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EspañolERNEST KING
(Redirected from Ernest J. King)
Fleet Admiral 'Ernest Joseph King' GCB (November 23, 1878 – June 25, 1956) was Commander in Chief, United States Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations (COMINCH-CNO) during World War II. As COMINCH, he directed the United States Navy's operations, planning, and administration and was a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was the US Navy's second most senior officer after Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, and the second admiral to be promoted to five star rank. As COMINCH, he served under Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox and, later, James Forrestal.
King was born in Lorain, Ohio on 23 November 1878, the son of James Clydesdale King and Elizabath Keam King. [1] He attended the U.S. Naval Academy from 1897 until 1901, graduating fourth in his class.[2]
While still at the Academy, he served on the USS ''San Francisco'' during the Spanish American War. After graduation, he served a junior officer on the survey ship USS ''Eagle'', the battleships USS ''Illinois'', USS ''Alabama'' and USS ''New Hampshire'', and the cruiser USS ''Cincinnati''.[3]
While still at the Naval Academy, he met Mattie Egerton, a Baltimore socialite, whom he married in a ceremony at the Naval Academy Chapel on 10 October 1905.[4] They had six daughters, Claire, Elizabeth, Florie, Martha, Eleanor and Mildred; and then a son, Ernest Joseph King, Jr.[5]
King returned to shore duty at Annapolis in 1912. He received his first command, the destroyer USS ''Terry'' in 1914, participating in the United States occupation of Veracruz. He then moved on to a more modern ship, USS ''Cassin''.
During World War I he served on the staff of Vice Admiral Henry T. Mayo, the Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet. As such, he was a frequent visitor to the Royal Navy and occasionally saw action as an observer on board British ships. He was awarded the Navy Cross "for distinguished service in the line of his profession as assistant chief of staff of the Atlantic Fleet".[6]
After the war, King, now a captain, became head of the Naval Postgraduate School. Along with Captains Dudley Wright Knox and William S. Pye, King prepared a report on naval training that recommended changes to naval training and career paths. Most of the report's recommendations were accepted and became policy.[7]
Before World War I he served in the surface fleet. From 1923 to 1925, he held several posts associated with submarines. As a junior captain , the best sea command he was able to secure in 1921 was the store ship USS ''Bridge''. The relatively new submarine force offered the prospect of advancement.[8]
King attended a short training course at the Naval Submarine Base New London before taking command of a submarine division, flying his commodore's pennant from USS ''S-20'. He never earned his Submarine Warfare insignia, although he did propose and design the insignia itself. In 1923, he took over command of Submarine Base itself.[9]
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 1927 he began flying lessons. He was designated Naval Aviator 3368 in May 1927, when he resumed command of ''Wright''. He commanded ''Wright'' until 1929 (with a brief interlude commanding the salvage operations of USS ''S-4'') when he was assigned command of the Naval Air Station, Norfolk, Virginia. In June 1930, he became captain of the carrier USS ''Lexington'' which he commanded for the next two years. In 1932 he attended the Naval War College. In 1933, he was promoted to Rear Admiral, and, as a promoter of air warfare, was appointed Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics. From 1936 until 1940, he commanded various aircraft forces. He was promoted to Vice Admiral in 1938.
In 1940, he served on the General Board. He was promoted to Admiral in February 1941 and appointed Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet. On 30 December 1941 he became Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Fleet. On 18 March 1942, he was appointed Chief of Naval Operations, relieving Admiral Stark. He is the only person to hold this combined command. On 17 December 1944 he was promoted to the newly created rank of Fleet Admiral. He retired on December 15, 1945 but was recalled as an advisor to the Secretary of the Navy in 1950.
After retiring, King lived in Washington DC until ill-health forced him to stay in the Naval Hospital at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He died of a heart-attack on June 26, 1956 and was buried in the United States Naval Academy Cemetery at Annapolis, Maryland.
