Ships
- USS Enterprise (CV-6) Captain from 20 February 1946 · Relieved on 10 June 1946
Francis Emerson Bardwell was born in Yonkers, New York, on 15 July 1907, the son of Frank D. and Sarah (Laighton) Bardwell. He attended Yonkers and Gorton High Schools and entered the Naval Academy from New York in 1926. He graduated and was commissioned an ensign on 5 June 1930.
After a few months in the battleship Arkansas he went to Pensacola and was designated a naval aviator on 23 November 1931. A decade of flying followed. He served with Scouting Squadron 3 in Lexington (1932–34), Scouting Squadron 2 in Saratoga, and Patrol Squadron 4 at Pearl Harbor (1935–37). He then took the General Line course at the Postgraduate School in Annapolis, served on the staff of Commander Patrol Wing 5, and flew with Patrol Squadron 15 (later 53) until 1941.
When the United States entered the war he was operations officer at Naval Air Station Anacostia. From March 1943 he served on the staff of Commander Fleet Air Wing 2, first as operations officer and then as chief of staff. He was directly charged with training every multi-engine squadron deployed to the Southwest and Central Pacific, and he earned a commendation from the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet.
In August 1945 he became executive officer of Enterprise. In February 1946 he took command, while also serving as her executive officer. Afterward he was air operations officer for the Hawaiian Sea Frontier. He commanded Aircraft Development Squadron 4 at Patuxent River (1948), Naval Auxiliary Air Station Whiting Field (1950–51), and directed the Bureau of Aeronautics' Aircraft Division before taking command of the escort carrier Siboney in July 1953. He died on 13 September 1979.