The FReeper Foxhole Profiles Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King - June 28th, 2003

http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq36-3.htm ^

[SAMWolf]

Dear Lord,

There's a young man far from home,
called to serve his nation in time of war;
sent to defend our freedom
on some distant foreign shore.

We pray You keep him safe,
we pray You keep him strong,
we pray You send him safely home ...
for he's been away so long.

There's a young woman far from home,
serving her nation with pride.
Her step is strong, her step is sure,
there is courage in every stride.
We pray You keep her safe,
we pray You keep her strong,
we pray You send her safely home ...
for she's been away too long.

Bless those who await their safe return.
Bless those who mourn the lost.
Bless those who serve this country well,
no matter what the cost.

Author Unknown

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FReepers from the The Foxhole
join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time.

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Fleet Admiral Ernest Joseph King
(1878~1956)

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Ernest Joseph King was born in Lorain, Ohio, on November 23,1878. As a young boy he read an article in the Youth's Companion about the Naval Academy which stimulated his interest towards a Navy career. Upon graduating from Lorain High School in 1897, he was appointed to the Naval Academy by Representative Kerr of the Fourteenth District of Ohio. When he left home, his father, a railway mechanic, gave him a round-trip railway pass in case he might change his mind. He never used the return portion, although he kept it for many years.

In the Summer of 1898, during the Spanish American War, King served as a Naval Cadet in the USS San Francisco, flagship of the Northern Patrol Squadron, for which he received his first decoration, the Sampson Medal. He graduated with distinction in the Class of 1901, and served the two years at sea -- then required by law -- before being commissioned Ensign on June 7, 1903.

His assignments during his first sea cruise included service in USS Eagle surveying Cienfriegas, Cuba, in USS Cincinnati, a protected cruiser in the Asiatic Fleet during the Russo-Japanese War, in USS Illinois, flagship of the European Squadron, and USS Alabama, flagship of the second Division of the Atlantic Fleet.

His first shore duty came in 1906 when he went to the Naval Academy as an instructor in Ordnance and Gunnery for two years, followed by one year on the Executive Staff. Officers who were midshipmen at that time still remember him as a strict but fair duty officer.

There followed another sea cruise of three years beginning as Aide on the Staff of Commander Battleship Division Two, Atlantic Fleet in USS Minnesota, one year as Engineer Officer of USS New Hampshire and one year on the Staff of the Commander in Chief Atlantic Fleet in USS Connecticut.

His next shore cruise started in 1912 in command of the Engineering Experimental Station at Annapolis. After two years, in l914, he went to sea again, this time in destroyers in command of USS Cassin, then as aide to Commander Torpedo Flotilla Atlantic Fleet, Commander Sixth Division of the Flotilla. In 1916 he went to the staff of Admiral H. T. Mayo on which he served during WWI while the Admiral was Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet.



In 1919, Admiral King, then a Captain, became head of the Postgraduate School at the Naval Academy. Following that tour of duty, he commanded USS Bridge for a short period. In July 1922, he commenced a series of assignments which placed him in intimate contact with submarine operations when he was assigned to duty on the staff of Commander Submarine Flotillas, Atlantic Fleet, and as Commander Submarine Division Eleven. In 1923 he took command of the Submarine Base at New London with additional duty as Naval Inspector of Ordnance in Charge of the Mine Depot there. It was during this period in September 1925 that he was in charge of the salvage of USS S-51 which was sunk off Block Island.

Having had sea duty in destroyers, submarines and battleships, Captain King now began his career in Naval Aviation which was then taking its place in the Fleet. In 1926 he took command of the aircraft tender USS Wright with additional duties as Senior Aide on the Staff of Commander Air Squadrons, Atlantic Fleet, In January of 1927, he reported to the Naval Air Station, Pensacola for flight training and was designated naval aviator 3368 in May of that year. He rejoined Wright on completion of this training. When USS S-4 was sunk in December of that year off Provincetown, however, he was again assigned to command of her salvage operations.

Upon completion he returned to his command of the Wright, and had a short cruise as Commander Aircraft Squadrons, Scouting Fleet, until 1928, when he went ashore as Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics. In 1929 he assumed command of the Naval Air Station, Norfolk, Virginia. In June of 1930 he went to sea in command of USS Lexington for a two year cruise in that ship. He then had a year in the senior officers' course at the Naval War College. In 1933, with the rank of Rear Admiral, he became the Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics until 1936. During the next five years, except for the year 1940 on the General Board he commanded Aircraft Base Force, Aircraft Scouting Force, and as a Vice Admiral in 1938, Aircraft Battle Force. In February 1941, he was given the rank of Admiral as Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet and on 30 December of that year he became Commander-in-Chief, U. S. Fleet. In March 1942, the President by Executive Order, combined the office of Commander in Chief and the Chief of Naval Operations, and Admiral King assumed those combined duties on 18 March, when he relieved Admiral Stark as Chief of Naval Operations, the first and only officer to hold such an assignment. On 17 December 1944 he was advanced to the newly created rank of Fleet Admiral.



