This is a list of tombstone vice admirals in the United States Navy. A tombstone promotion transferred an officer to the retired list with the rank of the next higher grade. Tombstone promotions to vice admiral have been awarded for service during the construction of the Panama Canal and under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution, but almost all tombstone vice admirals were advanced to that rank between 1925 and 1959 because they were commended for performance of duty in actual combat before the end of World War II. Tombstone promotions for combat citations were halted on November 1, 1959.
List of U.S. Navy tombstone vice admirals Each entry lists the officer's name, date appointed rear admiral,Dates appointed are taken from officers' first appearances as active-duty rear admirals in the Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps, which may be different from dates of rank listed in later editions of the Register. date retired and advanced to vice admiral,Dates retired are taken from the Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. and other biographical notes.Biographical notes include years of birth and death; restricted line officer designations; and other unusual career events such as recall to active duty in the grade of vice admiral, death in office, or awards of the Medal of Honor. Dates are taken from U.S. Naval Officers, Vice Admiral and Above, 1864–1963 and the Register of the Commissioned and Warrant Officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps.
Panama Canal service Following the completion of the Panama Canal in 1914, Congress authorized Army and Navy officers who had served more than three years with the Isthmian Canal Commission to be advanced one grade in rank upon retirement. Under this provision, Navy surgeon James F. Leys retired as a vice admiral in 1932, the first Navy staff corps officer to achieve that rank. Despite awarding Army engineer Edgar Jadwin the retired pay of a lieutenant general under almost identical circumstances, the Comptroller General of the United States denied Leys the retired pay of a vice admiral on the grounds that the grade had been abolished in 1890 and all subsequent vice admirals actually held the grade of rear admiral with only the temporary rank of vice admiral, so the grade of vice admiral did not exist. The Court of Claims overturned this decision and gave Leys the retired pay of a vice admiral.
Medical Corps Name Date appointed rear admiral Date retired Notes (1867–1938)Retired as medical director with rank of vice admiral, 1 Jan 1932, having been detailed for more than three years in Panama with the Isthmian Canal Commission (Act of March 4, 1915). First staff corps officer to attain rank.
Combat citations before the end of World War II From 1925 to 1959, Navy rear admirals could retire with a tombstone promotion to the rank but not the pay of vice admiral, if they were specially commended for their performance of duty in actual combat before the end of World War II. Officers who were promoted to vice admiral while on the active list had precedence on the retired list over those who were advanced to that grade based on combat citations.
Tombstone promotions were based on an officer's grade on the day they actually retired, so a vice admiral could only receive a tombstone promotion to four-star admiral if he still held a three-star job when he retired. For example, when Gerald F. Bogan was relieved of his three-star command only three weeks before he was scheduled to retire with a tombstone promotion to admiral, he reverted to rear admiral and received a tombstone promotion back to vice admiral. Similarly, Robert C. Giffen was reprimanded for misconduct while serving as vice admiral, reverted to rear admiral, and retired with a tombstone promotion back to vice admiral.
By May 29, 1959, 154 out of 198 living retired vice admirals—78 percent—had never served in that rank on active duty. Only 22 percent had served in three-star positions prior to their retirement, the rest being rear admirals who received a tombstone promotion to vice admiral at retirement. Congress stopped all tombstone promotions effective November 1, 1959.
