United States Navy Fleet Admiral. During World War II, he was Commander, US Naval Forces, South Pacific, and later, Commander of the Third US Fleet. His awards include Navy Cross, 4 Navy Distinguished Service Medals, and the Army Distinguished Service Medal. Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, the son of a career Navy officer. He entered the University of Virginia Medical School in 1899, and after a year, was accepted to the US Naval Academy, to graduate in 1904. His early years were spent in battleships and torpedo boats. In 1912-13, he commanded the Atlantic Fleet's first group of Torpedo Flotilla. During World War I, he commanded the destroyer USS Shaw, earning the Navy Cross. After a stint as Naval AttachŽ in Berlin, Germany (1922-25), and command of the destroyer USS Dale, he commanded two destroyer squadrons. At the Naval War College and in 1934, he studied aviation, switching to that career field after qualifying as a Naval Aviator in 1935. In the late 1930s, he commanded the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, being promoted to Rear Admiral in 1938, and commanding a Carrier Division. In 1940, he was promoted to Vice Admiral (3 stars). At the beginning of World War II, he commanded a Carrier Division, taking the offensive in early 1942 in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands. This led to his commanding all naval forces in the South Pacific in late 1942, during which he defeated the Japanese in the Solomon Islands, and supported Macarthur's land campaigns. In the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944, Halsey's Third Fleet, along with Admiral Thomas Kincaid's Seventh Fleet, destroyed the Japanese Navy and eliminated it from the war. He was present when the Japanese formally surrendered on 2 September 1945, and was promoted to Fleet Admiral in December 1945, one of only 4 naval officers to hold this rank. He retired from active Naval service in March 1947. After retirement, he served for ten years on the boards of two subsidiaries of International Telephone and Telegraph Company, and was honorary Vice President of the Naval Historical Foundation. The Guided Missile Cruiser, USS Halsey (CG-23), was named for him.