In 1945, when the position of Commander in Chief, U. S. Fleet ceased to exist, as an office established by the President pursuant to Executive Order 99635, Admiral King became Chief of Naval Operations in October of that year. In December he was relieved by Fleet Admiral Nimitz. From that time he served in an Advisory Capacity in the office of the Secretary of the Navy, and as President of the Naval Historical Foundation. He died at the Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, New Hampshire on 25 June 1956.

USS King (DLG-10, later DDG-41) was named in honor of Fleet Admiral King.

PROMOTIONS

• Graduated from the Naval Academy - Class of 1901
• Ensign - June 7, 1903
• Lieutenant (junior grade) - June 7, 1906
• Lieutenant - June 7, 1906
• Lieutenant Commander - July 1, 1913
• Commander - July 1, 1917
• Captain - September 21, 1918
• Rear Admiral - November 1, 1933
• Vice Admiral - January 29, 1938
• Admiral- February 1, 1941
• Fleet Admiral - December 17, 1944

DECORATIONS AND AWARDS

• Navy Cross
• Distinguished Service Medal with two gold stars
• Spanish Campaign Medal
• Sampson Medal
• Mexican Service Medal
• Victory Medal, Atlantic Fleet Clasp
• American Defense Service Medal, with bronze "A"
• American Campaign Medal
• World War II Victory Medal
• National Defense Service Medal

[snippy_about_it]

Great!

[SAMWolf]

Great song!!! Thanks

[snippy_about_it]

I've always liked that song. Just something about it. :)

[SAMWolf]

Yep. I'd call it a classic

[SAMWolf]

Admiral King discovers strategic plan in captain's safe

An interesting factoid I just came across here in the NY Public Library while reading the book "General of the Army" the biography of Gen. George C. Marshall was that when Admiral Ernest King made the Augusta his flagship in April 1941 he discovered that the locked safe in the captain's cabin contained just one strategic plan -- for a war with Mexico!!!

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Some other "raw" details about Admiral King, the Augusta, and the Atlantic Conference which I plan to edit into the website in the near future are:

King wanted Augusta as his flagship (it had been designed as a flagship). He had been promised Augusta but in early 1941 it was in overhaul in Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, following a seven year deployment to the Far East. King prodded, Mare Island finished a month early, and King broke his flag in Augusta in late April.

King had to be near enough to Washington to get there on short notice. He also wanted to be centrally located for operations at sea. King there chose Newport, RI as the Augusta's homeport in the spring of 1941. Augusta would moor to a large buoy off Jamestown Island with a single telephone line as direct contact to the mainland.

Roosevelt was reluctant to provide Stark and King with detailed rules of engagements so King developed a simple plan for deploying his fleet. He stationed a force of battleships, cruisers, and destroyers off Maine and Canada to escort North Atlantic convoys against U-boats and surface raiders. A small group of old cruisers and destroyers went to the South Atlantic (King was forever afraid of a German invasion from Senegal to Brazil). Finally he would maintain a reserve force off the Atlantic coast for deployment anywhere in the Atlantic.

In mid-May 1941 Augusta takes King to Bermuda to inspect the American naval facilities being built there.

Augusta returns to Newport on May 24 when King learned that Bismark was loose in the North Atlantic.

Without explanation or amplification King suddenly ordered the Augusta's to leave Newport on 2 August 1941 and proceed to NYC via the Long Island Sound.

Augusta anchors off Matha's Vineyard at mid-afternoon on 8/4. That evening Augusta receives signal light that the Potomac at entered the anchorage and that FDR was aboard and Potomac would come alongside at first light.

In the middle of April FDR summoned King to Hyde Park to tell him that he was anxious to meet with Churchill because only so much could be accomplished by letter, telegram and envoy. For political and security reasons FDR favored a clandestine rendezvous at sea.

After a long discussion with FDR using maps and charts it was decided the meeting would take place at Argentia Bay following FDR's visit with MacKenzie King of Canada. FDR gave King an arranged code word that FDR would use later by phone to tell King if the meeting was on.

FDR pledge King to secrecy (he was not even to tell Knox or Stark). The meeting was postponed for a number of reasons. Then on July 25 FDR summoned King once again to Hyde Park and told him the meeting at Argentia was a go.