King was intelligent and extremely capable, but controversial. Some consider him to have been one of the greatest admirals of the 20th century; others, however, point out that he never commanded ships or fleets at sea in war time, and that his anglophobia led him to make decisions which cost many Allied lives. He was considered rude and abrasive; as a result, King was loathed by many officers with whom he served.
There was a tongue-in-cheek remark carried about by Naval personnel at the time that ''"Admiral King was the most even-tempered person in the United States Navy: He was angry 100% of the time!"'' Roosevelt once described King as "... ''a man who shaves with a blow torch''".
King is famous for stating to a reporter at the beginning of WWII “When the shooting starts, they call for the sons-of –bitches”. [11]
At the start of US involvement in World War II, King decided not to request blackouts on the U.S. eastern seaboard and not to convoy ships. Many attribute these decisions to King's Anglophobia, as the convoys and seaboard blackouts were British proposals, and he was loath to have his much-beloved U.S Navy adopt any ideas from the Royal Navy. He also refused the loan of British convoy escorts when the USN had only a handful of suitable vessels.
Instead of convoys, King had the U.S Navy and Coast Guard perform regular anti-submarine patrols, but these patrols followed a regular schedule. U-boat commanders learned the schedule, and cooordinated their attacks to these schedules. Leaving the lights on in coastal towns illuminated merchant ships to the U-Boats. As a result, there were disastrous shipping losses - two million tons lost in January and February 1942. However King resisted the use of convoys because he believed that he lacked sufficient escort vessels to make them effective and that the formation of convoys with inadequate escort would give the enemy larger targets. He preferred to utilize his limited number of escort craft for troop convoys. Not one US troop ship was lost. It was not until May 1942 that King could establish a day-and-night interlocking convoy system running from Newport, Rhode Island, to Key West, Florida.[12]
By the end of 1942, the submarine threat to shipping in U.S. coastal waters was contained. The U-boats' "second happy time" ended, with the loss of seven U-boats and a dramatic reduction in shipping losses. The same effect occurred when convoys were extended to the Caribbean. King's initial decision in this matter had been flawed. [13]
Other questionable decisions were the refusal to allow long-range Liberators to be allocated to Atlantic patrols (thus allowing the U-boats a safe area in the middle of the Atlantic - the "Atlantic Gap"), the denial of adequate numbers of landing craft to the Allied invasion of Europe and the reluctance to permit the Royal Navy's Pacific Fleet any role in the Pacific. In all of these instances, circumstances forced a re-think or he was over-ruled.
General Hastings Ismay, chief of staff to Winston Churchill, described King as:
King was a strong believer in the ''Germany first'' strategy, and gave priority to the war in the Atlantic. However, his natural aggression did not permit him to leave resources idle in the Atlantic that could be utilized in the Pacific, especially when "it was doubtful when — if ever — the British would consent to a cross-Channel operation".[14] King once complained that the Pacific deserved 30% of Allied resources but was getting only 15%. When he was accused by General Alan Brooke of favoring the Pacific war, the argument became heated. General Joseph Stilwell wrote: "Brooke got nasty, and King got good and sore. King almost climbed over the table at Brooke. God, he was mad. I wished he had socked him."[15]
Following Japan's defeat at the Battle of Midway, King advocated the invasion of Guadalcanal. He won the argument, and the invasion went ahead. It was ultimately successful, and was the first time the Japanese lost ground during the War. For his attention to the Pacific Theatre he is highly regarded by some Australian war historians.[1]
In spite of (or perhaps partly because of) the fact that the two men did not get along[2], the combined influence of King and General Douglas MacArthur increased the diversion of resources to the Pacific War[3].
Other controversies involving Admiral Ernest King include:
★ The US Coast Guard Auxiliary aka "Corsair Fleet" at [4].
