Ulysses S. Grant Sharp

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Admiral Ulysses S. Grant Sharp

Ulysses "Oley" Simpson Grant Sharp, Jr. (born April 2, 1906 in Chinook , Blaine County , Montana , † December 11, 2001 in San Diego , San Diego County , California ) was an American admiral in the US Navy , the last from 1963 to 1964 Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet ( US Pacific Fleet ) and then between 1964 and 1968 Commander in Chief of the Pacific Command ( US Pacific Command ) .

Life

Training as a naval officer and World War II

Sharp was a great-nephew of Julia Grant , wife of General Ulysses S. Grant , who was Commander-in-Chief of the US Army in the Civil War and the 18th US President from 1869 to 1877 . After attending school in 1923, he himself began his officer training at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis , which he completed in 1927. He then served as a naval officer on various battleships and destroyers and took part on November 8, 1942 in Operation Torch , the British-American invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War . On May 8, 1943, he became frigate captain (Commander) first in command of the newly commissioned USS Boyd , a Fletcher-class destroyer . As commander of this destroyer, he later became a sea captain (Captain) transported and for his contribution for operations against enemy Japanese associations from Nauru on 8 December 1943 and on 13 and 17 October, 1944 twice with the Silver Star Award. He held the post of commander of the USS Boyd until November 10, 1944 and was then replaced by Frigate Captain Archibald Edgerton Teale.

In January 1945 Sharp was head of the Center for Combat Information and Staff Officer Radartaktik in the staff of the commander of the cruisers and destroyer units of the US Pacific Fleet and remained in this use until April 1946. Because of his services there, he was awarded a Bronze Star Medal for the first time .

Post-war period and promotion to admiral

After subsequent further uses, Sharp was commander of the Fifth Destroyer Squadron FIVE during the Korean War and was awarded another Bronze Star for the services there in the preparations for Operation Chromite and other missions from November 4 to December 23, 1950 Medal honored. After various other uses he was appointed as Vice-Admiral (Vice Admiral) on 30 April 1960 as a successor to Vice Admiral Ruthven F. Libby commander of the first US fleet, but handed over the items already on 14 July 1960 to Vice Admiral Charles L. Melson . He himself then became Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Plans and Policy) in August 1960 and remained in this position until August 1963. Because of the services there, he was awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal for the first time awarded.

After his promotion to Admiral Sharp replaced Admiral John H. Sides as Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet ( US Pacific Fleet ) on September 30, 1963 and held this function until June 26, 1964, whereupon he was replaced by Admiral Thomas H. Moorer . He was last on June 30, 1964 successor to Admiral Harry D. Felt as commander in chief of the Pacific Command ( US Pacific Command ) and held this position until his replacement by Admiral John S. McCain, Jr. on July 31 1968th He was instrumental in the planning and operations at the beginning of the United States' entry into the Vietnam War after the Tonkin resolution by US President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 7, 1964, triggered by the Tonkin incident . For his services as Commander in Chief of the Pacific Command, he was awarded both the Army Distinguished Service Medal and again the Navy Distinguished Service Medal.

After his retirement, Sharp became a critic of strategy and tactics in the Vietnam War and published a book on this in 1978 called Strategy for defeat. Vietnam in retrospect .

Sharp, who was married to Nina Blake Sharp, was buried in the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego after his death . His younger brother Thomas Frederick Sharp served as corvette captain in the US Navy and was killed as an officer in the submarine USS Pickerel, which was sunk by the Japanese navy off Honshu . He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Silver Star.

Awards

Selection of decorations, sorted based on the Order of Precedence of the Military Awards:

publication

  • Strategy for defeat. Vietnam in retrospect , Presidio Press, San Rafael 1978, ISBN 0-89141-053-8

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ USS BOYD (DD-544) (navsource.org)
  2. ↑ Commander First Fleet on the homepage of the Naval History and Heritage Command
  3. ^ Secretaries of the Navy and Key United States Naval Officers, 1950-1975 on the homepage of the Naval History and Heritage Command
  4. ^ Command and Control of Air Operations in the Vietnam War. Colloquium on Contemporary History January 23, 1991 No. 4 on the homepage of the Naval History and Heritage Command
  5. ↑ Thomas Frederick Sharp in Find a Grave
  6. ↑ Thomas Frederick Sharp in the Hall of Valor
personal data
SURNAME Sharp, Ulysses S. Grant
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sharp, Ulysses Simpson Grant (full name); Oley Sharp (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American admiral in the US Navy
DATE OF BIRTH April 2, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Chinook , Blaine County , Montana
DATE OF DEATH December 11, 2001
Place of death San Diego , San Diego County , California