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Memorial Tributes: Volume 7 (1994)

Chapter: Henry A. Schade

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Suggested Citation:"Henry A. Schade." National Academy of Engineering. 1994. Memorial Tributes: Volume 7. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4779.
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Suggested Citation:"Henry A. Schade." National Academy of Engineering. 1994. Memorial Tributes: Volume 7. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4779.
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HENRY A. SCHADE

1900–1992

BY ALAA E. MANSOUR, J. RANDOLPH PAULLING, EGOR P. POPOV, AND JOHN V. WEHAUSEN

HENRY ADRIAN SCHADE (''Packy" to his friends) was born on December 3, 1900, in St. Paul, Minnesota, and died in his sleep at his home in Kensington, California, on August 12, 1992. He attended the St. Paul public schools and in 1919 was appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy from which he was graduated with distinction in 1923. Following two years at sea, he was selected for the Construction Corps of the U.S. Navy and sent to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for further education in naval architecture. He received the M.S. degree from MIT in 1928. There followed tours of duty at the Mare Island Navy Yard, the design section of the Bureau of Construction and Repair, and the Experimental Model Basin, the latter two in Washington, D.C. In 1935 Schade was sent for further graduate study to the Technische Hochschule, Berlin, and from this university he received the degree Dr. Ing. (with distinction) in 1937.

Upon his return to the United States, he was assigned to the office of the supervisor of shipbuilding of the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. During this period Schade played a major role in the development of the Essexclass aircraft carriers, which became the backbone of the fast carrier task forces roaming the Pacific during the latter half of World War II. In 1941 Schade was reassigned to the Bureau of Ships in Washington, D.C., where he was placed in charge of

Suggested Citation:"Henry A. Schade." National Academy of Engineering. 1994. Memorial Tributes: Volume 7. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4779.
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aircraft-carrier design. During this time he was responsible for the design of the Midway class of large attack carriers. These carriers incorporated several significant design innovations. Perhaps the most important of these was treating the flight deck as a strength deck. For his work during World War II he was awarded the Legion of Merit and the O.B.E. (officer rank) of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

In the summer of 1944 Schade was assigned as the U.S. Navy representative on the scientific mission to Europe, which was responsible for studying and evaluating enemy wartime scientific and engineering accomplishments. A few months later he organized and was appointed chief of the Naval Technical Mission in Europe. As chief of this mission, now with the rank of commodore, he directed a team of specialists in various subjects in the collection of technical information all over Germany. For this work he was awarded the Gold Star in lieu of a second Legion of Merit.

On November 1, 1945, Schade became director of the Naval Research Laboratory, a position that he held until he retired from the U.S. Navy in January 1949 to accept a position at Berkeley as professor of mechanical engineering and director of the Institute of Engineering Research. In the latter capacity he was responsible for the administration of all contract supported research in the College of Engineering. As professor of mechanical engineering he began developing a curriculum in naval architecture as an option within mechanical engineering.

During the next few years he oversaw the construction of a laboratory at the Richmond Field Station for research in ship structures and ship hydrodynamics. In 1958 he organized the Department of Naval Architecture and became its first chairman. With Packy's experience in almost all practical aspects of ship design and construction, he believed the university was the place to learn fundamentals and that practical details could be more effectively learned on the job. Following this philosophy the department started a graduate program with the underlying premise that classroom instruction and research should be mutually supporting and interrelated. One consequence was the introduction of a doctorate program. Packy's

Suggested Citation:"Henry A. Schade." National Academy of Engineering. 1994. Memorial Tributes: Volume 7. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4779.
×

former doctoral students now occupy important positions in the world of shipbuilding and offshore engineering. The department's educational philosophy has had an impact internationally and has been emulated by almost all institutions teaching naval architecture. His reputation attracted graduate students from all over the world, and as a result of the international nature of the enrollment, a culturally diverse and intellectually stimulating atmosphere pervaded the department, an effect that continued after Packy's retirement in 1968.

Packy's own specialty was ship structures, and in this field he was preeminent. His reputation attracted to the department others in the field who wanted to spend a sabbatical year with him. Because of his interest in structures, Packy always maintained a close relationship with the Structures Group in the Department of Civil Engineering. As one might expect, his accomplishments have not gone without official recognition. In 1964 he was awarded the David W. Taylor Medal of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) and in 1971 the Gibbs Brothers Medal of the National Academy of Sciences. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1973. He has also served on important committees of SNAME and served as a member of its Council for many years. He has been a guest professor at both the Istanbul Technical University and the Technical University in Berlin. From the latter he received the degree Dr. Ing. honoris causa in 1972.

Packy's years of service as a naval officer marked his personal demeanor in noticeable ways, starting with a military bearing, careful attention to personal appearance, and meticulousness about appointments. Yet he was also open and always gentlemanly in his relationships with others. Although somewhat reserved in manner, Packy was friendly with colleagues and students. He was accessible to students and continued to influence them professionally long after they had left Berkeley. A popular and regular feature of the beginning of the fall semester was an open house for students and faculty hosted by Packy and his gracious wife, Alice. His recent years were made more difficult because of a broken leg, the aftermath of being struck by a speeding vehicle, and the long illness of his

Suggested Citation:"Henry A. Schade." National Academy of Engineering. 1994. Memorial Tributes: Volume 7. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4779.
×

wife, who predeceased him in 1990. Nevertheless, Packy continued to welcome visits by friends, colleagues, and former students until the end of his life. He is survived by two sons, Henry A. Schade, Jr., of Mountain View, California, and Richard J. Schade of Deerfield, Illinois, and three grandchildren.

Suggested Citation:"Henry A. Schade." National Academy of Engineering. 1994. Memorial Tributes: Volume 7. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4779.
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Suggested Citation:"Henry A. Schade." National Academy of Engineering. 1994. Memorial Tributes: Volume 7. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4779.
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Suggested Citation:"Henry A. Schade." National Academy of Engineering. 1994. Memorial Tributes: Volume 7. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4779.
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Suggested Citation:"Henry A. Schade." National Academy of Engineering. 1994. Memorial Tributes: Volume 7. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4779.
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Suggested Citation:"Henry A. Schade." National Academy of Engineering. 1994. Memorial Tributes: Volume 7. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4779.
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Suggested Citation:"Henry A. Schade." National Academy of Engineering. 1994. Memorial Tributes: Volume 7. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4779.
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Suggested Citation:"Henry A. Schade." National Academy of Engineering. 1994. Memorial Tributes: Volume 7. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4779.
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