Admiral | Vice Admiral | Rear Admiral | William Byrd | Richard E. Byrd | Robert Byrd | admiral | Richard Evelyn Byrd | Donald Byrd | Admiral (Royal Navy) | Admiral of the Fleet | Vice admiral (United States) | rear admiral | Rear admiral (United States) | Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy) | William Byrd III | William Byrd II | Tracy Byrd | Harry F. Byrd | Rear admiral | List of Lords High Admiral | Byrd Station | Alfred Byrd Graf | Admiral of the fleet | William Byrd I | War Admiral | Rear Admiral (United States) | Rear Admiral (Royal Navy) | Admiral (United States) | Opel Admiral |
The naming was proposed by Admiral Byrd for Gershom J. Thompson, eminent doctor and professor at the Mayo Clinic, who advised on medical questions relating to the Byrd Antarctic Expeditions, 1928–30 and 1933–35, and made financial contributions to them.
Bass shoes (including those worn by Charles Lindbergh during his Atlantic crossing and Admiral Byrd in his expeditions to Antarctica) were made exclusively in Wilton for more than a century until 1998.
While there he participated in Operation Highjump, a Naval expedition to Antarctica under the command of Admiral Byrd, during which he made the first flight over the Thurston Peninsula and later rescued six survivors of another flight over the same area.