King, Ernest Joseph, 1878–1956, American admiral, commander in chief of the U.S. fleet (1941–45), b. Lorain, Ohio. A graduate of Annapolis, he distinguished himself in many branches of naval service, including the submarine and air arms. In World War I he was assistant chief of staff to Admiral Henry T. Mayo, commander of the Atlantic Fleet. King himself commanded (Feb.–Dec., 1941) the Atlantic Fleet and then became commander of the U.S. naval forces. King also became (Mar., 1942) chief of naval operations and directed the naval strategy that took the U.S. fleet into Japanese waters. He was made (1944) fleet admiral (five-star admiral) and retired from the navy a year later.
See his autobiographical Fleet Admiral King: A Naval Record (with W. M. Whitehill, 1952).
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