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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- PEOPLE -- UNITED STATES --

Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, USN (1878-1956) --
9th Chief of Naval Operations, 26 March 1942 - 15 December 1945

Ernest Joseph King was born in Lorain, Ohio, on 23 November 1878. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy beginning in 1897, including Spanish-American War service in USS San Francisco, and graduated in 1901. As a junior officer, King served in a variety of large and small ships, had instructor duty at the Naval Academy, performed engineering duties and was twice on flag staffs. He commanded the destroyer Terry (DD-25) and a torpedo flotilla during the "Teens". From 1915 through the First World War, he was assigned to the staff of Admiral Henry Mayo. Following that conflict and another tour at the Naval Academy, Captain King commanded a submarine flotilla and the New London, Connecticut, submarine base.

In August 1928, following flight training and further service at sea, King became Assistant Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics. The next year, he moved into command of the Naval Air Station, Hampton Roads, Virginia, and, in 1930, became captain of the large aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-2). Promoted to Rear Admiral in 1933, he was made Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics. During the later 1930s, he commanded the Battle Fleet's aircraft carriers. In early 1941, following service on the General Board and as commander of the Atlantic Patrol Force, King was appointed to lead the newly-recreated Atlantic Fleet through a period of steadily escalating tensions with Germany that led to undeclared war later in the year.

The Pearl Harbor disaster brought Admiral King back to Washington, D.C., as Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet in December 1941. He also became Chief of Naval Operations in March 1942, holding both positions through the rest of World War II, in which he guided the Navy's plans and global operations. As a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he was instrumental in obtaining sufficient resources to begin and sustain offensive operations against Japan despite a grand strategy of directing the bulk of America's power into the Atlantic and European theaters.

King was promoted to the new rank of Fleet Admiral in December 1944. A year later, with the Second World War won on all fronts, he left his wartime offices, though retaining an advisory role. After several years of ill-health, Fleet Admiral King died on 25 June 1956.

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

This page features selected views of Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King.


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the "Online Library's" digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 50033

Naval Cadet Ernest J. King, USN


Photographed circa 1901.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 120KB; 590 x 765 pixels

 
Photo #: 80-G-K-13800 (Color)

Admiral Ernest J. King, USN, Chief of Naval Operations and Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet

Portrait by McClelland Barclay, USNR, painted during World War II.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 124KB; 545 x 765 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: 80-G-K-16224 (Color)

Admiral Ernest J. King, USN, Chief of Naval Operations and Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet

Photographed at the Navy Department, circa 1942-44.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 108KB; 585 x 765 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: 80-G-23712

Admiral Ernest J. King, USN
,
Chief of Naval Operations and Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet

Portrait photograph taken circa 1942.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 57KB; 575 x 765 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: 80-G-416885 (Cropped)

Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, USN,
Chief of Naval Operations and Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet

Portrait photograph, taken in 1945.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 76KB; 595 x 765 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: 80-G-416886

Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King, USN


Portrait photograph, taken in 1945.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 84KB; 575 x 765 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: NH 784

USS S-4 (SS-109)


Those who accomplished the most in the salvaging operations on the S-4. They are (from left to right, in front):
Saunders, who was in charge of the raising of the sunken submarine;
Captain Ernest J. King; and
Lieutenant Henry Hartley, Commanding Officer of USS Falcon (ASR-2).
Photographed circa March 1928.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 100KB; 740 x 605 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 56978

Admiral Ernest J. King
, Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet, and
Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox

On board USS Augusta (CA-31), during the Secretary's visit to Bermuda in September 1941.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 87KB; 740 x 630 pixels

 
Photo #: 80-G-307861

Senior Navy officers visit Saipan, 1944


Present are (from left to right):
Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, USN, Commander Fifth Fleet;
Admiral Ernest J. King, USN, Chief of Naval Operations and Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet;
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USN, Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas; and
Brigadier General Sanderford Jarman, U.S. Army.
Aircraft in the background is a B-24/PB4Y-1 type.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 102KB; 740 x 615 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: 80-G-K-14010 (Color)

World War II Joint Chiefs of Staff

At a luncheon meeting, circa 1943.
Present are (from left to right):
General Henry H. Arnold, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army Air Forces;
Admiral William D. Leahy, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff;
Admiral Ernest J. King, Chief of Naval Operations and Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet; and
General George C. Marshall, Chief of Staff, U.S. Army.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 114KB; 740 x 605 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: 80-G-45387

Admiral Ernest J. King, USN
,
Chief of Naval Operations and Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet

Enjoys a visit with his classmates of the U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1901, at Naval Air Station New Orleans, Louisiana, 21 April 1944.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 79KB; 600 x 765 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the "Online Library's" digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

13 February 2000