WILLIAM F. RABORN IS DEAD AT 84; LED PRODUCTION OF POLARIS MISSILE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-00418R000100300002-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 9, 2012
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: March 14, 1990
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/09: CIA-RDP99-00418R000100300002-7
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STAT
William F. Raborn Is Dead at 84;
Led Production of Polaris Missile
By MICHAEL WINES
Spertal to The New York Times
WASHINGTON, March 12? William
F. Raborn Jr., a retired Navy vice ad-
miral who led the development of the
Polaris nuclear missile in the 1950's
and later headed the Central Intelli-
gence Agency under President Lyndon
B. Johnson, died of cal diac arrest on
March 7 at his home in McLean, Va. He
was 84 years old.
Admiral Raborn was the first direc-
tor of the Navy's Fleet Ballistic Missile
Program, which supervised develop-
ment and production of the world's
first submarine-launched nuclear mis-
sile, the Polaris. The weapon was
hailed as an American triumph in the
arms race and as a boon to the coun-
try's allies, whose acceptance of Amer-
ican nuclear missiles on their soil was
!a constant source of friction with the
, Soviet Union.
More important, the Polaris proved
the harbinger of a series of submarine-
launched missiles that changed the na-
ture of the American nuclear force. To-
day, more than half of all nuclear war-
heads are carried on missiles and tor-
pedoes in submarines, largely because
the vessels are mobile and extremely
difficult to detect.
Admiral Raborn was widely praised
for completing development of the mis-
sile well ahead of schedule by holding
his staff strictly accountable for each
stage in the weapon's progress. Among
colleagues, he was regarded as a
skilled seaman and manager, a man
who kept on his office walls pictures of
great naval officers as well as organiz-
ers in science and industry.
He was also the quintessential mili-
tary man who, it is reported, rushed out
of retirement in 1965 after President
Johnson asked him to succeed John A:
McCone as Director of Central Intelli-
gence.
In his book on the C.I.A., "The Agen-
cy," John Raneleagh quoted a former
colleague of Admiral Raborn who de-
scribed the admiral's reaction when
sworn in as Director: "After the Presi-
dent had said some kind things about
him, about how he'd searched the coun-
try over and the only man he could find.
really capable of running it was 'Red'
Raborn, there he was with tears trick-
ling down his cheeks and coming off his
chin in steady little drops. They really
were."
Mr. Raborn was Director of -Central
Intelligence from April 1965 to June
1966, when he was succeeded by his
deputy, Richard M. Helms.
His tenure was widely described as a
difficult one. His predecessor, Mr.
McCone, had been dismissed, in part
because he openly disagreed with the
President on intelligence issues involv-
ing the expanding war in Vietnam. Mr.
Raborn, trained in the military hierar-
chy, worked to satisfy President John-
son's demands that the agency provide
more intelligence and run clandestine
operations in the war.
William Francis Raborn Jr. was
born June 8, 1905, in Decatur, Tex. He
graduated from the United States
The Washington Post
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The Washington Times
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New York Daily News
USA Today
The Chicago Tribune
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Naval Academy in 1928 and was com-
missioned an ensign. After World War
II service in Washington and at sea, he
became a captain in 1945, and in 1952
he was made an official in the guided
missile division of the Office of the
Chief of Naval Operations.
In 1954, he became commander of
the destroyer Bennington, where his
Navy career took an abrupt and, it first
seemed, unfortunate turn. In May 1954,
an explosion and fire below decks
killed 91 of the Bennington's crew and
injured at least 20. Although Captain
Raborn was praised for his handling of
the disaster, he was assigned to a pro-
gram that ranked near the bottom of
the Navy's priorities: developing an in-
tercontinental nuclear missile for sub-
marines.
He took charge of the Polaris project
on Jan. 1, 1956, by then a rear admiral,
and rode herd on its manufacturers
and planners. On July 20, 1960, the first
Polaris was launched from a subma-
rine, the George Washington, that was
submerged off Cape Canaveral.
The missile landed on target 1,150
miles away.
Admiral Raborn retired from the
Navy in 1963 and moved to California,
where he became a vice president of
the Aerojet-General Corporation. He
returned to the company for three
years after serving as director of the
C.I.A.
From 1970 to 1988, he managed his
own concern, the W. F. Raborn Compa-
ny, in McLean.
Admiral Raborn received the Distin-
guished Service Medal and the Presi-
dential National Security Medal during
his years in the Navy and at the C.I.A.
He is survived by his wife, Mildred T.
Raborn; a son, William F. Raborn 3d,
and a daughter, Priscilla Richardson,
both of California; three brothers,
B. M. Raborn, C. B. Raborn and R. C.
Raborn, all of Texas, and four grand-
children. He was buried in the United
States Naval Academy Cemetery in
Annapolis, Md.
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/09: CIA-RDP99-00418R000100300002-7 .