To maintain security King issued only the minimum orders necessary. Not even Augusta's or Tuscaloosa's captains had known.

King ordered Augusta at 22 knots through fog to Argentia trusting the ship's radar to detect other ships. King arrived with 48 hours to spare. He could have gone slower.

Augusta arrives 8/7 on an unexpectedly clear morning passing though submarine nets and by patrolling destroyers.

They waited. Stark and King went sightseeing by air while FDR fished. Foul weather came and stayed for the next two days.

The British had brought an agenda and therefore were able to control the discussion. King noticed that Churchill to be talking, talking, talking while FDR listened.

When Churchil first came aboard Augusta he was startled to discover that Churchill in real life was short and stout with a florid complexion, and that he wore quixotic clothing (in this case a Brother of Trinity House uniform)

Admiral King appears on the cover of Life 11/23/41

12/6/41 - Augusta in Newport

FDR and Churchill ended their discussions with a ceremony of signing and exchanging illuminated copies of the Longfellow verse "O Ship of State" and autographed photos of themselves.



Master of the Sea; a biography of Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, by Thomas B. Buell (Little Brown 1980)

Robert Swanson

[SAMWolf]

Our Military Today
On Patrol

U.S. Army soldiers from A Company 3rd Battalion 7th Infantry Regiment patrol through an area of Karbala, Iraq about 60 kilometers west of Baghdad Saturday, June 28, 2003.(AP Photo/John Moore)


A U.S. soldier from the 1st Armored Division takes cover after hearing a shot while another soldier shouts to ask about the status of the squad in front of them in a Baghdad neighborhood, Saturday, June 28, 2003. The soldiers found several Kalashnikovs and arrested two men. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)


Two men arrested for hidding several weapons try to argue with US soldiers from the 1st Armored Division at a Baghdad neighborhood, Saturday, June 28, 2003. The soldiers found several Kalashnikov rifles hidden in an empty lot and arrested the two men. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)


A soldier from the US 1st Armored Division takes cover during a raid in a Baghdad neighborhood, Saturday, June 28, 2003. Dozens of soldiers raided an old sector of Baghdad, finding several Kalashnikovs and arresting two men. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)


US soldiers from the 1st Armored Division take cover after exiting from a Bradley armored vehicle before a raid in a Baghdad neighborhood, Saturday, June 28, 2003.


US soldiers from the 1st Armored Division take cover during a raid in a Baghdad neighborhood, Saturday, June 28, 2003.


A US soldier from the 1st Armored Division takes cover while an Iraqi women offers water for the soldiers during a raid in a Baghdad neighborhood, Saturday, June 28, 2003


US soldiers from the 1st Armored Division enter an Iraqi home during a raid in a Baghdad neighborhood, Saturday, June 28, 2003


A US soldier from the 1st Armored Division guards an arrested Iraqi during a raid in a Baghdad neighborhood, Saturday, June 28, 2003.


A US soldier from the 1st Armored Division takes cover during a raid in a Baghdad neighborhood, Saturday, June 28, 2003


A U.S. army soldier observes the street during a weapons search on the outskirts of Baghdad June 28, 2003. U.S. forces in Iraq found the bodies of two missing soldiers on Saturday north of the Iraqi capital just hours after guerrilla-style attackers killed one serviceman and wounded four others in a Baghdad neighborhood. REUTERS/Akram Saleh


Keeping watch : US soldiers keep watch as another breaks open the lock on a workshop door during a house-to-house search through old Baghdad. (AFP/Ahmad Al-Rubaye)

[snippy_about_it]

Thanks SAM, those are good pictures of our soldiers. Says a lot.

[SAMWolf]

Imho, soldiers shouldn't be doing house to house searchs and arresting people. They're job is to flatten the place and put survivors in a POW camp.

[snippy_about_it]

I agree with you partner! This 'nation building' is for the birds when it is still in such chaos and the 'nation' doesn't want to play along.

[PhilDragoo]

The first Allied offensive in the Pacific was “Operation Watchtower”, the capture of Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands. Guadalcanal was a notable operation from many standpoints - it involved numerous battles and six major naval engagements, and it took a bruising six months to achieve victory.

The Solomons campaign had been designed much earlier, by Admiral Ernest J. King, in February of 1942, when it became apparent that the Allies would have to oust the Japanese from the islands inch by bloody inch. The Japanese menace now lurked dangerously close to the coasts of Australia and New Zealand, threatening both nations and the slender lifeline linking them to American resources and material. They would have to be removed.

