Harold Rainsford Stark (12 November 1880 – 20 August 1972) was the US Navy's Chief of Naval Operations from 1 August 1939 to 26 March 1942, succeeding William D. Leahy and preceding Ernest J. King.
Biography[]
Harold Rainsford Stark was born on 12 November 1880 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and he attended the US Navy Academy from 1899 to 1903. He had extensive duty on torpedo boats and destroyers, and he led the Asiatic Fleet's torpedo flotilla in 1917 during World War I. After the war, he attended the Naval War College, and he was appointed Chief of Naval Operations on 1 August 1939. In 1940 and 1941, he oversaw the expansion of the navy, and he had the navy adopt unrestricted submarine warfare in case of war with Japan. Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor, he was criticized for not taking proper steps to counter the attack before it occurred, as he failed to provide anything of use to Admiral Husband E. Kimmel and was timid while dealing with the Japanese threat. In March 1942, he was relieved of command and replaced by Ernest J. King, and he took command of the US Twelfth Fleet in 1943, supervising the Normandy landings. In April 1946, he retired and made Washington, DC his home, and he died in 1972 at the age of 91.