 Admiral U.S.G. Sharp, USN Commander & Chief Pacific (1967-69) Commanding Officer USS BOYD DD-544 (1942-44) |
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Admiral Sharp was born in Chinook, Montana, April 2, 1906. He attended high school at Fort Benton, Montana, and was graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, on June 3, 1927.
After graduation from the Academy, he served for a year on board the battleship USS NEW MEXICO. From 1928 until 1932, he was assigned to the transport USS HENDERSON, and the destroyers USS SUMNER and USS BUCHANNAN, and for two years thereafter in the aircraft carrier USS SARATOGA.
He returned to Annapolis in 1934 for the Operating Engineering course at the Postgraduate School, and was graduated in June 1936. For the next two years, he served in the Engineering Department of the cruiser USS RICHMOND and in the destroyer USS WINSLOW as the Engineer Officer.
In May 1940, when a Lieutenant Commander, he reported to the Bureau of Ships, Navy Department, Washington, D.C., where he served until May 1942. He then commanded the high-speed destroyer-minesweeper USS HOGAN (DMS-6) on convoy duty in the Western Atlantic and Caribbean as well as in the invasion of North Africa.
In January 1943, he took command of the destroyer USS BOYD in the Pacific, and for nearly two years participated in strikes against Wake Island, Nauru, The Marianas, the Bonins, Mindanao, Cebu, Negros, Luzon, Truk, and Hollandia, New Guinea. His ship also took part in the first strikes against Okinawa and Formosa, and the occupation of the Gilbert Islands. On June 19-20, 1944, Admiral Sharp's ship participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
While commanding the BOYD, Admiral Sharp, then a commander, was awarded two Silver Star medals for gallantry in action against the Japanese. On December 8, 1943, after a bombardment of the Japanese-held Nauru Island, northeast of Australia, the destroyer BOYD was ordered to search for an aviator reported downed off the island. Commander Sharp headed his ship for Nauru at 25 knots while U.S. aircraft circled about two miles off the island, watching the spot where their colleague had gone down.
Since the pilot was reported to be down at a position within point-blank range of the shore batteries, Commander Sharp knew that the BOYD would have to effect a high speed rescue. Upon reaching the reported location of the downed aviator, he backed down on his engines when a lookout reported a man in the water.
"Unfortunately, the lookout report was in error," Admiral Sharp recalls. "The 'man in the water' was in fact an aircraft float light that had been mistaken for a man waiving."
As the BOYD began to slow, a pair of six-inch shells slammed into her forward engine room. This meant she would have to run the gauntlet for several miles with only one of her two engines before she could be clear of the enemy guns.
Despite the partial loss of power, Commander Sharp managed to regain the open sea, steering a zig-zag course which brought his ship safely through the heavy barrage.
"Knowing that the gunners would attempt to correct their fire after each miss," he said, "I decided to chase the fall of the shot."
As each Japanese shell landed near the BOYD, Commander Sharp would steer the ship toward the splash, literally weaving to safety through the shells.
BOYD made it back to port under her own power. After repairs. the ship returned to action in the Pacific war.
In November 1944, Admiral Sharp returned to the U.S., and in January 1945, joined the staff of Commander Cruise-Destroyer Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, as Combat Information Center and Tactical Radar Officer.
He remained on this staff until July 1948, when he became Commanding Officer of the Fleet Sonar School, San Diego, California.
Admiral Sharp next attended the Naval War College, Newport, Rhose Island, and in June 1950, assumed command of Destroyer Squadron FIVE and deployed to waters off Korea. During part of this period, Admiral Sharp was temporarily attached to the staff of the Commander SEVENTH Fleet, serving as Fleet Planning Officer for the Inchon invasion.
In January 1951, Admiral Sharp reported to the Commander SECOND Fleet on the U.S. east coast for duty as Operations Officer, and, in October 1951, as Chief of Staff and Aide.
In August 1953, he assumed command of the cruiser USS MACON.
One year later, Admiral Sharp reported to the Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, for duty as Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Operations. In 1955, during this assignment, he was promoted to Rear Admiral.