★ Lt. Commander Joseph Rochefort and the Battle of Midway
★ Captain Charles Butler McVay III Court-martial [5]
★ Midshipman - January 1905
King never held the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade although, for administrative reasons, his service record annotates his promotion to Lieutenant, and Lieutenant J.G., on the same day.
★ Navy Cross
★ Navy Distinguished Service Medal (w/two gold stars)
★ Spanish Campaign Medal
★ Sampson Medal
★ Mexican Service Medal
★ World War I Victory Medal (w/Atlantic Fleet campaign clasp)
★ American Defense Service Medal (w/Atlantic Device)
★ American Campaign Medal
★ World War II Victory Medal
★ National Defense Service Medal
King was also the recipient of several foreign awards and decorations:
★ Croix de guerre (Belgium) 1948
★ Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) 1948
★ Order of Merit, Grande Official (Brazil) 1943
★ Order of Pao-Ting (China) 1945
★ Naval Order of Merit (Cuba) 1943
★ Estrella Abdon Calderon (Ecuador) 1943
★ Croix de guerre (France) 1944
★ Grand officier de la Légion d'honneur (France) 1944
★ Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (United Kingdom) 1945
★ Grand Cross of the Order of George I (Greece) 1946
★ Officer of the Order of the Crown of Italy 1933
★ Knight of the Grand Cross of the Military Order of Italy 1948
★ Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands) 1948
★ Commander of the Order of Vasco Nunez de Balboa (Panama) 1929
The destroyer leader USS ''King'' (DL-10) was named in his honor. A major high school in his hometown of Lorain, Ohio also bears his name — Admiral King High School. Also named after him is the Department of Defense high school on Sasebo Naval Base, in Japan. In 1956, schools located on the U.S. Naval Bases and Air Stations were given names of U.S. heroes of the past. The Sasebo Dependents School was named after the famed World War II Hero, Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King. Thus, the official name of Ernest J. King School, Navy 3912, FPO San Francisco, California became effective School Year 1956/57. Recognizing King's great personal and professional interest in maritime history, the Secretary of the Navy named in his honor an academic chair at the Naval War College to be held with the title of the Ernest J. King Professor of Maritime History.
1. Master of Sea Power: A Biography of Fleet admiral Ernest J. King, , Thomas B., Buell, Little, Brown and Company, ,
2. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II: Volume I. The Battle of the Atlantic, September 1939-May 1943, , Samuel Eliot, Morison, Little, Brown and Company, ,
3. Buell, ''Master of Sea Power'', pp. 10-12, 15-41
4. Ibid, pp. 12, 17, 26
5. Ibid, pp. 56, 452
6. Full Text Citations For Award of The Navy Cross to Members of the US Navy World War I
7. Buell, ''Master of Sea Power'', pp. 54-55
8. Ibid, p. 58
9. Ibid, pp. 62-64
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
★ Ernest King biography on Official US Navy website
★ -- an article documenting the "sons of bitches" quote and other relevant facts
★ 24 Armed Trawlers of the RNPS 'Churchill's Pirate's' were sent to protect the US coast in 1942.
Fleet Admiral 'Ernest Joseph King' GCB (November 23, 1878 – June 25, 1956) was Commander in Chief, United States Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations (COMINCH-CNO) during World War II. As COMINCH, he directed the United States Navy's operations, planning, and administration and was a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was the US Navy's second most senior officer after Fleet Admiral William D. Leahy, and the second admiral to be promoted to five star rank. As COMINCH, he served under Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox and, later, James Forrestal.
