US Navy Admiral. His military career spanned World Wars I and II and he is remembered as the Commander of the Allied Naval Forces in the Southwest Pacific Area during World War II. Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, he received his education at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, and Rutgers Preparatory School in New Brunswick. In 1904 he received an appointment to attend the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland and graduated in 1908. At the time, midshipmen had to serve two years service at sea before being commissioned, so he reported for duty with the crew of the new battleship USS Minnesota, one of the battleships of the Great White Fleet sent by President Theodore Roosevelt on an epic voyage around the world in 1907. In 1909 he transferred to the gunboat USS Marietta and was commissioned as an ensign in June 1910. In January 1911, amidst the backdrop of the Central America/Caribbean Banana Wars, he commanded a 16-man landing force from the Marietta that was put ashore at Puerto Cortes, Honduras for four days to help protect American citizens during a period of unrest. He then commanded a landing force that went ashore at Puerto Cortes, Honduras in early 1911, and participated in the US occupation of Veracruz, Mexico as adjutant of the First Regiment of Bluejackets in 1914. He returned to the US and was assigned to the Office of Naval Military Affairs in Washington DC. In June 1916 he helped fit out and commission the new destroyer USS Davis at the Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, serving as a member of its crew until March 1917, when he assumed command of the destroyer USS Fanning. In November 1917 he engaged the German U-boat U-58, which was forced to the surface and compelled to surrender. The following month he became an aide to the Commander, Destroyer Flotillas Operating in European Waters. In August 1918 he reported to the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Virginia to help fit out the new destroyer USS Radford, and assumed command of the ship when it was commissioned in September 1918. In April 1919 he returned to shore duty and became a Member of the Naval Examining Board, and Judge Advocate General of the General Court Martial at the Naval Training Station Great Lakes, Illinois. In August 1921 he assumed command of the destroyer USS Maddox and in June 1922 he reported to the Naval Submarine Base at New London, Connecticut for training, after which he was posted to the US Asiatic Fleet as commander of Submarine Division 14. In August 1923 he returned to Washington DC, where he served for the next two years in the Bureau of Navigation, before becoming executive officer of the armored cruiser USS Pittsburgh in December 1925. He was then assigned to the Receiving Ship, New York, from October 1926 until March 1927, when he assumed command of the destroyer USS Macdonough. From 1928 until 1931 he served in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington DC, followed by two years as executive officer of the light cruiser USS Omaha. He then attended the Naval War College at Newport, Rhode Island, after which he returned to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. In June 1936, he became Chief of Staff of Destroyers, Scouting Force and in August 1937 he assumed command of the cruiser USS Northampton. In February 1938 he became Professor of Naval Science and Tactics of the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps at Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois. In September 1939 he returned to sea duty when he helped fit out a new destroyer squadron, Destroyer Squadron 32, commanding it until September 1940, when he became Director of Officer Personnel at the Bureau of Navigation, Washington DC. In December 1941, when the US entered World War II, he was promoted to the rank of rear admiral, as Commander Destroyers, Atlantic Fleet. In July 1942 he arrived in the Southwest Pacific Area to command of the naval forces based in Western Australia, known as Task Force 51. The following September he became commander of both the Southwest Pacific Force and the Allied Naval Forces, Southwest Pacific Area and was promoted to the rank of vice admiral. In March 1943 the Southwest Pacific Force, known colloquially as "MacArthur's Navy", became the US Seventh Fleet. He participated in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea later that month and oversaw the Seventh Fleet's operations during the early stages of Operation Cartwheel, MacArthur's advance towards the main Japanese base at Rabaul, Papua, New Guinea. He returned to the US and commanded the Ninth Naval District at the Great lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois from January 1944 until August 1945. His last assignment was as Coordinator of Public Relations in the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, Washington DC from May to November 1946, when he retired with 38 years of continuous active military service. Among his military and foreign decorations and awards include the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with gold star, the World War I Victory Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Distinguished Service Order (United Kingdom), the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (Australia), and the Grand Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands). He was then promoted to the rank of admiral on the retired list for having been especially commended in combat in accordance with an Act of Congress passed on March 4, 1925 and February 23, 1942 (colloquially known as a "tombstone promotion"). He died in Washington DC at the age of 75. His papers are held by the New Jersey Historical Society.