In July 1956, Admiral Sharp became Commander of Cruiser Division THREE. In October 1957, he was assigned to the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Navy Department, where he served as Assistant Director, Strategic Plans Division, until November 1958, when he became director of that division.
In February 1959, Admiral Sharp became Commander, Cruise-Destroyer Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. On April 30, 1960, he reported as Commander U.S. FIRST Fleet, and was promoted to Vice Admiral. He commanded the FIRST Fleet until July 1960, when he became Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Plans and Policy), Navy Department. In this latter capacity, he was deeply involved in planning for naval operations, including those during the Cuban crisis in 1962. For his service as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Plans and Policy), he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.
He was promoted to Admiral on September 27, 1963, and became Commander in Chief, U. S. Pacific Fleet, on September 30.
With headquarters at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Admiral Sharp commanded approximately 265,000 Navymen and Maring Corps personnel serving in the world's largest naval command.
Admiral Sharp directed the movements of some 450 combatant and support ships of the FIRST and SEVENTH Fleets, operating from the west coast of the U. S. and throughout the Pacific and Far East. In addition, he directed approximately 2400 first line combat and support aircraft, plus two Marine ground divisions and associated Marine air wings.
Admiral Sharp became Commander in Chief Pacific, on June 30, 1964. With headquarters at Camp H. M. Smith, Hawaii, he directed the largest of U.S. unified commands and United States operations in the U.S. Pacific Command. He had more than 940,000 military personnel of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force under his command, in addition to more than 7,500 operational aircraft and 560 major ships. His Pacific Command responsibility extended on the West Coast of the Americas and extended some 8000 miles across the Pacific into the Indian Ocean and from the Aleutian Islands down to the area of the South Pole--an area encompassing 85 million square miles.
As Commander of all U. S. Armed Forces assigned to the Pacific, he was responsible directly to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was also the U.S. Military Advisor to the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), U.S. Military Representative to the Philippine-United States Representative to the Australia-New Zealand-United States Council (ANZUS), and Military Advisor and Member of the United States - Japanese Security Consultative Committee.
Part of the Pacific Command's mission is to defend the U.S. from attack through the Pacific, and to support and carry out U.S. policy in this area. An example of Pacific Command preparedness to carry out its mission occurred in the Gulf of Tonkin off Vietnam in August 1964, when U.S. Navy ships were targets of an unprovoked attack from North Vietnamese torpedo boat bases.
Admiral Sharp, believing the U.S. should respond to the attack
with more than protests, recommended to the Joint Chiefs of Staff that the U. S. strike the offending torpedo boat bases.
The Secretary of Defense and the President agreed. The U.S decision to retaliate was translated into swift and appropriate air strike action by units under Admiral Sharp's Pacific Command.
Since the first Gulf of Tonkin incident, Pacific Army, Navy and Air Force personnel have executed a number of precisely planned actions in the Vietnam theater. As CINCPAC, Admiral Sharp had the responsibility for directing these and other U. S. military operations in the vast Pacific area.
Admiral U.S.G. Sharp, USN Commander & Chief Pacific (1967-69) Commanding Officer USS BOYD DD-544 (1942-44) |
On August 1, 1968 he was transferred to the Retired List of the U.S. Navy.
In addition to the Distinguished Service Medal with Gold Star and the Silver Star Medal with Gold Star, Admiral Sharp has the Bronze Star Medal with Gold Star, the Commendation Ribbon with two Bronze Stars and Combat "V", the American Defense Service Medal with Fleet Clasp, the American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with seven stars, the World War II Victory Medal, the Navy Occupation Service Medal, Europe Clasp; the National Defense Service Medal with bronze star, the Korean Service Medal with three stars, the United Nations Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with three stars; and the Philippine Liberation Ribbon with one star. He also had the Korean Presidential Unit Citation Badge and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with Device.
Admiral Sharp's brother, Lieutenant Commander Thomas F. Sharp, USN, was lost in the USS PICKEREL when that submarine failed to return from war patrol in the Western Pacific in May 1943.
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