Admiral James Fife Jr. (January 22, 1897 – November 1, 1975) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

admiral who was promoted to four-star rank after retirement as a "tombstone admiral".

Biography

Fife graduated from the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

in 1918 and served in both World War I and World War II in submarines and surface combatants. Prior to the Second World War, he served aboard and , and was commanding officer of , and . In addition to his service on submarines, he also served on the battleship and the destroyers and from 1923 until May 1935. When the U. S. entered World War II, Admiral Fife was Chief of Staff of Submarine Squadron 20 in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

(part of the

Asiatic Fleet The United States Asiatic Fleet was a fleet of the United States Navy during much of the first half of the 20th century. Before World War II, the fleet patrolled the Philippine Islands. Much of the fleet was destroyed by the Japanese by Februar ...

under Admiral T. C. Hart). After the squadron was dissolved into Submarines, Asiatic Fleet, he served as Chief of Staff to Admiral Hart until May 1942. About this time he and Captain J. E. Wilkes, his former squadron commander, were instrumental in identifying several deficiencies of the submarine force, especially the difficulties with the

Mark 14 torpedo The Mark 14 torpedo was the United States Navy's standard submarine-launched anti-ship torpedo of World War II. This weapon was plagued with many problems which crippled its performance early in the war. It was supplemented by the Mark 18 el ...

and the Hooven-Owens-Rentschler diesel engine. Fife would later conduct some of the experiments that isolated the Mark 14 torpedo's defective components in cooperation with Rear Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, then Commander, Submarines, Southwest Pacific. In late 1942 he served with

General MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army. He served with distinction in World War I; as chief of ...

as the representative of Admiral A. S. Carpender during the Buna campaign. Following this he commanded the submarines of Task Force 42 (later Task Force 72) in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, where he meticulously planned and directed his submarines' missions. In 1944 Admiral Fife transferred to the staff of Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet ( COMINCH) Admiral Ernest J. King in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

as a war planner. Admiral Fife was awarded the

Navy Distinguished Service Medal The Navy Distinguished Service Medal is a military decoration of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps which was first created in 1919 and is presented to Sailors and Marines to recognize distinguished and exceptionally meritorio ...

for meritorious service as the Chief of Staff to Commander Submarines, Asiatic Fleet, the

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establi ...

(by the Army), and a Gold Star in lieu of a second Distinguished Service Medal for action in the Pacific area. At the close of 1944 he returned to Australia as Commander, Submarines, Seventh Fleet; Commander, U.S. Naval Forces,

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

, Western Australia; and Commander Task Force 71. As a result, he was awarded a Gold Star in lieu of a third Distinguished Service Medal. From April 1947 until 1950, he commanded the Submarine Force, Atlantic Fleet (

COMSUBLANT The Commander, Naval Submarine Forces (a.k.a. COMNAVSUBFOR; and dual-hatted as Commander, Naval Submarine Force, Atlantic or COMSUBLANT or SUBLANT) is the Submarine Force U.S. Atlantic Fleet type commander under the United States Fleet Forces Co ...

). This assignment was followed by duty as Assistant Chief, and Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Operations). His final assignment before retirement was as U. S. Naval Commander in Chief, Mediterranean, under Admiral

Mountbatten The Mountbatten family is a British family that originated as a branch of the German princely Battenberg family. The name was adopted by members of the Battenberg family residing in the United Kingdom on 14 July 1917, three days before the Br ...

, Royal Navy. Fife retired from the Navy in August 1955, and was promoted upon retirement to full admiral. In retirement he served as the Director of

Mystic Seaport Mystic Seaport Museum (founded as Marine Historical Association) is a maritime museum in Mystic, Connecticut, and the largest in the United States. Its site holds a collection of ships and boats and a re-creation of a 19th-century seaport vill ...

museum in

Stonington, Connecticut Stonington is a town located on Long Island Sound in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The municipal limits of the town include the borough of Stonington (borough), Connecticut, Stonington, the villages of Pawcatuck, Connecticut, Pa ...

. During his tenure at Mystic Seaport he oversaw a great expansion of the museum's exhibits and the refloating of the historic whaling ship Charles W. Morgan. He died in 1975 and was buried in

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

Legacy

Fife bequeathed his estate in Stonington to the U.S. Navy, which turned it into a recreational area. The park is located at 571 Stonington Road (U.S. Route 1). A commemorative plaque is located on the property.Commemorative Plaque
/ref> Fife Hall, a navigation training facility at

Naval Submarine Base New London Naval Submarine Base New London is the primary United States Navy East Coast submarine base, also known as the "Home of the Submarine Force." It is located in Groton, Connecticut directly across the Thames River from its namesake city of New L ...

is named in his honor. The (DD-991), commissioned 31 May 1980 and decommissioned in 2003, was named in his honor.

Awards

Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation, state or country. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in act ...

with two gold stars *

Yangtze Service Medal The Yangtze Service Medal is a decoration of the United States military which was created in 1930 for presentation to members of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps (and to a lesser extent, members of the United States Army). Th ...

* Victory Medal *

American Campaign Medal The American Campaign Medal was a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was first created on November 6, 1942, by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was intended to recognize those military members who had per ...

* Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal *

World War Two Victory Medal The World War II Victory Medal was a service medal of the United States military which was established by an Act of Congress on 6 July 1945 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945. Histor ...

American Defense Service Medal The American Defense Service Medal was a United States service medals of the World Wars, military award of the United States Armed Forces, established by , by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, on June 28, 1941. The medal was intended to recogniz ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fife, James United States Navy admirals United States Naval Academy alumni United States Navy personnel of World War I United States Navy World War II admirals 1897 births 1975 deaths People from Reno, Nevada Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal Military personnel from Nevada