41 Facts About Ernest King

Shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Ernest King was appointed as Commander in Chief of the United States Fleet.

In March 1942, Ernest King succeeded Harold Stark as Chief of Naval Operations.

In December 1944, Ernest King became the second admiral to be promoted to fleet admiral.

Ernest King left active duty in December 1945 and died in 1956.

Ernest King graduated from what is Lorain High School as valedictorian in the Class of 1897; his commencement speech was entitled "Values of Adversity".

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Ernest King attended the United States Naval Academy from 1897 until 1901, graduating fourth in his class.

Ernest King never earned his Submarine Warfare insignia, although he did propose and design the now-familiar dolphin insignia.

Ernest King therefore reported to Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, for aviator training in January 1927.

Ernest King was the only captain in his class of 20, which included Commander Richmond K Turner.

Ernest King received his wings as Naval Aviator No 3368 on 26 May 1927 and resumed command of Wright.

Ernest King then became Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics under Moffett.

Ernest King hoped to be appointed as either Chief of Naval Operations or Commander in Chief, United States Fleet, but on 15 June 1939, he was posted to the General Board, an elephants' graveyard where senior officers spent the time remaining before retirement.

Ernest King's career was resurrected by his friend, Admiral Harold "Betty" Stark, the Chief of Naval Operations who realized Ernest King's talent for command was being wasted on the General Board.

Ernest King was promoted to admiral in February 1941 as Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet.

In January 1941 Ernest King issued Atlantic Fleet directive Cinclant Serial 053, encouraging officers to delegate and avoid micromanagement, which is still cited widely in today's armed forces.

Ernest King has been heavily criticized for ignoring British advice regarding convoys and up-to-date British intelligence on U-boat operations in the Atlantic, leading to high losses among the US Merchant Marine.

On 17 December 1944, Ernest King was promoted to the newly created rank of fleet admiral, the second of four men in the US Navy to hold that rank during World War II.

Ernest King left active duty on 15 December 1945, but officially remained in the Navy, as five-star officers were to be given active duty pay for life.

Ernest King suffered a debilitating stroke in 1947, and subsequent ill-health ultimately forced him to stay in naval hospitals at Bethesda, Maryland, and at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine.

Ernest King briefly served as an advisor to the Secretary of the Navy in 1950, but he was unable to return to duty in any long-term capacity as his health would not permit it.

Ernest King wrote an autobiography, Fleet Admiral Ernest King: A Naval Record, which he published in 1952.

Ernest King died of a heart attack in Kittery on 25 June 1956, at the age of 77.

Ernest King served 55 years on active duty in the United States Navy, one of the longest careers on record for that service.

Ernest King is the only man to have ever held the posts of Chief of Naval Operations and Commander in Chief, United States Fleet simultaneously, making him one of the most powerful US Navy officers ever to serve.

Ernest King was demanding and authoritarian, and could be abrasive and abusive to subordinates.

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Ernest King was widely respected for his ability, but not liked by many of the officers he commanded.

Ernest King's critics attribute the delay in implementing these measures to his Anglophobia, as the convoys and seaboard blackouts were British proposals, and Ernest King was supposedly loathe to have his much-beloved US Navy adopt any ideas from the Royal Navy.

Ernest King refused, until March 1942, the loan of British convoy escorts when the Americans had only a handful of suitable vessels.

Ernest King was aggressive in driving his destroyer captains to attack U-boats in defense of convoys and in planning counter-measures against German surface raiders, even before the formal declaration of war in December 1941.

However, Ernest King resisted the use of convoys because he was convinced the Navy lacked sufficient escort vessels to make them effective.

Ernest King was blunt and stand-offish, almost to the point of rudeness.

Ernest King mistrusted Churchill's powers of advocacy, and was apprehensive that he would wheedle President Roosevelt into neglecting the war in the Pacific.

Contrary to British opinion, Ernest King was a strong believer in the "Germany first" strategy.

When General Marshall resisted this line of action, Ernest King stated the Navy would then carry out the operation by themselves, and instructed Admiral Nimitz to proceed with preliminary planning.

Ernest King eventually won the argument, and the invasion went ahead with the backing of the Joint Chiefs.

Ernest King had been a junior officer under the command of McVay's father when Ernest King and other officers sneaked some women aboard a ship.

Ernest King Jr served in navy, retiring at the rank of Commander.

Ernest King was a practicing Episcopalian, a faith he shared with his wife and made a point of raising all of their children in.

Ernest King was a notorious lothario, who allegedly slept with the wives of subordinates.

Ernest King never held the rank of lieutenant although, for administrative reasons, his service record annotates his promotion to both lieutenant and lieutenant on the same day.

Ernest King was the recipient of several foreign awards and decorations :.