Fred Korth

Frederick Herman Korth (September 9, 1909 – September 14, 1998) served as Secretary of the Navy during 1962-63; he was also Assistant Secretary of the Army in 1952-53.

Appointed as Navy Secretary by President John F. Kennedy on 4 January 1962, he resigned October, 1963. Various sources cite reasons for Secretary Korth’s departure. He was president of the Continental National Bank of Fort Worth, Texas. Continental National Bank was a principal money source for the General Dynamics plant for the TFX (Tactical Fighter Experimental), which later emerged as the more well-known F-111 Aardvark. A commentary in the May, 1985 edition of Proceedings magazine exonerates Korth for any improprieties relating to the awarding of TFX.

Korth was born in 1909 in Yorktown, TX. Fred Korth died in September 1998 in El Paso, Texas and was buried in October 1998 under a three century old Texas Live Oak tree on his ranch in Karnes County, Texas.