| Contents |
| Early life |
| Surface Ships |
| Submarines |
| Aviation |
| Analysis |
| Dates of rank |
| Awards and decorations |
| Other |
| References |
| Further reading |
| External links |
Early life
King was born in Lorain, Ohio on 23 November 1878, the son of James Clydesdale King and Elizabath Keam King. [1] He attended the U.S. Naval Academy from 1897 until 1901, graduating fourth in his class.[2]
Surface Ships
While still at the Academy, he served on the USS ''San Francisco'' during the Spanish American War. After graduation, he served a junior officer on the survey ship USS ''Eagle'', the battleships USS ''Illinois'', USS ''Alabama'' and USS ''New Hampshire'', and the cruiser USS ''Cincinnati''.[3]
While still at the Naval Academy, he met Mattie Egerton, a Baltimore socialite, whom he married in a ceremony at the Naval Academy Chapel on 10 October 1905.[4] They had six daughters, Claire, Elizabeth, Florie, Martha, Eleanor and Mildred; and then a son, Ernest Joseph King, Jr.[5]
King returned to shore duty at Annapolis in 1912. He received his first command, the destroyer USS ''Terry'' in 1914, participating in the United States occupation of Veracruz. He then moved on to a more modern ship, USS ''Cassin''.
During World War I he served on the staff of Vice Admiral Henry T. Mayo, the Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet. As such, he was a frequent visitor to the Royal Navy and occasionally saw action as an observer on board British ships. He was awarded the Navy Cross "for distinguished service in the line of his profession as assistant chief of staff of the Atlantic Fleet".[6]
After the war, King, now a captain, became head of the Naval Postgraduate School. Along with Captains Dudley Wright Knox and William S. Pye, King prepared a report on naval training that recommended changes to naval training and career paths. Most of the report's recommendations were accepted and became policy.[7]
Submarines
Before World War I he served in the surface fleet. From 1923 to 1925, he held several posts associated with submarines. As a junior captain , the best sea command he was able to secure in 1921 was the store ship USS ''Bridge''. The relatively new submarine force offered the prospect of advancement.[8]
King attended a short training course at the Naval Submarine Base New London before taking command of a submarine division, flying his commodore's pennant from USS ''S-20'. He never earned his Submarine Warfare insignia, although he did propose and design the insignia itself. In 1923, he took over command of Submarine Base itself.[9]
Aviation
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 1927 he began flying lessons. He was designated Naval Aviator 3368 in May 1927, when he resumed command of ''Wright''. He commanded ''Wright'' until 1929 (with a brief interlude commanding the salvage operations of USS ''S-4'') when he was assigned command of the Naval Air Station, Norfolk, Virginia. In June 1930, he became captain of the carrier USS ''Lexington'' which he commanded for the next two years. In 1932 he attended the Naval War College. In 1933, he was promoted to Rear Admiral, and, as a promoter of air warfare, was appointed Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics. From 1936 until 1940, he commanded various aircraft forces. He was promoted to Vice Admiral in 1938.
In 1940, he served on the General Board. He was promoted to Admiral in February 1941 and appointed Commander-in-Chief, Atlantic Fleet. On 30 December 1941 he became Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Fleet. On 18 March 1942, he was appointed Chief of Naval Operations, relieving Admiral Stark. He is the only person to hold this combined command. On 17 December 1944 he was promoted to the newly created rank of Fleet Admiral. He retired on December 15, 1945 but was recalled as an advisor to the Secretary of the Navy in 1950.
After retiring, King lived in Washington DC until ill-health forced him to stay in the Naval Hospital at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He died of a heart-attack on June 26, 1956 and was buried in the United States Naval Academy Cemetery at Annapolis, Maryland.
Analysis
King was intelligent and extremely capable, but controversial. Some consider him to have been one of the greatest admirals of the 20th century; others, however, point out that he never commanded ships or fleets at sea in war time, and that his anglophobia led him to make decisions which cost many Allied lives. He was considered rude and abrasive; as a result, King was loathed by many officers with whom he served.
He was... perhaps the most disliked Allied leader of World War II. Only British Field Marshal Montgomery may have had more enemies... King also loved parties and often drank to excess. Apparently, he reserved his charm for the wives of fellow naval officers. On the job, he "seemed always to be angry or annoyed."
