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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.
