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Vice Admiral Stuart Howe Ingersoll: Born, June 3, 1898, in Springfield, Hampden County, Massachusetts. Died, January 29, 1983, at Newport, Rhode Island.
Although born in Massachusetts he spent his early childhood in Portland, Maine. After high school graduation in 1917 he was accepted as a cadet at the Naval Academy at Annapolis. During World War I he was a midshipman aboard the USS Missouri then serving as part of the Atlantic Fleet. He graduated from the Naval Academy in 1921 and was assigned to sea duty for the next five years. He then requested and received permission to transfer to Naval aviation where he later earned his wings.
Ingersoll had already spend five years on destroyers he then served 15 years on aircraft carriers, in flight testing and experimental work in naval aviation.
By the Second World War he had been promoted to Commander and performed as a staff operations officer for the escort of the North Atlantic Fleet convoys. In 1944 Captain Ingersoll was given command of the aircraft carrier USS Monterey.
During an engagement near Formosa the Monterey came under intense fire, subsequently damaging the ship to the point that Admiral Halsey urged him to abandon ship. He and his crew continued their efforts to bring the fire under control and after many hours the fire was put out. For his actions he was awarded the Navy Cross.
In 1945 he was promoted to Rear Admiral and was appointed the Commandant of the United States Naval Academy. In 1947 he became Commander in Chief, Pacific Command and Pacific Fleet and shortly afterwards was assigned as the director of strategic planning in the Navy Department. Two years later he was transferred as director of strategic planning in the Navy Department and as the Navy member of the Joint Strategic Plans Committee of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. After this assignment was concluded he became the Assistant Chief of Naval Operations, and commandant of the Sixth Fleet then stationed in the Mediterranean.
In 1955 he was promoted to Vice Admiral and became the Commander in Chief of the Seventh Fleet then stationed in the Pacific. As commander of the Pacific Fleet he commanded 250,00 Navy and Marine personnel, 2,000 aircraft and 200 ships. He later became the head of the Taiwan Defense Command and in 1957 was appointed president of the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island and remained in that position until his retirement in 1960.
Other Comments:
Navy Cross
Awarded for Actions During World War II
Service: Navy
Division: U.S.S. Monterey (CVL-26)
General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 345 (December 1945)
Citation: The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Captain Stuart Howe Ingersoll, United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession as Commanding Officer of the Light Aircraft Carrier U.S.S. MONTEREY (CVL-26), in the face of tremendous enemy opposition during action against enemy Japanese forces off Formosa during the period 29 August 1944 through 30 October 1944. When the MONTEREY came under heavy Japanese aerial attack while bolding penetrating the hazardous waters off Formosa on 13 - 14 October, Captain Ingersoll fearlessly held his courage and, hurling the full fighting strength of his planes, despite terrific odds succeeded in blasting a number of hostile aircraft from the sky with no damage to his own vessel. During the Battle for Leyte Gulf on 25 - 26 October 1944, he inflicted heavy damage and destruction upon capital ships of the Japanese fleet in a bitterly fought, decisive engagement. Captain Ingersoll's inspiring leadership and the valiant devotion to duty of his command contributed in large measure to the outstanding success of these vital missions and reflect great credit upon the United States Naval Service.
Monterey was reclassified CVL-26 on 15 July 1943, shortly after commissioning, and after shakedown, departed Philadelphia for the western Pacific. She reached the Gilbert Islands on 19 November 1943, in time to help secure Makin Island. She took part in strikes on Kavieng, New Ireland on 25 December, as part of Task Group 37.2 (TG 37.2), and supported the landings at Kwajalein and Eniwetok until 8 February 1944. The light carrier then operated with Task Force 58 (TF 58) during raids in the Caroline Islands, Mariana Islands, northern New Guinea, and the Bonin Islands from February-July 1944. During this time she was also involved in the Battle of the Philippine Sea on 19–20 June.
Monterey then sailed to Pearl Harbor for overhaul, departing once again on 29 August. She launched strikes against Wake Island on 3 September, then joined TF 38 and participated in strikes in the southern Philippines and the Ryukyus. October through December 1944 were spent in the Philippines, supporting first the Leyte, and then the Mindoro landings.
The Gunnery officers of the USSMonterey. Gerald R. Ford is second from the right, in the front row.
Though enemy planes had been unable to damage Monterey, she did not complete her first full year of service unscathed. In December, she steamed into the path of howling Typhoon Cobra, with winds over 100 knots. At the height of the storm, which lasted 2 days, several planes tore loose from their cables, causing several fires on the hangar deck. During the storm future US President Gerald Ford, who served on board the ship, was almost swept overboard. Volunteering to lead a fire fighting team below decks, Ford and his team fought all night to extinguish the fires that threatened his ship.
Monterey arrived Bremerton, Washington for overhaul in January 1945. She rejoined TF 58 and supported Okinawa operations by launching strikes against Nansei Shoto and Kyūshū from 9 May to 1 June. She rejoined TF 38 for the final strike against Honshū and Hokkaidō from 1 July to 15 August.
Monterey departed Japanese waters on 7 September, having embarked troops at Tokyo, and steamed home, arriving in New York City on 17 October. Monterey left behind an impressive and enviable war record. Her planes sank five enemy warships, and damaged others. She was responsible for the destruction of thousands of tons of Japanese shipping, hundreds of planes, and vital industrial complexes. She was assigned "Magic Carpet" duty, and made several voyages between Naples and Norfolk. She was decommissioned on 11 February 1947, and was assigned to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Philadelphia Group.
With the outbreak of hostilities in the Korean War, Monterey recommissioned on 15 September 1950. She departed Norfolk on 3 January 1951, and proceeded to Pensacola, Florida, where she operated for the next 4 years under the Naval Training Command, training thousands of naval aviation cadets, student pilots, and helicopter trainees. From 1 to 11 October 1954, she took part in a flood rescue mission in Honduras. She departed Pensacola on 9 June 1955 and steamed to rejoin the reserve fleet. She was decommissioned on 16 January 1956. Reclassified AVT-2 on 15 May 1959, she remained berthed at Philadelphia until she was sold for scrapping in May 1971.