This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Shaun Thomas (Underdog), OSC
to remember
King, Jerome H. Jr., VADM USN(Ret).
If you knew or served with this Sailor and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
Contact Info
Last Address Youngstown
Date of Passing Jun 18, 2008
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Other Comments:
In 1941 King graduated from Yale University and received his naval commission through the NROTC program. He is perhaps the first NROTC graduate to achieve three-star rank in the U.S. Navy. He spent most of World War II serving in two light cruisers, the Trenton (CL-11) and Mobile (CL-63). Later in the 1940s he was officer in charge of a school for gunner's mate training in Anacostia, D.C., executive officer of the destroyer Moale (DD-693), and attended postgraduate school to learn about nuclear weapons. In the 1950s served on the staff of the Surface Antisubmarine Development Detachment of the Operational Development Force, commanded the destroyer Bache (DDE-470), was the nuclear weapons requirements officer on the OpNav staff, and a student in at the Naval War College. While on the staff of Commander Carrier Division Six, he served under two future CNOs, George Anderson and Thomas Moorer. Later he commanded Destroyer Division 601, Nuclear Weapons Training Center, Atlantic, and the destroyer tender Yellowstone (AD-27). He was planning officer on the Seventh Fleet staff when the Vietnam War began in earnest in the mid-1960s. Later in that decade he was executive assistant to CNOs David McDonald and Thomas Moorer, Commander Destroyer Squadron One and Commander Antisubmarine Warfare Group One. In the latter capacity he presided in 1969 over the international inquiry into the collision between the Australian carrier Melbourne and U.S. destroyer Frank E. Evans (DD-754). Following duty in OpNav, in the spring of 1970 he succeeded Vice Admiral Elmo Zumwalt as Commander Naval Forces Vietnam. He had a difficult, frustrating tour as the war was winding down. He concluded his career in Washington as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Surface Warfare) and as J-3 on the Joint Staff. He retired from active duty in 1974. The oral history contains a detailed description of his battle against lung cancer in the 1990s. King passed away in 2008.
Leyte Campaign (1944)/Battle of Leyte Gulf
From Month/Year
October / 1944
To Month/Year
October / 1944
Description The Battle of Leyte Gulf, also called the Battles for Leyte Gulf, and formerly known as the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea, is generally considered to be the largest naval battle of World War II and, by some criteria, possibly the largest naval battle in history.
It was fought in waters near the Philippine islands of Leyte, Samar and Luzon from 23–26 October 1944, between combined US and Australian forces and the Imperial Japanese Navy. On 20 October, United States troops invaded the island of Leyte as part of a strategy aimed at isolating Japan from the countries it had occupied in Southeast Asia, and in particular depriving its forces and industry of vital oil supplies. The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) mobilized nearly all of its remaining major naval vessels in an attempt to defeat the Allied invasion, but was repulsed by the US Navy's 3rd and 7th Fleets. The IJN failed to achieve its objective, suffered very heavy losses, and never afterwards sailed to battle in comparable force. The majority of its surviving heavy ships, deprived of fuel, remained in their bases for the rest of the Pacific War.
The Battle of Leyte Gulf consisted of four separate engagements between the opposing forces: the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, the Battle of Surigao Strait, the Battle of Cape Engaño and the Battle off Samar, as well as other actions.
It was the first battle in which Japanese aircraft carried out organized kamikaze attacks. By the time of the battle, Japan had fewer aircraft than the Allied forces had sea vessels, demonstrating the difference in power of the two sides at this point of the war.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
October / 1944
To Month/Year
October / 1944
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories The next day the force cruised to the east of the northern Philippines and on the 20th guarded the northern air approaches to Leyte as American forces streamed ashore. For the next few days, strikes were conducted throughout the Visayas and on southern Luzon. On the 24th, TG 38.3 was attacked by planes from Vice Admiral Ozawa's Mobile Fleet as they stood by burning light carrier PrincetonTemplate:WP Ships USS instances. As the Battle for Leyte Gulf raged over the Philippines, TF 38.3 fought in the Battle off Cape Engaņo on the 25th, then pursued the Mobile Fleet back toward Japan. Assigned to search for and destroy crippled enemy vessels and their escorts, Mobile aided in sinking carrier Chiyoda and destroyer Hatsuzuki, then turned south to rejoin the main body of TF 38.
For the next 2 months the cruiser continued to operate in support of the Philippine campaign, guarding the carriers as they sent their planes to cover Allied assault forces in the Visayas and on Mindoro. On 26 December she departed Ulithi for the west coast, arriving 16 days later at Terminal Island, Calif., for overhaul and alterations.