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For example, the Admiralty First Sea Lord and U.S. Navy Chief of Naval Operations and Commander in Chief (COMINCH) Admiral Ernest J. King often communicated directly with one another through the secured communiqué transmitted on a daily basis between the Winn and Knowles tracking rooms after 1943.

Many histories depict American leaders like Admiral King as being indecisive during the Drumbeat crisis. However, newly released documents largely undermine negative portrayals of King. Wartime documents clearly reveal King's behind-the-scenes efforts to establish key relationships within the British and American intelligence services. Like his British counterparts, King understood the importance of special intelligence in defeating U-boats. Hoping to develop an intelligence advantage, he placed a high priority on solving the M4 Enigma and aggressively supported U.S. Navy codebreaking and cryptologic efforts with money, personnel, and political clout. King ultimately authorized Knowles to study under Winn in the summer of 1942. By October, King supported a key U.S. Navy codebreaking decision-maker, Commander Joseph Wenger, as he negotiated war-winning arrangements with Royal Navy Captain Edward Travis, Director of GC&CS. Together, they agreed to streamline Allied intelligence gathering. As a result of the Travis and Wenger arrangements of 1942, Anglo-American codebreakers could effectively pool their intellectual and technical resources to solve the four-rotor Enigma and TRITON.

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Citation Accompanying the Distinguished Service Medal Awarded to Admiral Ernest J. King.
December 14, 1945

THE PRESIDENT of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Gold Star in lieu of the Third Distinguished Service Medal to

FLEET ADMIRAL ERNEST J. KING, UNITED STATES NAVY

for service as set forth in the following

CITATION:

For exceptionally meritorious service to the Government of the United States in a duty of great responsibility as Commander-in-Chief of the United States Fleet from December 20, 1941, and concurrently as Chief of Naval Operations from March 18, 1942, to October 10, 1945. During the above periods, Fleet Admiral King, in his dual capacity, exercised complete military control of the naval forces of the United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard and directed all activities of these forces in conjunction with the U.S. Army and our Allies to bring victory to the United States. As the United States Naval Member of the joint Chiefs of Staff and the Combined Chiefs of Staff, he coordinated the naval strength of this country with all agencies of the United States and of the Allied Nations, and with exceptional vision, driving energy, and uncompromising devotion to duty, he fulfilled his tremendous responsibility of command and direction of the greatest naval force the world has ever seen and the simultaneous expansion of all naval facilities in the prosecution of the war. With extraordinary foresight, sound judgment, and brilliant strategic genius, he exercised a guiding influence in the Allied strategy of victory.

Analyzing with astute military acumen the multiple complexity of large-scale combined operations and the paramount importance of amphibious warfare, Fleet Admiral King exercised a guiding influence in the formation of all operational and logistic plans and achieved complete coordination between the U.S. Navy and all Allied military and naval forces.

His outstanding qualities of leadership throughout the greatest period of crisis in the history of our country were an inspiration to the forces under his command and to all associated with him.

HARRY S. TRUMAN

NOTE: The presentation was made by the President in a ceremony in the East Room at the White House.

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[SAMWolf]

Evening PhilDragoo.

Thanks for the additional info on Admiral King.

[weldgophardline]

Good Evening SAMWolf and Snippy and all. Great pic's on the troops. I was Freep rallying today in Loveland, Colorado and the people driving by have not forgotten the troops. The horns honking were great. It was sad to hear that the two missing soldiers were found dead, the peole that say it is over and we need to bring them home have no clue to what is at stake and need to realize if we don't stop it there we will always be in danger here at home and else where.

[snippy_about_it]

Thank you Phil.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks weldgophardline. Nice to hear about your Freeping andd that people still support the military.

[snippy_about_it]

Foxette is sleepy! *yawn*

Good night SAM

[SAMWolf]

Good Night Snippy. Early Beatles! Does that bring back some memories!

[Victoria Delsoul]

Thanks for the update, Sam. There are over 200 soldiers dead so far, and I think they are continuously facing a guerrilla problem in Iraq.

[SAMWolf]

Now you know why their Army didn't put up much of a fight.

It's easier to hide among the women and children and do hit and run ambushes.

[GATOR NAVY]

I agree with Dave. I know "in" is correct but I've used the term because it sounds strange.

Re KNOX aground: it was before my time, but I think they were the ship that hit Pratas Reef outside of Hong Kong. The story I heard (don't know whether it's true or not) is that they saw the reef on radar and the OOD sped up because he thought it was a tsunami. So they plowed way up on the reef.

[GATOR NAVY]

Meant to say I've never used the term