[10]
There was a tongue-in-cheek remark carried about by Naval personnel at the time that ''"Admiral King was the most even-tempered person in the United States Navy: He was angry 100% of the time!"'' Roosevelt once described King as "... ''a man who shaves with a blow torch''".
King is famous for stating to a reporter at the beginning of WWII “When the shooting starts, they call for the sons-of –bitches”. [11]
Admiral King at the Atlantic Conference in 1941
At the start of US involvement in World War II, King decided not to request blackouts on the U.S. eastern seaboard and not to convoy ships. Many attribute these decisions to King's Anglophobia, as the convoys and seaboard blackouts were British proposals, and he was loath to have his much-beloved U.S Navy adopt any ideas from the Royal Navy. He also refused the loan of British convoy escorts when the USN had only a handful of suitable vessels.
Instead of convoys, King had the U.S Navy and Coast Guard perform regular anti-submarine patrols, but these patrols followed a regular schedule. U-boat commanders learned the schedule, and cooordinated their attacks to these schedules. Leaving the lights on in coastal towns illuminated merchant ships to the U-Boats. As a result, there were disastrous shipping losses - two million tons lost in January and February 1942. However King resisted the use of convoys because he believed that he lacked sufficient escort vessels to make them effective and that the formation of convoys with inadequate escort would give the enemy larger targets. He preferred to utilize his limited number of escort craft for troop convoys. Not one US troop ship was lost. It was not until May 1942 that King could establish a day-and-night interlocking convoy system running from Newport, Rhode Island, to Key West, Florida.[12]
By the end of 1942, the submarine threat to shipping in U.S. coastal waters was contained. The U-boats' "second happy time" ended, with the loss of seven U-boats and a dramatic reduction in shipping losses. The same effect occurred when convoys were extended to the Caribbean. King's initial decision in this matter had been flawed. [13]
Other questionable decisions were the refusal to allow long-range Liberators to be allocated to Atlantic patrols (thus allowing the U-boats a safe area in the middle of the Atlantic - the "Atlantic Gap"), the denial of adequate numbers of landing craft to the Allied invasion of Europe and the reluctance to permit the Royal Navy's Pacific Fleet any role in the Pacific. In all of these instances, circumstances forced a re-think or he was over-ruled.
General Hastings Ismay, chief of staff to Winston Churchill, described King as:
tough as nails and carried himself as stiffly as a poker. He was blunt and stand-offish, almost to the point of rudeness. At the start, he was intolerant and suspicious of all things British, especially the Royal Navy; but he was almost equally intolerant and suspicious of the American Army. War against Japan was the problem to which he had devoted the study of a lifetime, and he resented the idea of American resources being used for any other purpose than to destroy Japanese. He mistrusted Churchill's powers of advocacy, and was apprehensive that he would wheedle President Roosevelt into neglecting the war in the Pacific.
King was a strong believer in the ''Germany first'' strategy, and gave priority to the war in the Atlantic. However, his natural aggression did not permit him to leave resources idle in the Atlantic that could be utilized in the Pacific, especially when "it was doubtful when — if ever — the British would consent to a cross-Channel operation".[14] King once complained that the Pacific deserved 30% of Allied resources but was getting only 15%. When he was accused by General Alan Brooke of favoring the Pacific war, the argument became heated. General Joseph Stilwell wrote: "Brooke got nasty, and King got good and sore. King almost climbed over the table at Brooke. God, he was mad. I wished he had socked him."[15]
Following Japan's defeat at the Battle of Midway, King advocated the invasion of Guadalcanal. He won the argument, and the invasion went ahead. It was ultimately successful, and was the first time the Japanese lost ground during the War. For his attention to the Pacific Theatre he is highly regarded by some Australian war historians.[1]
In spite of (or perhaps partly because of) the fact that the two men did not get along[2], the combined influence of King and General Douglas MacArthur increased the diversion of resources to the Pacific War[3].
Other controversies involving Admiral Ernest King include:
★ The US Coast Guard Auxiliary aka "Corsair Fleet" at [4].
