John S. McCain Sr.

John S. McCain Sr.
Birth name	John Sidney McCain
Nickname(s)	Slew
Born	(1884-08-09)9 August 1884 Carroll County, Mississippi, U.S.
Died	6 September 1945(1945-09-06) (aged 61) Coronado, California, U.S.
Place of burial	Arlington National Cemetery
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Navy
Years of service	1906–1945
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	USS Sirius USS Nitro USS Ranger Bureau of Aeronautics Task Group 38.1 Task Force 38
Battles/wars	World War I First Battle of the Atlantic World War II Guadalcanal Campaign Mariana and Palau Islands campaign Philippines Campaign Okinawa campaign
Awards	Navy Cross Navy Distinguished Service Medal Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Spouse(s)	Catherine Davey Vaulx
Relations	John S. McCain Jr. (son) John S. McCain III (grandson)

John Sidney "Slew" McCain Sr. (9 August 1884 – 6 September 1945) was a United States Navy admiral and the patriarch of the McCain military family who held several commands during the Pacific War of World War II and was a pioneer of aircraft carrier operations. He and his son, John S. McCain Jr., were the first father-and-son pair to achieve four-star admiral rank in the U.S. Navy.

A graduate of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, where he was ranked 79th out of 116 in his class of 1906. His early career was on battleships and cruisers. During World War I he served on convoy duty in the Atlantic. Between 1918 and 1935 he alternated between duty ashore with the Bureau of Navigation, where he developed officer personnel policies, and at sea, where he commanded the cargo ship USS Sirius and ammunition ship USS Nitro. He attended the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island in 1928 and 1929. In 1935, he qualified as a naval aviator, and commanded the aircraft carrier USS Ranger from 1937 to 1939.

During World War II, he commanded land-based air operations in support of the Guadalcanal campaign. He served as Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics and Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air. In 1944–1945, he led the Task Force 38 in operations off the Philippines and Okinawa and air strikes against Formosa and the Japanese home islands that caused destruction of Japanese naval and air forces in the closing period of the war. He died four days after attending the formal Japanese surrender ceremony on 2 September 1945.

Several of McCain's descendants also graduated from Annapolis. His grandson, John S. McCain III, was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War and later a congressman and 2008 presidential nominee.