Ships
- USS Barnes (CVE-20) Captain from 20 February 1943 · Relieved on 1 July 1943
- USS Enterprise (CV-6) Captain from 29 July 1944 · Relieved on 14 December 1944
Cato Douglas Glover Jr. was born on 15 September 1897 in Centerville, Alabama, the son of Cato D. Glover and Emma Delphine Seed Glover. He attended the University of Alabama before entering the U.S. Naval Academy in 1916, and graduated on 6 June 1919 with the Class of 1920.
His long life in naval aviation began at Pensacola, where he earned his wings in 1922 and then joined a scouting squadron based on the seaplane tender USS Wright. Before the war his significant duty included executive officer of USS Saratoga and service on the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet. In February 1943 he put the escort carrier Barnes (CVE-20) into commission and spent months delivering replacement aircraft across the Pacific. That made him one of only two Big E skippers who arrived with an earlier carrier command.
Glover took Enterprise after the Marianas operation in July 1944 and led her into the Battle of Leyte Gulf. On 24 October 1944 her air group struck the Japanese Southern Force in the Sulu Sea, damaging the battleships Yamashiro and Fusō and the cruiser Mogami. That afternoon it hit the giant battleship Musashi, which sank under the combined blows of the American carriers. Glover received the Navy Cross. His action report for 22–31 October also records the Big E's first encounter with kamikazes. He also held the Silver Star and two Bronze Stars with Combat "V".
After the war he served on the staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and as chief of staff to the Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic. When he retired in 1957, after 41 years of service, he was acting commander in chief of NATO's Mediterranean naval forces, and he was advanced to four-star rank. He lived in Rumson, New Jersey, and died on 5 November 1988 in Navesink, New Jersey, at 91. He is buried in the Quaker Cemetery at Camden, South Carolina, beside his wife, Ellen Manning Williams Glover.
Sources
- New York Times obituary, "Cato D. Glover, 91, Naval Commander And Early Aviator" (7 Nov 1988)
- U.S. Navy Memorial Navy Log, Cato Douglas Glover Jr.
- Find a Grave memorial 61929409 (Navy Cross citation, burial)
- Naval History magazine, "'The Big E' Leadership Factory" (Aug 2015)
- Enterprise CV-6 action report, 22–31 Oct 1944
- NavSource, USS Enterprise (CV-6) commanding officers