Robert Pearce Briscoe

Admiral, U.S. Navy

Robert Pearce Briscoe was born on 19 February 1897.

Briscoe graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in June 1918. During World War I, he served on the battleship USS Alabama (BB-8) of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet and on the destroyer USS Roe (DD-24), operating from Brest, France.

At the end of hostilities, he made the first postwar Midshipmen cruise in the USS Kearsarge (BB-5) and in 1919 returned to destroyer duty as Engineer Officer of the USS Humphreys (DD-236), stationed in Near East waters at Constantinople. During the Turko-Greek fighting in 1920-21, he commanded a naval landing force at Derindge, Turkey.

After further destroyer duty in the USS Flusser (DD-289) and USS Henderson (AP-1), and recruiting duty at Little Rock, AR, he served as Senior Assistant Engineer of the battleship USS West Virginia (BB-48) from 1926-29, then returned to the Naval Academy as an Instructor in Mechanical Engineering. From 1931-33, he was on China Station, assigned first as Executive Officer of the USS Edsall (DD-219), on Yangtze River patrol during the Japanese occupation of Woosung and Manchuria, and later as Communication Officer of the USS Houston (CA-30), flagship of the Commander-in-Chief, Asiatic Fleet. He again returned to the Naval Academy in June 1934, and for three years served as Head of the Department of Chemistry.

Sea duty as Navigator of the battleship USS Mississippi (BB-41) preceded a tour during the pre-war period as Assistant Director of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and Navy Department Liaison Officer with the National Defense Research Committee. He has been identified as one of the pioneers of modern electronics development in the Navy.

World War II

In May 1942, he assumed command of the USS Prometheus (AR-3), a re-commissioned World War I repair ship. Under his command, she joined the U.S. 3rd Fleet at Noumea, New Caledonia, where he was detached to command Destroyer Squadron 5 and operated as escort commander for Task Forces 67, 68 and 70. In the intervening periods when the battleships and cruisers were not at sea, Briscoe operated Commander Task Group 675 (Cactus Striking Force) in Guadalcanal waters.

He was transferred to command of the USS Denver (CL-58) in July 1943 and was in command during the Northern Solomon Islands campaign. During a thirty-six hour battle with Japanese naval forces, his ship assisted in the sinking of five enemy warships, damaging four others and routing the enemy's surface forces. His ship's guns had barely fired their last salvo when she was attacked by sixty-seven dive bombers. Under his command, the ship downed seventeen enemy planes and thwarted the raid. He sailed the cruiser to the U.S. after she suffered severe battle damage off Rabaul in November 1943.

In February 1944, he joined the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Fleet, in Washington, DC, as head of New Developments, and with his promotion to Rear Admiral in April 1945, assumed command of Amphibious Group 14. Victory over Japan Day found him in Manila, working on plans for the invasion of the Japanese homeland.

Post-War Service

In September 1945, he took command of the Operational Development Force, Atlantic Fleet with headquarters at Norfolk, VA. After two years there, and a tour of duty as Assistant Chief of Naval Operations (Readiness), he became Commander Amphibious Force, Atlantic Fleet, on 1 November 1950.

Ordered in January 1952 to command the U.S. 7th Fleet in Korean waters, he retained this command until designated Commander Naval Forces, Far East, in June of that year. During this tenure, he recommended an amphibious feint to draw North Korean combatants from their dug-in front line positions to cover potential landing zones. This resulted in a significant shift of troop concentrations by enemy forces over a period of three months. He later served as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations, for Fleet Operations and Readiness.

On 30 April 1956, Briscoe was promoted to the four-star rank of Admiral and assigned as Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces Southern Europe (CINCSOUTH).

On 1 January 1959, he retired from the U.S. Navy.

Medals and Awards

Navy Cross

Navy Distinguished Service Medal

Legion of Merit (2 Awards)

Honors

USS Briscoe (DD-977), a Spruance class destroyer, was named in his honor.

Death and Burial

Admiral Robert Pearce Briscoe died on 14 October 1968 in Liberty, MA. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA.