. A month later he joined VF-4 aboard the USS Ranger CV-4. He was next assigned as Assistant Flight Test Officer in January 1943 at Naval Air Station Anacostia, DC, as well as at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, MD.

He then was Operations Officer on the staffs of ComCarDiv12 and CarDiv7 followed by 15 months as Executive Officer of the USS Princeton CV-37. He was next assigned to the Military Requirements Division, Air Warfare Branch of the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. After attending the Navy All Weather Flight School at Corpus Christi, TX, Captain Booth assumed command of Composite Squadron 4 in July of 1950.

His next assignments would include Director of Electronic Tests, Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, MD; student at the National War College; command of USS Badoeng Strait; and serving on the staff of Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet. He was then assigned duties at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in connection with the fitting out of the USS Ranger.

Booth became the first Commanding Officer of the USS Ranger upon her commissioning on 10 August 1957 and from 1965-69 was Commander, Naval Air Force, Atlantic Fleet. He was awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism in North Africa while serving as a pilot of a carrier-based Navy fighter. Booth retired as a Vice Admiral.

Death and Burial

Vice Admiral Charles Thomas Booth II died on 21 February 1989 in Greenville, SC. He is buried at the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery in Annapolis, MD.