★ Lt. Commander Joseph Rochefort and the Battle of Midway
★ Captain Charles Butler McVay III Court-martial [5]
Dates of rank
★ Midshipman - January 1905
| Ensign | Lieutenant Junior Grade | Lieutenant | Lieutenant Commander | Commander | Captain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| O-1 | O-2 | O-3 | O-4 | O-5 | O-6 |
 |  |  |  |  |  |
| 7 January 1907 | 31 January 1910 | 31 January 1910 | 29 August 1916 | 1 February 1918 | 2 June 1927 |
| Rear Admiral (lower half) | Rear Admiral (upper half) | Vice Admiral | Admiral | Fleet Admiral |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| O-7 | O-8 | O-9 | O-10 | O-11 |
 |  |  |  |  |
| previously held | 23 June 1938 | previously held | 31 December 1941 | 19 December 1944 |
King never held the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade although, for administrative reasons, his service record annotates his promotion to Lieutenant, and Lieutenant J.G., on the same day.
Awards and decorations
★ Navy Cross
★ Navy Distinguished Service Medal (w/two gold stars)
★ Spanish Campaign Medal
★ Sampson Medal
★ Mexican Service Medal
★ World War I Victory Medal (w/Atlantic Fleet campaign clasp)
★ American Defense Service Medal (w/Atlantic Device)
★ American Campaign Medal
★ World War II Victory Medal
★ National Defense Service Medal
King was also the recipient of several foreign awards and decorations:
★ Croix de guerre (Belgium) 1948
★ Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) 1948
★ Order of Merit, Grande Official (Brazil) 1943
★ Order of Pao-Ting (China) 1945
★ Naval Order of Merit (Cuba) 1943
★ Estrella Abdon Calderon (Ecuador) 1943
★ Croix de guerre (France) 1944
★ Grand officier de la Légion d'honneur (France) 1944
★ Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (United Kingdom) 1945
★ Grand Cross of the Order of George I (Greece) 1946
★ Officer of the Order of the Crown of Italy 1933
★ Knight of the Grand Cross of the Military Order of Italy 1948
★ Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands) 1948
★ Commander of the Order of Vasco Nunez de Balboa (Panama) 1929
Other
Grave of Admiral King
The destroyer leader USS ''King'' (DL-10) was named in his honor. A major high school in his hometown of Lorain, Ohio also bears his name — Admiral King High School. Also named after him is the Department of Defense high school on Sasebo Naval Base, in Japan. In 1956, schools located on the U.S. Naval Bases and Air Stations were given names of U.S. heroes of the past. The Sasebo Dependents School was named after the famed World War II Hero, Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King. Thus, the official name of Ernest J. King School, Navy 3912, FPO San Francisco, California became effective School Year 1956/57. Recognizing King's great personal and professional interest in maritime history, the Secretary of the Navy named in his honor an academic chair at the Naval War College to be held with the title of the Ernest J. King Professor of Maritime History.
References
1. Master of Sea Power: A Biography of Fleet admiral Ernest J. King, , Thomas B., Buell, Little, Brown and Company, ,
2. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II: Volume I. The Battle of the Atlantic, September 1939-May 1943, , Samuel Eliot, Morison, Little, Brown and Company, ,
3. Buell, ''Master of Sea Power'', pp. 10-12, 15-41
4. Ibid, pp. 12, 17, 26
5. Ibid, pp. 56, 452
6. Full Text Citations For Award of The Navy Cross to Members of the US Navy World War I
7. Buell, ''Master of Sea Power'', pp. 54-55
8. Ibid, p. 58
9. Ibid, pp. 62-64
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Further reading
External links
★ Ernest King biography on Official US Navy website
★ -- an article documenting the "sons of bitches" quote and other relevant facts
★ 24 Armed Trawlers of the RNPS 'Churchill's Pirate's' were sent to protect the US coast in 1942.
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