World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseAdmiral Ernest Joseph King hated the media. He hated incompetent officers. He also hated paperwork, Englishmen, and the media. As a matter of fact, one of his six daughters said that King was "the most even-tempered man in the Navy. He is always in a rage."

ww2dbaseKing was born in Lorain, Ohio, in 1878 to a railroad repair shop foreman. He graduated from Annapolis Naval Academy in 1901, fourth in his class, with combat experience from the Spanish-American War in 1898. In 1917, he was a staff officer of the US Atlantic Fleet working closely with the Royal Navy, where he would pick up his distaste for the English, particularly the aristocratic type, which the Royal Navy was in abundance of. At the end of WW1, King would hold the rank of captain, and earned a Navy Cross.

ww2dbaseKing was a famed officer with expertise in gunnery and submarine warfare, but he knew aviation was the future of naval warfare. In the late 1920s, King took the opportunity to earn his wings (at the ripe age of 50), and took command of the carrier Lexington; US Navy doctrine at the time required carrier captains to also qualify as a member of the air crew, hence King's need to qualify as a pilot. As the skipper of an aircraft carrier, King was able to study aviation closely. He launched a mock attack against Pearl Harbor by sending his planes, dropping sacks of flour, demonstrating the port's weakness against a undetected attack from the air. Despite the mock attack being "successful", the warning fell on deaf ears. King earned flag rank in 1932, and became chief of the naval bureau in 1933. He was promoted vice admiral in 1936, given command of all carriers and aircraft in the fleet in 1938. He became a full admiral early 1941, as the commander of the recently reorganized Atlantic Fleet. Ironically, he once again had to work closely with the British. However, King was able to seprate his personal distaste of the British and the overall goal of the alliance, and was effective in partnering in operations with the Royal Navy. In Aug 1941, President Roosevelt met with Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Newfoundland, and the president chose King's flagship USS Augusta as his transport, given King the chance to become one of the president's naval advisors during the discussions. King's careful analysis of current situations made an impression on Roosevelt.

ww2dbaseWhen the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor, King would be lucky enough to be in the Atlantic. He returned to Washington very quickly, and adviced Roosevelt and Knox (Secretary of the Navy). He was soon named the Commander-in-Chief of the US Fleet. Although a hard-working and effective admiral, King was blamed for early Allied merchant shipping losses in the Atlantic. King's personal philosophy toward convoy escort was that the US Navy had too few ships that could be spared to escort civilian shipping. The direct result was that German U-Boats were able to attack cargo ships of their choosing without being contested.

Ernest King Interactive Map

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Ernest King Timeline

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2.  Alan Chanter says:
14 Sep 2009 09:06:22 AM

King's refusal to adopt convoys early in the war, as recommended by the experienced British, would cost many an American sailor his life. He should really have been sacked by Roosevelt for this alone.

6.  Alan Chanter says:
30 Oct 2019 02:00:15 AM

When Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham arrived in Washington as the British Admiralty’s representative on the Combined Chiefs of Staff Committee his request for an interview with his opposite number was met with the response that Admiral King was busy and could not see him for six days. Infuriated, Cunningham called a Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting at which he apologised for wasting their time but explained that this had been forced on him as he had urgent matters he needed to discuss about joint naval matters. His ploy worked and he got his interview with King. However Admiral King’s uncooperative attitude continued to be extremely rude ad brittle. Matters came to a head over the issue of the US Navy providing a handful of submarines for work in the Atlantic. When King rudely brushed the matter aside Cunningham finally lost patience and snapped back exactly what he thought about Admiral King’s ‘method of advancing Allied unity and amity’. Shaken, Admiral King apologised but it wouldn’t be long before the two would be at loggerheads once again.