Line Name Date appointed rear admiral Date retired Notes (1870–1950)Advanced to tombstone vice admiral in 1950 after the sinking of the armored cruiser San Diego was attributed to a submarine torpedo instead of a mine, thereby qualifying as actual combat. (1877–1947)Recalled to active duty as vice admiral, 28 Jan 1943–30 Jan 1943 and 16 Jul 1943–27 Apr 1947. (1877–1967) (1877–1966) (1876–1963)Recalled to active duty as vice admiral, 3 Jan 1942–14 Nov 1945. (1877–1946)Recalled to active duty as vice admiral, 1 Nov 1941–14 Dec 1946; died 14 Dec 1946. (1878–1955) (1885–1961) (1886–1962)Vice admiral, 15 May 1944–3 Dec 1945; retired as tombstone vice admiral, 1 Sep 1946. (1886–1979) (1887–1967) (1886–1978)Recalled to active duty as vice admiral, 1 Mar 1945–3 Jun 1946. (1885–1957) (1886–1955) (1886–1956) (1886–1950) (1886–1960) (1887–1975) (1889–1972) (1889–1961) (1887–1973) (1888–1963) (1892–1973) (1890–1972) (1891–1975) (1889–1976) (1891–1971) (1891–1978) (1892–1977) (1892–1967) (1890–1980) (1892–1962) (1892–1977) (1890–1975) (1892–1971) (1893–1966) (1888–1952) (1886–1971) (1889–1959) (1888–1955) (1890–1961) (1892–1984) (1892–1987) (1892–1989) (1893–1958) (1891–1967) (1891–1984) (1892–1987) (1893–1987) (1895–1972) (1892–1959) (1894–1973)Vice admiral, 1 Feb 1946–7 Jan 1950; relieved of three-star command of First Task Fleet, 7 Jan 1950; retired as tombstone vice admiral, 1 Feb 1950. (1892–1953) (1895–1957) (1887–1956) (1889–1957) (1891–1980) (1891–1963) (1894–1964) (1894–1983) (1894–1976) (1893–1959) (1896–1978) (1890–1962) (1896–1974) (1896–1963) (1896–1955) (1895–1981) (1893–1964) (1895–1956) (1895–1953) (1896–1981) (1897–1971) (1893–1973) (1892–1972) (1897–1984) (1896–1981) (1898–1987) (1893–1984) Engineering Duty Officer (1897–1979) (1896–1967) (1897–1967) (1897–1981)Recalled to active duty as vice admiral, 1 Aug 1961. (1897–1972) (1899–1993) (1897–1972) (1894–1993) (1899–1982) Engineering Duty Officer (1898–1985) (1898–1981) (1896–1976) (1896–1976) (1898–1970) (1896–1955) (1898–1961) (1897–1963) (1899–1971) (1897–1970) (1897–1959) (1895–1973) (1898–1970) (1897–1967) (1898–1964) (1891–1963) (1892–1967) (1894–1980) (1895–1967) (1898–1973) (1900–1990) (1897–1982) (1899–1956) (1897–1980) (1896–1973) (1900–1977) (1898–1967)Recalled to active duty as vice admiral, 6 Aug 1959–1 Aug 1963 and 11 Aug 1963–1 Jan 1964. (1897–1955) (1894–1966) (1897–1991) (1900–1961)Temporary rear admiral, 13 Aug 1945; reverted to captain, 1 Oct 1946; promoted to rear admiral, 1 Jul 1948; retired as tombstone vice admiral, 1 Feb 1958. (1899–1982) (1899–1989) (1899–1972) (1898–1957) (1900–1974) (1900–1980) (1899–1990) (1897–1967) (1898–1974) (1900–1990) (1901–1967) (1898–1974) (1901–1976) (1900–1978) (1899–1981) (1900–1995) (1901–1991) (1902–1976) (1902–1963) (1901–1974) (1902–1982) (1902–1975) (1899–1957) Engineering Duty Officer (1900–2000) (1900–1982) (1900–1974) (1901–1961) (1901–1979) (1902–1995) (1903–1965) (1902–1985) (1902–1987) (1903–1985) (1902–1982) (1900–1960) (1903–1981) (1903–1987) (1904–1990) (1899–1992) (1904–2002) (1904–1971) (1902–1967) (1901–1977) (1903–1976) (1905–1976) (1903–1997) (1904–1973) (1901–1977) (1900–1974) (1903–1983) (1902–1971) (1903–1994) (1906–1998) (1906–1958) (1897-1955)
Line (Reserve) Name Date appointed rear admiral Date retired Notes (1891–1960) Awarded Medal of Honor, 1914. (1889–1972) Awarded Medal of Honor, 1914. (1896–1970) (1895–1976) (1899–1978) (1899–1983) (1896–1958) (1889–1963)
Medical Corps Name Date appointed rear admiral Date retired Notes (1872–1952) Awarded Medal of Honor, 1914. (1889–1974) Awarded Medal of Honor, 1918. (1889–1976) (1895–1973) (1894–1967) (1884–1951) (1894–1969) (1895–1986) (1890–1960) (1896–1973) (1896–1987) (1896–1969) (1897–1983) (1899–1976)
Supply Corps Name Date appointed rear admiral Date retired Notes (1884–1970) (1894–1985) (1895–1969) (1895–1973)
Chaplain Corps (Reserve) Name Date appointed rear admiral Date retired Notes (1898–1972)
Civil Engineer Corps Name Date appointed rear admiral Date retired Notes (1894–1962) (1892–1960) (1893–1976) (1894–1972) (1896–1986) (1903–2007) (1905–1998)
Civil Engineer Corps (Reserve) Name Date appointed rear admiral Date retired Notes (1894–1969) (1901–1985) (1899–1971)
Dental Corps Name Date appointed rear admiral Date retired Notes (1889–1955) Awarded Medal of Honor, 1918.
Appointments Clause The President can use his plenary power under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution to nominate any officer to be retired in a higher grade, subject to Senate confirmation. For example, John D. Bulkeley served as president of the Board of Inspection and Survey for 21 years, having been retired in 1974 but immediately recalled to active duty, and was advanced to vice admiral on the retired list under the Appointments Clause when he retired permanently in August 1988. Levering Smith served as technical director or program head of the Navy's submarine-launched ballistic missile program for 20 years, having also been retired and recalled to active duty in 1974, and was promoted to vice admiral when he finally stepped down in November 1977.
Line Name Date appointed rear admiral Date retired permanently Notes (1910–1993) Ordnance Engineering Duty Officer (1911–1996) Awarded Medal of Honor, 1942.
Legislative history The following list of Congressional legislation concerns tombstone promotions to the grade of vice admiral in the United States Navy. Each entry lists an act of Congress, its citation in the United States Statutes at Large, and a summary of the act's relevance.