Lynde Dupuy McCormick (August 12, 1895 – August 16, 1956) was a four-star admiral in the United States Navy who served as vice chief of naval operations from 1950 to 1951 and as commander in chief of the United States Atlantic Fleet from 1951 to 1954, and was the first supreme allied commander of all NATO forces in the Atlantic.
Early career Born in Annapolis, Maryland to the former Edith Lynde Abbot and naval surgeon, late Rear admiral Albert Montgomery Dupuy McCormick, he attended St. John's Preparatory School and College, a military school in Annapolis. In 1911, he was appointed by President William Howard Taft to the United States Naval Academy, where he played lacrosse and soccer and, as a first classman, was business manager of the Academy yearbook, the Lucky Bag. He graduated second in a class of 183 and was commissioned ensign in the United States Navy in June 1915.
World War I His first assignment was aboard the battleship Wyoming, operating in the Caribbean Sea and along the eastern seaboard. In November 1917, following the United States entry into World War I, Wyoming and the rest of Battleship Division 9 (, Delaware, and Florida) joined the British Grand Fleet as its Sixth Battle Squadron and were present at the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet in the North Sea after the armistice.
In April 1919, McCormick was assigned as aide and flag lieutenant on the staff of Commander Battleship Division 4, United States Fleet. He served aboard the battleship South Carolina from June to September, then became aide and flag lieutenant to Commander Destroyer Squadron 4, Pacific Fleet, aboard the squadron flagship Birmingham. He transferred to the destroyer Buchanan in December 1920.
Interwar
In August 1921, he briefly commanded the destroyer Kennedy, before going ashore in October as an instructor in the Department of Navigation at the Naval Academy.
He began a long association with submarine warfare in June 1923 when he became a student at the Submarine School in New London, Connecticut. He then served until June 1924 in the submarine S-31, operating with Submarine Division 16 in the Pacific. After short assignments with the submarine S-37 and submarine tender Canopus, he commanded the submarine R-10, based at Honolulu, Hawaii, from August 1924 until June 1926, when he was detailed to the Naval Academy as a member of the executive department. In August 1928, he began almost three years as commanding officer of the fleet submarine V-2, operating with Submarine Division 20 in support of the United States Fleet in maneuvers off the West Coast, the Hawaiian Islands, and the Caribbean Sea.
In May 1931, he began a three-year tour at the Naval Academy as aide to the new superintendent, Rear Admiral Thomas C. Hart. When Hart finished his tour as superintendent in June 1934, McCormick rejoined the fleet as navigator of the light cruiser Marblehead. He took command of the fleet oiler Neches in April 1936.
In June 1937, he was enrolled as a student in the senior course at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. After completing the course in May 1938, he remained at the Naval War College for an additional year as a member of the staff.
World War II In June 1939, he became operations officer on the staff of Vice Admiral Charles P. Snyder, Commander Battleships, Battle Force, aboard Snyder's flagship West Virginia. When Snyder was elevated to command of the entire Battle Force in January 1940, McCormick followed him to the Battle Force flagship California as operations officer on the Battle Force staff. Snyder requested early relief in January 1941 after his superior, Admiral James O. Richardson, was summarily replaced by Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, the new Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet. Upon assuming command in February 1941, Kimmel recruited McCormick to be assistant war plans officer on the Pacific Fleet staff, in which post McCormick was serving during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
After the Pearl Harbor disaster, Kimmel was relieved by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, who retained Kimmel's entire staff. McCormick became Nimitz' war plans officer in April 1942, serving in that capacity during the battles of the Coral Sea, Midway, and Guadalcanal. On June 30, 1942, McCormick was injured in a seaplane accident while accompanying Nimitz to Alameda Naval Air Station. Despite suffering a fractured vertebra, McCormick never went on the sick list, choosing to continue on active duty while wearing a plaster cast for three months.
He was promoted to rear admiral on July 15, 1942, and, upon completing his tour on Nimitz' staff, was awarded the Legion of Merit for "exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services to the Government of the United States as War Plans Officer on the Staff of the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas, from February 1, 1941, to January 14, 1943. He was detached in February 1943 to take command of the battleship South Dakota, operating off the Atlantic coast and later with the British Home Fleet.
From October 1943 to March 1945, he was assigned to the staff of Chief of Naval Operations Ernest J. King as assistant chief of naval operations for logistics plans, with additional duty as chairman of the Joint Logistics Committee of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in which capacity he accompanied King to the second Quebec and Yalta conferences. His logistics work earned him a Gold Star in lieu of a second Legion of Merit. The accompanying citation stated: "His mastery of the relationship between strategy and logistics and his understanding of the process of procuring and distributing critical items have been important factors in meeting the needs of area and Fleet Commanders. In a field in which the magnitude and complexity of the problems were without precedent in the history of the Navy, he has displayed conspicuous ability and brilliant leadership." He would later be quoted as saying, "I am tempted to make a slightly exaggerated statement: that logistics is all of warmaking, except shooting the guns, releasing the bombs, and firing the torpedoes."
In March 1945, he returned to the Pacific theater as Commander of Battleship Division 3, serving as Task Group Commander for two months at the Battle of Okinawa. He was awarded a second Gold Star for his Legion of Merit "as Commander of a Battleship Division, of a Task Group, and of a Fire Support Unit, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, from March through May 1945."
Postwar After the war, he participated in the initial occupation of Japan until November 1945, when he was assigned as chief of staff and aide to Admiral John H. Towers, Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet and Pacific Ocean Areas (CINCPAC/CINCPOA). McCormick was named deputy commander in chief in December, and was advanced to the temporary rank of vice admiral on February 13, 1946.
He served as Commander, Battleships-Cruisers, Atlantic Fleet, from February 1947 until November 1948. In January 1948, he led a mission to Buenos Aires, Argentina, aboard the heavy cruiser Albany to establish cordial relations with the Argentine military. He reverted to his permanent rank of rear admiral upon being assigned as Commandant, Twelfth Naval District, headquartered in San Francisco, California, on December 8, 1948.
Vice Chief of Naval Operations
In 1949, Chief of Naval Operations Louis E. Denfeld was fired for his participation in the Revolt of the Admirals and replaced by Admiral Forrest P. Sherman. Because the new chief of naval operations was a naval aviator, he was expected to select a new vice chief of naval operations, since the incumbent, Vice Admiral John D. Price, was also an aviator and it was established practice to have only one aviator in the two top staff positions. Sherman selected McCormick, whose long experience with undersea warfare was regarded as significant by naval observers because submarine and anti-submarine warfare were expected to be the Navy's principal role in the event of another war.
Upon relieving Price as vice chief, McCormick was again promoted to vice admiral, with date of rank April 3, 1950. On December 20, 1950, President Harry S. Truman nominated McCormick for the rank of admiral, increasing the number of full admirals in the Navy to five. Truman's declaration of a national emergency had lifted the legal limits on the number of three- and four-star officers, and McCormick was promoted to grant him equal standing with the vice chiefs of staff of the Army and Air Force. He was confirmed in his new rank on December 22, 1950.
Sherman died unexpectedly on July 22, 1951, while on a diplomatic trip to Europe. As acting chief of naval operations, McCormick was one of six candidates considered to succeed Sherman, along with Admirals Arthur W. Radford, Robert B. Carney, and William M. Fechteler; and Vice Admirals Richard L. Conolly and Donald B. Duncan. During the selection process, McCormick took himself out of the running by loudly expressing "his desire for a fleet command." Fechteler was named chief of naval operations on August 1, 1951, and McCormick was selected to replace Fechteler as commander in chief of the Atlantic Fleet. When the change was announced, press reports noted that this would be McCormick's first fleet command, and speculated that the lack of a fleet command in his record had eliminated him from consideration as Sherman's successor.
Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet
He became Commander in Chief, Atlantic Command and Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet (CINCLANT/CINCLANTFLT) on August 15, 1951.A Brief History of the U.S. Fleet Forces Command
A month later, at the recommissioning ceremony for the aircraft carrier Wasp, McCormick aroused comment by indicating that atomic bombs had been developed that were small enough to be carried by the light bombers deployed on aircraft carriers. "Eventually, I think every carrier will be equipped with atomic bombs. Since their reduction in size they have become more available for carrier use." His remarks were consistent with his previous statement while acting chief of naval operations that atomic weapons use should be treated more normally: "It is in our interest to convince the world at large that the use of atomic weapons is no less humane than the employment of an equivalent weight of so-called conventional weapons. The destruction of certain targets is essential to the successful completion of a war with the U.S.S.R. The pros and cons of the means to accomplish their destruction is purely academic."
As Fechteler's CINCLANT successor, McCormick inherited Fechteler's long-delayed appointment as the first supreme allied commander of NATO naval forces in the Atlantic. Fechteler's nomination for the post was announced on February 19, 1951, but had been stalled by British opposition led by former Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who took offense at the concept of subordinating the Royal Navy to an American admiral and demanded that a British admiral be appointed instead. Incumbent Prime Minister Clement Attlee confirmed Fechteler's nomination in July, but Fechteler almost immediately vacated command of the Atlantic Fleet to become chief of naval operations, giving Churchill the opportunity to reopen the issue when he resumed the premiership in October. Churchill now argued that there was no need for a single supreme naval commander, suggesting that the Atlantic instead be divided into American and British sectors, but the United States insisted on unity of command and Churchill ultimately had to yield to American pressure, reluctantly consenting to McCormick's appointment in January 1952.